From 5 April 2015, statutory maternity, adoption, paternity, additional paternity and shared parental pay will be £139.58 per week (up from £138.18).
By way of a reminder, maternity pay entitlement (which is probably the most common form of family pay that employers deal with) is as follows:
- 6 weeks payable at the rate of 90% of the employee's normal weekly earnings; followed by
- 33 weeks payable at that same rate or, if lower, the statutory prescribed rate outlined above (i.e. currently £138.18 each week).
Statutory Sick Pay
From 6 April 2015, statutory sick pay will increase to £88.45 per week (from £87.55).
Assuming an employee qualifies for the payment of statutory sick pay, it is payable for up to 28 weeks in any period of incapacity for work. However, the first three days of the sickness absence are unpaid.
Cap on a week's pay
As you may know, the calculation of statutory redundancy pay and various awards for compensation in unfair dismissal claims are based on weekly pay but a statutory cap on that amount is applied. Currently, the cap is £464 but, from 6 April 2015, it will increase to £475.
Shared Parental Leave and Pay
Shared parental leave will be available to employees whose child is due to be born or placed for adoption on or after 5 April 2015. Click here for further information regarding this new right.
Parental Leave
Eligible employees may take a total of up to 18 weeks' unpaid parental leave for each child for the purpose of caring for that child. However, currently such leave must be taken before the child's 5th birthday (unless the child is disabled). From 5 April 2015, this changes to instead being the child's 18th birthday.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
