New Statutory Payment rates announced

To complete the payroll/reward picture, it is not only Budget announcements that we have to look out for. Several days after the Budget on 27 November 2017, minister for family support, housing and child maintenance, Caroline Dinenage, set out a written ministerial statement in the House of Commons confirming the following:

• Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) increases by the value of CPI as at September 2017 (3%) to £92.05 per week. This is always effective the first day of the new tax year (06 April 2018).

• Statutory Maternity, Adoption, Paternity and Shared Parental Pay increases by the value of CPI as at September 2017 to £145.18 per week. This new rate is effective from the first Sunday in April 2018 (1 April 2018).

The Average Weekly Earnings threshold for all statutory payments is aligned to the Lower Earnings Limit for National Insurance contributions. This increases to £116.00 per week in 2018-19.

The above rates, together with those for benefits and the State Pension are contained in the Department for Work and Pension’s document Proposed benefit and pension rates 2018 to 2019.