April 2021

· As of 1 April 2021, the national living wage increases from £8.72 to £8.91. The main (adult) rate of the national minimum wage rises from £8.20 to £8.36 per hour. The rate for workers who are aged at least 18 but under 21 increases from £6.45 to £6.56 per hour, the rate for workers aged 16 to 17 rises from £4.55 to £4.62 per hour and the apprentice rate rises from £4.15 to £4.30 per hour. The accommodation offset increases from £8.20 to £8.36 per day.

· From 1 April 2021, the national living wage rate applies to workers aged 23 and over, and the main (adult) rate applies to workers aged 21 to 22.

· As of 4 April 2021, the rates of statutory maternity pay, statutory paternity pay, statutory adoption pay, statutory shared parental pay and statutory parental bereavement pay increase from £151.20 to £151.97 per week.

· As of 6 April 2021, the maximum amount of a week's pay for the purpose of calculating a redundancy payment and the basic and additional award of compensation for unfair dismissal increases to £544.

· The maximum compensatory award for unfair dismissals increases from £88,519 to £89,493 for dismissals that take place on or after 6 April 2021.

· From 6 April 2021, the rate of Statutory Sick Pay increases from £95.85 to £96.35 a week.

· From 6 April 2021, new rules on off-payroll working come into effect for eligible large and medium sized organisations in the private sector. These new rules were expected in April 2020 but were delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The intention of these rules is the reduction of tax avoidance for contractors employed via personal service companies.

Under the new rules, the organisation engaging the contractor is responsible for determining their employment status and assessing whether or not IR35 applies. When an organisation has determined an individual’s classification, it must provide a status determination statement to the individual and to the party with which the organisation has contracted, giving the reason for the determination.