Employment Law Updates 2018

What’s New for Employers in 2018?

19th December, 2017 by Graham Irons

This newsflash takes a look at some of the key changes for employers in 2018.

Changes to statutory rates of pay

In April, the National Living Wage for employees aged 25 and over will rise from £7.50 to £7.83, together with other increases to the National Minimum Wage rates. Statutory Maternity, Paternity, Adoption and Shared Parental Pay rates will also increase to £145.18 per week. Statutory Sick Pay increases to £92.05.

Taxation of Termination Payments

From 6 April all payments in lieu of notice will be subject to normal deductions for tax and NI. This means employers will no longer have the option of paying tax free damages in lieu of notice where there is no contractual right to pay in lieu.

Gender Pay Gap Reporting

Employers with 250 or more employees will have to produce and publish their “gender pay gap reports” by 4 April (30 March for public sector employers) if they have not done so already. Employers are required to publish information the percentage differences between the mean and median hourly rate of pay between men and women across their workforce, the proportions of men and women who receive bonuses and the relative proportions of men and women in each quartile pay band based on a “snapshot date” of 5 April 2017 (31 March for public sector). Aside from the key figures, employers should consider whether to publish any narrative to explain any gap or to show what action will be taken to address it.

GDPR

The General Data Protection Regulation comes into force on 25 May. With fines of up to €20 million or 4% of global turnover, it is critical that employers are compliant especially as the GDPR introduces a duty of “accountability”. To prepare employers should establish a compliance timeline, carry out a data audit, determine the basis upon which data will be processed, update key policies and processes and make sure everything they do is documented.

Graham Irons comments: "We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. 2018 looks set to be another busy year from an employment perspective and Howes Percival will be here to help with any challenges that the New Year brings!"

If you require any further information on the above please contact a member of the team.

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