Published 20th March 2017

If you employ staff / are thinking of employing staff, it’s important that you’re aware of the upcoming employment legislation changes in April.

Our team here at Simply HR have constructed a simple guide to some of the main changes:

From

(April 2017):

Legislation Change

1st April 2017 National Living Wage is set to rise from £7.20 to £7.50 per hour for staff aged 25 and over.

National Minimum Wage rates are also set to rise:

 • 21 to 24 years: from £6.95 to £7.05 

 • 18 to 20 years: from £5.55 to £5.60 

• Under 18: from £4.00 to £4.05 

• Apprentice: from £3.40 to £3.50

2nd April 2017 Statutory maternity and paternity pay, adoption and shared parental pay rises to £140.98 a week or 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings, whichever is lower.
6th April 2017 Statutory Sick Pay is set to go up from £88.45 to £89.35. 
6th April 2017 Apprenticeship levy due to take effect on 6th April. The levy requires all employers operating in the UK, with a pay bill over £3 million each year to invest in apprenticeships.
6th April 2017 A week’s pay (for redundancy and unfair dismissal basic award calculations) rises from £479 to £489. 
April 2017 Employers sponsoring foreign workers with a tier 2 visa will be expected to pay an immigration skills charge of £1000 per worker (£364 for small employers and charities).
In Addition General Data Protection Regulations compliance – employers are advised to carry out an audit of employee personal data that they collect and process to ensure it meets GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) conditions of employee consent.  Although this piece of legislation won’t be updated until 2018, employers need to prepare for this in 2017.

We hope you found this information helpful – if you need further information on any of these topics, we’d love to hear from you!

Tel:  01934 411275 / Email:  info@simplyhrservicesltd.co.uk

You’ll also find us on Facebook, Twitter or Linkedin!