Now is the time to ensure your business is upto speed with the latest Statutory Pay Increases, as they're due to take effect from April which is only a few weeks away now. Make sure you've got these new entitlements updated in your systems to ensure no underpayments are made.

National Minimum Wage Increases

All rates of the national minimum wage will increase on 1 April 2023.

The national living wage will rise from £9.50 to £10.42 an hour, an increase of 9.7%. The national living wage rate applies to workers aged 23 and over.

The rates for younger workers will also increase, with hourly rates rising to:

£10.18 for workers aged 21 and 22;

£7.49 for workers aged at least 18 but under 21; and

£5.28 for workers aged under 18 who are no longer of compulsory school age.

The rate for apprentices will rise to £5.28 an hour.

Cap on a week’s pay for statutory redundancy pay increases 

The maximum amount of a week’s pay for the purposes of calculating statutory redundancy pay is adjusted each year in line with changes to the retail prices index (RPI).  The new maximum amount of a week’s pay from 6 April 2023 will be £643 as confirmed in the now published Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order 2023 . The current maximum is £571.

Statutory Sick Pay Increases

Entitlement to statutory sick pay (SSP) arises when an employee is sick for four or more consecutive days, and lasts for up to 28 weeks in relation to any one period of incapacity for work. From 6 April 2023, the new rate is £109.40, up from £99.35.

Statutory Maternity, Paternity, Adoption & Shared Parental Pay Increases

For the first six weeks of an employee’s maternity leave, statutory maternity pay (SMP) is paid at 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings. For the remaining 33 weeks, SMP is paid at either the flat SMP rate (which changes annually on the first Sunday in April), or 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings if this is lower. From 2 April 2023, the proposed new rate is £172.48, up from £156.66. The same rate will apply to statutory adoption, paternity and shared parental pay.

If you have any questions in regards to these new statutory figures or processes to follow when it comes to matters like sick leave, family friendly policies or redundancy, please reach out to us below.