Lower earnings limit meaning

Government response—Making Work Pay: Strengthening Statutory Sick Pay What are the implications? The change to the method by which SSP is calculated will: benefit a number of lower-paid workers in particular result in an additional cost to employers, albeit relatively small in most instances The government considers setting SSP at 80% to be the right balance, shielding those on lower incomes from financial hardship and better enabling people to take the time off they need to recover, when they are unwell, which can also help stop the spread of infections and cut the overall rate of sickness absence. These changes will apply across England, Wales and Scotland...

Summary of changes From 1 April 2024: new rules for calculating holiday entitlement and pay for irregular hours and part‑year workers (including 12.07% accrual and an option to use rolled‑up holiday pay); annual National Living Wage/National Minimum Wage uplift and removal of the live‑in domestic worker exemption; higher Agricultural Minimum Wage rates in Wales; and increased VAT registration (£90,000) and deregistration (£88,000) limits. From 6 April 2024: flexible working becomes a day‑one right with revised processes and an updated Acas Code; paternity leave/pay reformed so two separate one‑week blocks can be taken within the first year; introduction of unpaid carer’s leave; extended redundancy protection during pregnancy and for a period after family leave; Employment Tribunal rule changes and higher compensation caps; uplifted Vento bands; higher SSP; Class 1 main employee NIC cut to 8% while weekly thresholds (including the £123 LEL) remain static; veterans’ employer NIC relief extended; van benefit and car/van fuel benefits frozen; higher high income child benefit charge threshold with tapered application; and...

In this issue: Employment Rights Act 2025 Immigration Pay Pensions Tax Maternity, parents and carers Data protection and employee information Industrial action Bribery, tax evasion and modern slavery Industrial Relations Law Reports (IRLR)—April 2026 New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Employment resources on Lexis+® LexTalk®Employment: a Lexis®Nexis community Daily and weekly news alerts Employment Rights Act 2025 Employment Rights Act 2025 (Statutory Sick Pay) (Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2026 SI 2026/210: The Regulations revise the Statutory Sick Pay (General) Regulations 1982, SI 1982/894, and the corresponding Northern Ireland instrument, deleting mentions of waiting days and the lower earnings limit, so as to implement sections 10–13 of the Employment Rights Act 2025 (ERA 2025), which abolish statutory sick pay waiting days and remove the lower earnings threshold. They are scheduled to take effect on 6 April 2026. See: LNB News 06/03/2026 27...

FORTHCOMING DEVELOPMENT : The Pensions (Extension of Automatic Enrolment) (No. 2) Bill secured Royal Assent on 18 September 2023, becoming the Pensions (Extension of Automatic Enrolment) Act 2023 (the Act), and was published on 19 September 2023. The Act confers powers on the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to make regulations to: lower the minimum age at which otherwise eligible employees must be automatically enrolled and re-enrolled into a pension scheme by their employers; remove the Lower Earnings Limit from the qualifying earnings band so that contributions are calculated from the first pound of earnings; and revise the requirements for the annual review of the qualifying earnings band. Adjustments to automatic enrolment eligibility will proceed following a consultation on the detailed implementation method and timing. The commencement of section 1 of the Act is set to be ‘on such day or days as the Secretary of State may by regulations appoint’. For further information, see: DWP press release, Work...

FORTHCOMING DEVELOPMENT : The Pensions (Extension of Automatic Enrolment) (No. 2) Bill secured Royal Assent on 18 September 2023, becoming the Pensions (Extension of Automatic Enrolment) Act 2023 (the Act), and it was published on 19 September 2023. The Act empowers the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to make regulations to: lower the minimum age at which otherwise eligible workers must be automatically enrolled and re-enrolled by their employers into a pension scheme; remove the Lower Earnings Limit from the qualifying earnings band so that contributions are calculated from the first pound of pay; adjust the requirements for the annual review of the qualifying earnings band. Changes to eligibility for automatic enrolment will be introduced following consultation on the detailed method of implementation and timing. The commencement of section 1 of the Act will be “on such day or days as the Secretary of State may by regulations appoint”. For further information, see: DWP press release, Work and Pensions...

FORTHCOMING DEVELOPMENT : The Pensions (Extension of Automatic Enrolment) (No. 2) Bill received Royal Assent on 18 September 2023 as the Pensions (Extension of Automatic Enrolment) Act 2023 (the Act), and was published on 19 September 2023. The Act grants the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions powers to make regulations to: reduce the lower age threshold at which otherwise eligible employees must be automatically enrolled and re‑enrolled by their employers into a pension scheme; remove the Lower Earnings Limit from the qualifying earnings band so that contributions are calculated from the first pound earned; and amend the requirements for the annual review of the qualifying earnings band. Adjustments to automatic enrolment eligibility will follow a consultation on the detailed approach and timing for implementation. The date on which section 1 of the Act comes into force is specified to be “on such day or days as the Secretary of State may by regulations appoint”. For further information, see: DWP...