The National Living Wage
| Rate from 1stApril 2024 | Rate from 1st April 2025 | Approx increase | |
| Aged 21 and above | £11.44 | £12.21 | 6.7% |
The National Minimum Wage Rates
| Rate from 1stApril 2024 | Rate from 1st April 2025 | Approx. Increase | |
| 18-20 Year Old Rate | £8.60 | £10.00 | 16.3% |
| 16-17 Year Old Rate | £6.40 | £7.55 | 18% |
| Apprentice Rate | £6.40 | £7.55 | 18% |
| Accommodation Offset | £9.99 | £10.66 | 6.7% |
STATUTORY PAYMENTS INCREASE – APRIL 2025
| Current Weekly Rate | New Weekly Rate | |
| Maternity/Paternity/Adoption/Shared Parental | £184.03 | £187.18 |
| Sick Pay | £116.75 | £118.75 |
| Lower Earnings Threshold | £123.00 | £125.00 |
Other Changes:
| Current Rate | New Rate | |
| Guarantee Pay – this payment is a daily rate for the first 5 days an employee is laid-off within a 3 month period. | £38.00 | TBC |
| The limit on the amount of a week’s pay for the purposes of calculating, among other things, statutory redundancy payments and the basic award for unfair dismissal. | £700.00 | TBC |
| The maximum compensatory award for unfair dismissal subject to the overarching limit of one year’s pay. | £115,115 | TBC |
| The minimum basic award in cases where the dismissal was unfair by virtue of health & safety, employee representative, trade union or occupational pension trustee reasons. | £8,533 | TBC |
The Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023 will become effective from April 2025.
The legislation is designed to support employees who have parental or a personal relationship with a baby needing neonatal care and will mean those eligible can take up to 12 weeks of paid leave. This will be in addition to other entitlements such as paternity, maternity and shared parental leave.
Under the Act, the time off must be taken in full weeks, in line with other statutory parental leave, from the time the baby has been in neonatal care within 28 days after birth and has been there for seven continuous days up to a maximum of 12 weeks.
To be eligible, the parent must also be an employee, have responsibility for the upbringing of – or main caring responsibilities for – the child in neonatal care, have given correct notice to their employer and have a child meeting the relevant requirements regarding neonatal care.
Entitlement is available to each parent individually, so the 12 weeks is per person; as a day-one right, subject to providing the required notice; to parents who meet continuity of service and employment and earnings tests.
Employers will need to act prior to April, looking at updating employee contract, employee handbooks and policies and procedures BUT, as ever, we still await further regulations from the government to understand the finer details of legislation and how it will work in practice.
As with other legislation in respect of employees exercising their right to this statutory entitlement protection will be in force to protect employees (from being unfairly dismissed or suffering other detrimental treatment).
Generally welcomed as a positive support provision for parents who find themselves in this difficult situation, given the entitlement is at a statutory rate and capped at twelve weeks parents may still find themselves in a situation of having to return to work before they would really like, and employers may wish to look at other additional ways they can support their employees through this difficult period.
