Easter always heralds the start of Spring here at HR Alchemy, and we like to ensure that we make time in our busy schedules to review our policies and procedures in light of any new legislation coming into effect, as well as updating our client’s documents and handbooks so that everything is kept completely legally compliant.
Everyone with an interest in business management, HR and employment law will need to be aware of some very important dates and key topical issues in 2018, most of which will have an effect on many of us. Some of the changes are pivotal developments that really could change the scope of HR as we know it, including the rise of minimum wage and the well known advances in GDPR. With that in mind, we’re going to run through a few key dates for 2018 that should be at the forefront of any business’s calendar.
1st April – Increase in Minimum Wage
The annual National Minimum Wage (NMW) increases will be effective from 1st April 2018. This means that if you have any staff that are currently on minimum wage, their pay will need to be adjusted to come in line with the new increases. It’s also worth trying to plan one extra step ahead, and pre-empting any employee birthdays that may be coming up that will push staff into the next pay band.
The National Living Wage for workers aged 25 and over will be increasing to £7.83 per hour.
The National Minimum Wage rates will increase:
- from £7.05 to £7.38 for 21 to 24 year olds
- from £5.60 to £5.90 for 18 to 20 year olds
- from £4.05 to £4.20 for 16 and 17 year olds
- from £3.50 to £3.70 for apprentices.
5th April – Gender Pay Gap reporting
The gender pay legislation requires businesses with over 250 employees to publish reports detailing how large the pay gap is between their male and female employees, as well as submitting them to the government’s web page too. As a result of this legislation, employers should consider taking steps to reduce or eliminate their gender pay gaps as much as possible.
6th April – Statutory Payments
Statutory payments will increase, which includes SMP, SPP, ShPP and SAP. The lower earning limit will rise to £116 per week and other eligible payments will rise to £145.18 per week.
6th April – Auto Enrolment
By law, the minimum amount that employers and employees must pay into automatic enrolment pensions will go up. The minimum contributions will be increasing to a total of 5%, which is made up of 2% from the employer and 3% to be made by the member of staff.
This is due to rise again on 6 April 2019 to a total minimum amount of 8%.
6th April – Taxation of termination payments
Changes are being made to the way in which termination payments are taxed from April 2018. From this point, all notice pay is to be treated as taxable earnings and subject to national insurance contributions.
This can be tricky to understand and put into practice for some companies, depending on whether they are operating a contractual PILON, so for a more detailed chat get in touch with the HR Alchemy team today.
And last, but certainly not least….
25th May – GDPR
There’s big changes in the world of data protection taking place on 25th May 2018, which have been talked about now for some time. The new GDPR legislation is part of the EU Data Protection Regulation, replacing the existing data protections laws which have been in force since 1998.
The new laws mean that any organisation that deals with people’s private data (including your own employees details) must meet new standards of transparency, security and accountability.
If you’ve not heard of GDPR (General Data Protection Regulations), here’s a useful resource from the Chartered Institute of Marketing that explains the new legislation: www.cim.co.uk/more/gdpr/.
For more information on how these changes can affect your business, and how HR Alchemy can help to streamline your HR, get in touch with the team today.
