The Government recently confirmed the new statutory rates that will apply for the new financial year.
Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) will increase from £184.03 to £187.18 per week. SMP is paid for up to 39 weeks. The statutory allocation is 90% of an employee’s average weekly earnings for the first 6 weeks of maternity leave and £184.03 or 90% of average weekly earnings (whichever is lower) for the next 33 weeks.
The same increase will also apply to statutory paternity, adoption, shared parental and parental bereavement pay.
Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) will increase to £118.75 per week (currently £116.75).
The lower earnings limit will increase from £123 per week to £125 per week. This represents the minimum average weekly earnings an employee must receive in order to qualify for payments such as SSP and SMP.
The exact dates for these changes have not yet been confirmed, but they usually come into place in early April 2025.
The government has indicated, in the Employment Rights Bill, an intention to remove the lower earnings limit in order to make SSP payable to all employees regardless of their weekly earnings, but until the Bill passes into law, employers may continue to use the lower earnings limit to determine eligibility.
The Employment Rights Bill also includes a proposal to remove the waiting days currently in place for SSP, meaning it will be payable from the first day of an absence. In addition, it is proposed to remove the qualifying period for paternity leave so it will also become a day one right.
Visit BrAInbox today where you can find answers to questions like
What was included in the Autumn Budget 2024 from an HR perspective?
