A look ahead at 2022 some legislative changes and possible trends.

We take a look ahead at 2022, with a focus on legislative changes and possible trends.

LEGISLATION

April 2022: Rate changes for

  • The National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage.
  • Statutory Maternity Pay, Statutory Paternity Pay, Shared Parental Pay, Adoption Pay, Maternity Allowance, and Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay & Statutory Sick Pay.
  • The statutory cap on a week’s pay for the purposes of calculating the basic award and Statutory Redundancy Pay.

Click Statutory Rates for a roundup of all statutory rates.

April 2022: Increase in National Insurance contributions

National Insurance Contributions will increase by 1.25% from April 2022 for employers and employees to raise funds for social care and the NHS.

The levy applies to class 1 NICs paid by employees and class 4 NICs paid by self-employed workers.

However, Class 2 self-employed NICs and class 3 NICs, which are voluntary payments made to top-up state pension gaps, are not impacted by the levy.

The levy will also not be taken from pension income.

March/April 2022:   The Gender Pay Gap Reporting

You must report your gender pay gap data if your organisation has 250 or more employees (also known as your employee ‘headcount’) on a specific date. This specific date is called the ‘snapshot date’.

The deadlines for gender pay gap reporting in 2022 are:

  • 30th March 2022 – for most public authority employers
  • 4th April 2022 – for private, voluntary and all other public authority employers.

The Employment Bill

Originally mentioned in the Queen’s Speech of December 2019, progress on this has been slow.   The First Reading has now taken place and the Second Reading is scheduled for Friday 18th March 2022.

A private members bill which is likely to include the following measures:

  • a new right for all workers to request a more predictable contract,
  • a single market enforcement agency to help workers enforce their rights and support business compliance,
  • extended protection for pregnant employees,
  • a week’s leave for unpaid carers,
  • making flexible working the default where an employer does not have a good reason not to allow it, and
  • measures to encourage employers to play their part in retaining disabled people.

The pandemic has caused significant delay in the progress of this piece of legislation.  There are still several stages for the bill to pass through before it makes it onto the statute.  We will have to watch and wait for the full details to unfold.

Employee Retention

Apart from legislative changes and reviews, when we look ahead at 2022, retaining employees could be one of the biggest challenges for this year.   In its annual employer survey, the HR solutions provider SD Worx found many British companies saying both attracting and retaining employees are their biggest challenges in 2022.  The research also identified a significant proportion of businesses who put staff welfare and resilience second on their list of concerns, after worker retention.

Focus on culture

With employee retention a factor during 2022, developing a productive workplace environment is central to a successful organisation.  Problematic workplace cultures, which allow bullying/harassment/discrimination will have a negative effect on employees directly experiencing these and on those who witness them.   The outcomes of this type of workplace include rising mental health issues and increased absenteeism.  Focus on this area comes as several high-profile companies such as AppleBrewdog and Goldman Sachs have recently received backlash from staff due to alleged toxic company cultures.

Creating workplaces which offer safe spaces for your employees is a key element of a good retention strategy.

According to sources such as LinkedIn, resignations are on the rise.  When you couple this with the current skills shortage, it makes good business sense to implement ideas which create an organisation people want to join and continue to stay.   Here are some for you to think about:

  • Put people at the heart of your business strategy.
  • Take a preventative approach to protect your culture and your people e.g., through establishing anonymous reporting for incidents of bullying or harassment.
  • Create a safe space for employees to report problematic behaviour.
  • Break down barriers for those who have been on the receiving end of bullying or harassment and offer further support.

For further information about our look ahead at 2022 please contact either Helen or Lindsey at Contact Solution22 – HR Consultancy Services