Legal Update as from 1st October 2009
04 September 2009
We have previously provided updates with regards to Change to Statutory Rates due to come into affect from 1st October 2009 in our newsletters, but as this date is approaching this update is to remind you of these changes.
If you require further information on these changes and how they affect you please don’t hesitate to contact us.
National Minimum Wage
From 1 October 2009, new national minimum wage (NMW) rates will come into force. The NMW applies to nearly all workers and sets hourly rates that you must not pay below as follows.
•£5.80 an hour to workers aged 22 and above
•£4.83 an hour to workers aged 18-21
•£3.57 an hour to workers aged below 18 who are no longer of compulsory school age
Tips and Gratuities
From 1 October 2009, you will not be able to include in a worker's national minimum wage (NMW) service and cover charges, tips and gratuities that you pay them via the payroll. This will mean that any tips, etc, must be on top of the NMW from this date.
A Week’s Pay Limit
From 1 October 2009, the limit on a week's pay for the purposes of calculating a statutory redundancy payment will rise from £350 to £380.
This increase will also apply to a wide range of employment tribunal awards that are calculated using a week's pay that an employer might have to pay, such as:
•compensation for non-compliance with flexible working procedures
•the basic and additional awards for unfair dismissal
•compensation where an employer has failed to consult a trade union or elected employee representatives when it intends to make 20 or more employees redundant
•compensation for failure by an employer to allow an employee to be accompanied to a disciplinary or grievance hearing
•compensation for failure by an employer to give a statement of employment particulars
•compensation for an employer's failure to comply with its duty to notify an employee of either the date on which it intends to retire them or their right to make a request not to retire on that date
Please note that the above limit normally changes on 1 February every year in line with the retail prices index. However, as this change is taking place in October, on 1 February 2010 there will no further changes until February 2011.