In this quarters update we look at the new National Minimum Wage and Statutory rates from April, recent case law judgements covering menopause and discrimination, along with key information regarding Redundancy Selection and Appeals processes. We have also introduced a new 1 to 1 Coaching module for Managers, ‘Managing Recruitment’ (full details can be seen in the Training section below).
We hope you find this information helpful, if you would like more detail on any aspect please contact us. Don’t forget to take a look at our website to see the full range of our services.
From basic Contracts of Employment to a fully Outsourced HR service we can help. If you would like to know more about any of our support, consultancy, and training services, and see how we can help you, please visit our website or contact us at info@connectivebusiness.co.uk to arrange a Free no-obligation consultation.
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Legislation Updates / Case Law
New National Minimum Wage (NMW) from 1 April 2022
Category of worker Hourly rate
23 and above (national living wage rate) £9.50
21 to 22 inclusive £9.18
18 to 20 inclusive £6.83
Under 18 (but above compulsory school leaving age) £4.81
Apprentices aged under 19 £4.81
Apprentices aged 19 & over, in 1st year of apprenticeship £4.81
Statutory Maternity, Paternity, Adoption, Shared Parental & Parental Bereavement Pay from 3rd April 2022
Type of payment or recovery Rate
Statutory Maternity Pay – weekly rate for 1st 6 weeks 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings
Statutory Maternity Pay – weekly rate for remaining weeks £156.66 or 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings, whichever is lower
Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP) – weekly rate £156.66 or 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings, whichever is lower
Statutory Adoption Pay (SAP) – weekly rate for 1st 6 weeks 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings
Statutory Adoption Pay – weekly rate for remaining weeks £156.66 or 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings, whichever is lower
Statutory Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) – weekly rate £156.66 or 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings, whichever is lower
Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay (SPBP) – weekly rate £156.66 or 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings, whichever is lower
SMP, SPP, ShPP, SAP or SPBP – proportion of your 92% if your total Class 1 National Insurance
payments you can recover from HMRC (both employee and employer contributions) is above £45,000for the previous tax year – 103% if your total Class 1 National Insurance for the previous tax year is £45,000 or lower
Statutory Sick Pay from 6 April 2022
The rate of Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) will increase to £99.35 per week and this applies to all employees. However, the amount you must actually pay an employee for each day they’re off work due to illness (the daily rate) depends on the number of ‘qualifying days’ they work each week.
Unrounded No. of qualifying 1 day 2 days 3 days 4 days 5 days 6 days 7 days
daily rates days in week to pay to pay to pay to pay to pay to pay to pay
£14.1929 7 £14.20 £28.39 £42.58 £56.78 £70.97 £85.16 £99.35
£16.5583 6 £16.56 £33.12 £49.68 £66.24 £82.80 £99.35
£19.87 5 £19.87 £39.74 £59.61 £79.48 £99.35
£24.8375 4 £24.84 £49.68 £74.52 £99.35
£33.1167 3 £33.12 £66.24 £99.35
£49.675 2 £49.68 £99.35
£99.35 1 £99.35
Woman awarded £20,000 for Unfair Dismissal after boss’s menopause comments
Mrs B was judged to have been unfairly dismissed from her job after her male employer shouted that “she must be on her menopause” has been awarded £20,000. Mrs B, employed from 29 January 2020 until 11 May that year, was dismissed for raising Covid-19 safety concerns, an employment tribunal found, commenting she was harassed due to her age and sex and she was victimised, leaving her feeling “humiliated and mortified” by her treatment. The tribunal hearing heard that a Director had shouted that “she must be on her menopause” during an argument about a mix-up with orders. Mrs B said she found the subject “distressing and wished to avoid talking about it” and it was a “private matter”. A sum of £2,000 was awarded towards the harassment as it was found that Mrs B was upset by the Director’s “unwanted, obtrusive and inappropriate questioning about whether or not she was menopausal”. The award also included £680 for loss of wages, a further £4,000 for harassment and victimisation, as well as £10,000 in relation to unlawful detriment given for the company failing to “properly investigate” Mrs B’s complaints about Covid safety and a colleague’s complaints that they were unable to work with her. The Tribunal further commented “As a result no informed and balanced view of these matters was formulated or implemented”, the ruling found. Her dismissal was “flawed” and she was left “misinformed, humiliated and mortified by this treatment”.
Receptionist awarded over £23,000 after her bosses told her she was ‘no longer needed’ while off work sick
Mrs N won her pregnancy discrimination and unfair dismissal claims after a panel ruled that bosses believed her difficult pregnancy was ‘inconvenient’ to the firm. Mrs N began working in December 2014 as a receptionist where Dr M was her line manager and the pair had a good working relationship. In December 2017, she became pregnant. The tribunal was told Dr M was ‘hostile’ and refused to take her sick notes or medical evidence because she was ‘was no longer needed’ after working at the firm for three years. The tribunal heard she began to have adverse symptoms, including severe sickness, almost immediately at the start of her pregnancy. The following month, she told Dr M about her pregnancy and that she was already having some sickness and might encounter further difficulties so may need time off. After she went off work on January 20, she sent texts to Dr M saying she was very unwell and apologising for being unable to come in. Mrs N’s husband then went into the office to give Dr M copies of sick notes and medical evidence as in February 2018, while seven weeks pregnant, she was diagnosed with Hyperemesis Gravidarum which can leave women bedridden and vomiting. Despite her husband reiterating that her illness was pregnancy related, Dr M sacked her, the tribunal heard. Mrs N then sent her sick note and hospital letter again, hoping Dr M would reconsider his decision to fire her. But she later received her December payment along with her Christmas bonus and nothing further despite her having worked until January 20, the hearing was told. The tribunal concluded that problems only arose when she became pregnant, with the employer taking ‘none of the usual steps in relation to a pregnant employee’, further stating ‘We infer from all the evidence that Dr M’s attitude to her changed when he realised she was having a difficult pregnancy, which was giving rise to a protracted period of sickness absence and (inevitably) a period of maternity leave. This was inconvenient to the firm and Dr M decided to dispense with her services in a summary fashion. The problems only arose after she became pregnant. Dr M’s attitude to her and her husband became hostile and uncooperative.’
Redundancy: Selection and Appeals
Recent Tribunal rulings have confirmed 2 important aspects when dealing with redundancy selection processes and appeals and these important details are shown below.
Selection Process: Scoring v Interviews
If an employer is simply reducing the number of roles as part of a redundancy exercise, a scoring process should be used, such as a selection matrix, with the lowest scorers being provisionally selected for redundancy subject to the required consultation of course. It is only appropriate to use interviews where new roles that previously did not exist are being introduced and the employer is looking to select employees for the new roles as alternative employment from a pool of at-risk employees.
As such, in most redundancy situations a scoring process to determine who to provisionally select for redundancy from among a pool of employees should still be used, however if the scores are identical then interviews can be considered as a further selection requirement.
Right of Appeal
The lack of any appeal procedure does not of itself render a redundancy dismissal unfair, however, it is one of the factors to be considered when determining the overall fairness of the dismissal.
Therefore whilst there is no statutory requirement to offer an employee an appeal against a decision to dismiss them for redundancy, unlike in the case of dismissal for a disciplinary matter, our advice remains that an appeal against a redundancy dismissal should be offered to the employee as part of a fair redundancy process. Having an appeal process also gives the employer the opportunity to address any complaint internally before it reaches the ACAS early conciliation process / a Tribunal.
Training
Operational Managers are key to a Company’s success, and how they work with and manage their teams is an essential part of this.
We have recently introduced an additional ‘1 to 1 HR Coaching for Managers’ module, Managing Recruitment. The full list can be seen below, all are delivered remotely via Microsoft Teams:
- Being an Effective Manager / Responsibilities of a Manager;
- Dealing with Misconduct (Discipline), Poor Performance (Capability) and Grievances;
- Managing Attendance / Sickness Absence;
- Managing Performance / Developing People;
- Dealing With Conflict;
- Managing Recruitment.
Each module is focussed on the key elements involved, and takes around 1 to 1½ hours, with Managers also completing a workbook containing a number of questions and scenarios which is then analysed and feedback provided to ensure an in-depth understanding of the subject(s).
We also provide the following classroom based training courses (when social distancing rules allow) to help Managers deal with issues and people correctly to enhance your business:
- Influencing Styles and Persuasive Negotiating;
- Managing Conflict;
All of our courses can be tailored to suit your exact needs and delivered at your premises if required.
More details on all of the above can be found on our website.
Partner Services
We have long-term partnerships with key providers which enables us to provide other recommended services to our clients covering:
- Legal Services;
- Financial Services;
- Health Insurance and Staff Healthcare Benefits;
- Health and Safety.
Visit our website to see full information on our partners and their services.