It’s always good to get ahead of the game, and now’s the time to get on top of 2022. With so much uncertainty in the world at the minute, we have highlighted some important employment dates that you can stick in your diary for 2022.
31st March/5th April: Gender Pay Gap Report
If you have 250 employees or more, you will need to submit your 2021/22 gender pay gap information within one year of your snapshot date. The deadline for private companies is 5th April 2022 and the deadline for public sector organisations is 31st March 2022.
1st April: National Minimum Wage (NMW) Increases
Increases across the board for National Living Wages will come into effect from the 1st April 2022. See below table of all increases to the NMW.
| Current Rate (April 2021 to March 2022) | Rate from April 2022 | Percentage Increase |
|---|---|---|---|
National Living Wage | £8.91 | £9.50 | 6.6% |
21-22 Year Old Rate | £8.36 | £9.18 | 9.8% |
18-20 Year Old Rate | £6.56 | £6.83 | 4.1% |
16-17 Year Old Rate | £4.62 | £4.81 | 4.1% |
Apprentice Rate | £4.30 | £4.81 | 11.9% |
Accommodation Offset | £8.36 | £8.70 | 4.1% |
3rd/6th April: Statutory family-related pay and sick pay increases
Family-related pay, including statutory maternity, paternity, adoption, parental bereavement and shared parental pay is set to increase from £151.97 to £156.66 per week in 2022. This is in addition to statutory sick pay increasing from £96.35 to £99.35 per week.
Although the dates have not been fully confirmed, it is expected that rates for family-related pay will rise on 3rd April 2022 and the rates for sick pay will rise on 6th April 2022.
6th April: New temporary right-to-work checks guidance
The end date for the temporary adjusted checks has now been deferred to 5th April 2022. New guidance on the right-to-work checks will be released by the government prior to 6th April 2022, so watch this space.
6th April: Statutory redundancy pay calculations update
As redundancy pay is calculated on age, weekly pay and number of years in the job, it is good practice to update your calculations every April to accurately forecast redundancy payments.
2nd/3rd June: Bank Holiday Entitlement during Platinum Jubilee Management
In 2022, the May Spring Bank Holiday is being shifted to Thursday 2nd June and an additional Bank Holiday is being created on Friday 3rd June, to create a four-day weekend to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Queens accession to the throne.
Depending on the wording of employment contracts, you will need to explore whether employees are automatically entitled to the additional bank holiday and communicate clearly your expectations.
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This is not an exhaustive list of dates to keep your eye out for in 2022, the Employment Bill is up for its second reading in Parliament on 18th March 2022, and will have far-reaching impacts on worker’s rights if it passes through the House of Commons, House of Lords and gets Royal Assent.