From 1 April 2022: Wage rates increase
National Living Wage:
- £9.50 per hour (from £8.91) aged 23 and over
National Minimum Wage rates:
- £9.18 per hour (from £8.36) aged 21 – 22
- £6.83 per hour (from £6.56) aged 18 – 20
- £4.81 per hour (from £4.62) aged 16 -17
- £4.81 per hour (from £4.30) for apprentices aged 19 and under or in their first year
From April 2022: Statutory benefit payments
- Statutory maternity, paternity, adoption shared parental and parental bereavement pay increases to £156.66 (from £151.97) per week (or 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings, whichever is lower) from 3 April. The gross weekly earnings threshold has also been increased to £123 (from £120).
- Maternity allowance increases to £156.66 (from £151.97); the gross weekly earnings threshold remains at £30.
- Statutory sick pay limits rise to £99.35 (from £96.35) from 6 April. Again, the earnings gross weekly earnings threshold has also been increased to £123 (from £120).
Other key dates
National Insurance Contributions (NIC) to rise by 1.25% from 2022:
From 6 April 2022 to 5 April 2023, an additional 1.25% will be added to Class 1 (paid by employees), Class 4 (paid by self-employed) and secondary Class 1, 1A and 1B (paid by employers) NICs. This will be spent on the NHS and social care in the UK. Class 2 and 3 NICs remain unchanged and the 2022 increase will not apply to workers over the State Pension age. From 5 April 2023, National Insurance will return to its current rate and a new Health and Social Care Levy of 1.25% will be introduced. This levy will also apply to those over State Pension age who are in work.
Gender Pay Gap:
An employer must report gender pay gap data if the organisation has 250 or more employees. The gender pay reporting deadline for 2022 is 30 March for most public sector employers and 4 April for private sector, voluntary and some public sector employers.
Right to Work:
The temporary adjustment to Right to Work checks as a result of Covid-19 are due to end on 5 April 2022. The government issued new guidance on Right to Work checks issued on 16 December 2022. It will not be necessary for employers to carry out a retrospective check for employees where a manual check was completed on or before 5 April 2022.