- From 6 April 2016, the cap on the unfair dismissal compensatory award will increase from £78,335 to £78,962 and the cap on weekly pay (used to calculate the unfair dismissal basic award and statutory redundancy pay) will increase from £475 to £479. This gives a maximum unfair dismissal award of £93,332. Note that since 29 July 2013 there has been an additional cap on the compensatory award of 12 months’ pay.
- The weekly rate of statutory sick pay will remain at £88.45 and the weekly flat rate of statutory maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental pay will remain at £139.58 for 2016-17.
- From 1 April 2016, workers of 25 years and older will be entitled to be paid a minimum national living wage of £7.20 per hour. The penalty for underpayment of the national minimum wage will double to 200% of arrears. The government has also confirmed the increases to the national minimum wage rates in October 2016: the rate for workers aged 21 to 24 is to increase from £6.70 to £6.95 an hour. The rate for those aged 25 and over (the national living wage) will not increase in October 2016, but all of the rates will then be uprated in parallel from April 2017.
- From 6 April 2016 two minor changes to tribunal rules will apply: (i) financial penalties for unpaid employment tribunal awards and settlements of 50% of the unpaid amount, subject to a minimum of £100 and a maximum of £5,000, and (ii) provisions limiting the ability to postpone tribunal hearings if the application is made less than seven days before a hearing or when two or more postponements have already been granted, and requiring tribunals to consider imposing costs consequences when a postponement application is made less than seven days before a hearing.
Key contacts
Steve Bell
Managing Partner - Employment, Industrial Relations and Safety (Australia, Asia), Melbourne
Emma Rohsler
Regional Head of Practice (EMEA) - Employment Pensions and Incentives, Paris
Disclaimer
The articles published on this website, current at the dates of publication set out above, are for reference purposes only. They do not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. Specific legal advice about your specific circumstances should always be sought separately before taking any action.