Employment 2025

UK Law and Practice Contributed by: Phil Linnard, Philippa O’Malley, David Rintoul and Clare Fletcher, Slaughter and May

(see 1.4 Compensation ). Where compulsory and/or regular, overtime should be included in the calculation of statutory holiday pay. 1.4 Compensation All English workers aged 21 or over must be paid the NLW. Younger workers and apprentices are entitled to the NMW. Records should be kept by employers to confirm that eligible workers have been paid at least the NLW or NMW. Paying less than the NLW or NMW is a criminal offence that may attract fines and/ or “naming and shaming” by HMRC. As of 1 April 2025, the hourly NLW and NMW rates were: • NLW (21 and over): GBP12.21; • NMW 18–20 year-old rate: GBP10.00; • NMW 16–17 year-old rate: GBP7.55; and • NMW apprentice rate: GBP7.55. Other current rates and payments applicable from 6 April 2025 include the following: • statutory sick pay (SSP) – weekly rate of GBP118.75; • statutory maternity pay (SMP) – 90% of normal pay for the first 6 weeks, thereafter the lesser of GBP187.18 per week or 90% of average weekly earnings for the remaining 33 weeks; • statutory paternity pay (SPP), shared parental pay (ShPP), and adoption pay (SAP) – prescribed weekly rate of GBP187.18; and • statutory redundancy pay (SRP) – GBP21,570 maximum. The ERB contemplates the SSP rate changing from the flat rate to the lower of either the flat rate or 80% of the employee’s weekly earnings. An employer is not permitted to make deductions from an employee’s salary, such as deducting tax, without either statutory authorisation or the employee’s con - sent, which is often sought through the employment contract. In addition to salary, it is common to reward and incentivise employees through the use of bonuses

(b) obey the employer’s reasonable and lawful orders; and (c) exercise reasonable skill and care in perform - ing their duties of employment. • Obligations on the employer to: (a) take reasonable care of the health and safety of the employee; and (b) exercise its discretion rationally when making decisions about the employee. 1.3 Working Hours Under English law, there is technically a maximum 48-hour working week under the Working Time Regu - lations 1998 (WTR). However, employers are able to ask workers to opt out of this limit (and often do so). There are also exceptions from the 48-hour maximum working week, including for management level work - ers. Workers are also entitled to daily and weekly rest breaks, and specific restrictions apply to periods of night work. Currently, all UK employees have the right to request flexible working. Employers must deal with such requests in a reasonable manner, but can refuse an application if they have a good business reason for doing so (which is relatively straightforward to estab - lish in practice). The ERB makes a minor change to the existing right, requiring the employer to act reasonably in determin - ing the reason for refusal and to communicate this rationale to the employee. Part-time workers have the right not to suffer discrimi - nation because of their part-time status, unless dif - ferential treatment can be objectively justified. Remu - neration and benefits may generally be applied on a pro rata basis to reflect the time actually worked. Overtime is primarily governed by the contract of employment and may be compulsory or voluntary. Employers do not necessarily have to adopt formal arrangements for paying workers for overtime; how - ever, they must be careful to ensure the worker’s aver - age pay for the total hours worked does not fall below the national living wage (NLW) or NMW, as applicable

692 CHAMBERS.COM