What’s changing in Employment Law in April 2022 – quite a bit in fairness firstly the personal tax threshold stays the same for 2022/2023 at £12570 and the higher threshold also remains unchanged at £50270.
The National Living Wage (for anyone over 23) and National Minimum Wage (for those of at least school leaving age) increase as follows
| Age | 23 and over | 21 to 22 | 18 to 20 | Under 18 | Apprentice |
| April 2021 | £8.91 | £8.36 | £6.56 | £4.62 | £4.30 |
| April 2022 | £9.50 | £9.18 | £6.83 | £4.81 | £4.81 |
Some companies allow a company van to be used for personal use or pays for fuel you use personally. This is known as a Benefit in Kind and there have been some changes in the amount of tax paid. This applies to both directors and employees.
- The BiK on company vans increases to £3,600 (from £3,500)
- The BiK on fuel for a van provided for personal use increases to £688 (from £669).
Further information is avail https://www.gov.uk/expenses-and-benefits-company-vans
National Insurance changes
This could be a little confusing but from 6th April NI goes up 1.25% meaning most people will pay 13.25% contributions. This was intended to be for 1 year only i.e. until April 2023 when the rate is to return to normal and instead there will be a separate health and social care levy. However – stay with me – in July the National Insurance threshold will increase to be the same as the tax threshold i.e. £12570. So you may pay more NI but possibly only for a few months.
Employment benefits
The statutory benefits annual increase are listed below
Benefit Previous rate New rate
Statutory Maternity pay £151.97 £156.66
Statutory Paternity pay £151.97 £156.66
Shared parental leave pay £151.97 £156.66
Adoption pay £151.97 £156.66
Maternity allowance £151.97 £156.66
Parental bereavement pay £151.97 £156.66
The weekly rate of statutory sick pay rises on April 6 to £99.35, up from £96.35.
On the same date, the statutory redundancy payment will increase from £544 to £571 for a week’s basic pay.
The maximum compensatory award for an unfair dismissal claim will increase from £89,493 to £93,878.
Right to work checks
From April 2022 Right to work checks can now only be done online and can no longer be done manually. This was expected to be a temporary situation due to the pandemic.
Benefits and State Pensions
Benefit payments and state pensions are going up 3.1% from April 11th.
Road Tax
Car Tax or Vehicle Excise Duty to give it its proper name is increasing as well from April 1.
There are several other changes and increases that come into effect in April including red diesel being banned for construction use, a plastic packaging tax, the household support fund extended, and a rebate of council tax for some households.
And if you followed that, fair play, there are a lot of changes but to be fair not all will be relevant. A lot of changes and unfortunately some of them will affect your pocket, you might get a small increase but the cost of living increases could create a squeeze.
Contact us if you have any questions!
