New immigration requirements
End of free movement of workers following Brexit. From 1 January 2021 anyone from outside the UK and Ireland (including all EU nationals) will require a visa if they want to work in the UK. Employers will need to hold a sponsor licence in order to sponsor employees for these purposes.
Link to briefing
Gender pay gap reporting for public sector employers
Public sector employers to report before this date (with a snapshot date of 31 March 2020).
FCA Conduct Rules
The FCA Conduct Rules come into force for all staff at solo-regulated FCA firms.
Link to video
National minimum wage
National Living Wage is extended to workers aged 23 and over and increases to £8.91 per hour. The national minimum wage increases:
Gender pay gap reporting for private sector employers
Private sector employers to report before this date (with a snapshot date of 5 April 2020).
New statutory rates
Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP), Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP), Shared Parental Pay (ShPP), Statutory Adoption Pay (SAP) and Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay (SPBP) increase to £151.97.
Statutory sick pay (SSP)
SSP increases to £96.35.
Maximum compensatory award
The maximum compensatory award for unfair dismissal increases to £89,493 (from £88,519) where the effective date of termination is on or after 6 April 2021.
A week’s pay
The maximum amount of a week’s pay (used to calculate statutory redundancy payments) increases to £544 (from £538) where the effective date of termination is on or after 6 April 2021.
IR35
Off payroll working to be extended to large and medium sized private sector employers.
PENP
Changes to the formula for Post-Employment Notice Pay (PENP) come into force for calculations where an employee’s pay period is defined in months, but their contractual notice period or post-employment notice period is not a whole number of months.
Link to policy paper
EU Settlement Scheme
Deadline for EU citizens and their families who arrived in the UK before 11pm on 31 December 2020 to make an application under the EU Settlement Scheme in order to retain the right live and work in the UK.
The Coronavirus Job Retention (Furlough) Scheme
Government grant for Furlough scheme reduces and employers must begin to contribute 10% of furlough pay for unworked hours.
Government grant for Furlough scheme reduces and employers must contribute 20% of furlough pay for unworked hours.
Furlough Scheme ends.
Gender pay gap reporting
Enforcement action against employers (public, private and voluntary) who fail to report their gender pay gap information for the 2020/21 year starts.
The OTS has suggested significant CGT reforms across a wide range of areas, including moving home, getting divorced, and running or investing in a business