Employment Law Payments and Awards in Great Britain and Northern Ireland
As we approach the start of the new tax year, one employment law change to be aware of is that concerning various payments and awards that are required from the first day, i.e. 06 April 2023.
Great Britain
Section 34 of the Employment Relations Act 1999 provides for changes to employment law payments and awards in Great Britain under two Acts:
- The Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (1992 Act) and
- The Employment Rights Act 1996 (1996 Act)
On 15 March 2023, the Department for Business and Trade laid The Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order 2023 that applies in Great Britain.
The headline notes of this legislation, effective 06 April 2023, were:
- The daily amount of guarantee payment increases from £31 to £35
- The value of ‘a week’s pay’ increases from £571 to £643 per week
- The maximum compensatory award in unfair dismissal claims increases from £93,878 to £105,707 (capped at one year’s net salary if this is lower)
All of the employment law payments and awards are shown below in red compared to the values that applied from 06 April 2022.
The above applies to payments and awards under Acts that are applicable in Great Britain only. So, to get a UK-wide picture, we have to look at the different legislation that applies in Northern Ireland.
Northern Ireland
Article 33 of the Employment Relations (Northern Ireland) Order 1999 provides for changes to employment law payments and awards in Northern Ireland under two Orders (as opposed to Acts in Great Britain):
- The Trade Union and Labour Relations (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 (1995 Order), or
- The Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 (1996 Order)
On 14 March 2023, The Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order (Northern Ireland) 2023 was published by the Department for the Economy.
The headline notes of this legislation, effective 06 April 2023, are:
- The daily amount of guarantee payment increases from £31 to £35 (aligned to the value in Great Britain)
- The value of ‘a week’s pay’ increases from £594 to £669 per week (not aligned to the value in Great Britain)
- The maximum compensatory award in unfair dismissal claims increases from £94,063 to £105,915 (not aligned to the value in Great Britain. Further, there is no provision in Northern Ireland for this to be the value of one year’s net salary if this is lower)
All of the employment law payments and awards are shown below in red compared to the values that applied from 06 April 2022.
