National minimum wage to increase on 1st April 2018
The Low Pay Commission’s Autumn 2017 report has been published and on the 1st April 2018, the minimum wage will increase again.
The National Minimum Wage (NMW) is the minimum pay per hour most employees are entitled to by law. An employee's age and if they are an apprentice will determine the rate they will receive.
| Rates from 1 April 2017 are: | Rates from 1 April 2018 will be: | |
| 25 yrs old and over | £7.50 per hour | £7.83 per hour |
| 21-24 yrs old | £7.05 per hour | £7.38 per hour |
| 18-20 yrs old | £5.60 per hour | £5.90 per hour |
| 16-17 yrs old | £4.05 per hour | £4.20 per hour |
| Apprentices under 19 or 19 or over who are in the first year of apprenticeship | £3.50 per hour | £3.70 per hour |
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Christmas Bank Holiday Entitlements
There are three public holidays coming over the festive season – Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. Although many offices across the country will close during this period it can be one of the busiest times of the year for industries including retail, hospitality, and hair and beauty. So what public holiday entitlement are employees entitled to over this time?
Bank holiday entitlement
Employers do not have to give employees paid leave on bank holidays. Any right to time off, payment for time off or extra pay for bank holidays worked depends on the terms of the employee's contract of employment. Therefore employees may be required to work on bank holidays. Employers may choose to include bank holidays as part of a worker’s statutory annual leave.
Holiday leave entitlement
Employees’ holiday rights start on the first day of their employment.
Under the Working Time Regulations 1998, workers (including most agency and freelance workers) have the right to:
• 5.6 Weeks’ paid leave each year, this equates to 28 days for full-time employees
Part-time employees
Part-time employees are entitled to the same holidays as full-time workers, calculated on a pro-rata basis. For example:
• 5.6 x 5 working days = 28 days
• 5.6 x 4 working days = 22.4 days
• 5.6 x 3 working days = 16.8 days
Irregular hours
Annual leave for irregular workers is best calculated as a percentage using 12.07% of days worked.
Limits on statutory leave
Statutory leave is capped at 28 days per year. If an employee works 6 days per week their statutory entitlement is 28 days, not 33.6 (6 multiply by 5.6)
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Does my employee need a written statement of employment?
The main purpose of the written statement of employment, often referred to as the contract of employment, is to clarify the terms of a person’s employment and avoid uncertainty or misunderstandings, where employee expectations might not be the same as employer intentions.
All employers must provide an employee with a written statement of their terms of employment within 2 months of commencement of employment, including full-time staff, part-time staff, fixed-term and casual workers.
The written statement must include the following information:
- The full name of employer and employee
- The address of the employer
- Place of work
- Job title or nature of work
- The date the employment started
- Type of contract
- Rate of pay
- Pay intervals
- Hours of work
- Paid leave
- Incapacity for work, sick pay
- Any terms relating to a pension scheme
- Period of notice to be given by employer or employee
- Details of any collective agreements
- Pay reference period
Additional clauses can be recommended to further clarify the relationship. These might include:
- Probation clause
- Pay in lieu of notice clause
- Confidentiality clause
- Right to search
- The calculation of holiday pay
Failure to to provide contracts of employment could leave you wide open to a claim from their employees. Employers found not to have written terms of employment in place will be fined a maximum of 4 weeks’ remuneration per employee. Clearly worded contracts of employment are key to the success of any business. They will ensure your business is on the right side of employment law as well as help prevent disputes with employees.
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