Andrew Parascandolo
Employment Solicitor
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Phone: 0113 200 7480
Email: ap@averywalters.com
Pay & Benefits Employment Law Solicitors Leeds
Have you faced discrimination at work over your pay and benefits?
The pay and benefits you receive from your place of employment should adhere to the legislation set out in UK law. You should be paid at least the national minimum wage and there should be no discrepancies between pay in gender within the same role.
If you believe you have not received the minimum wage or have experienced discrimination over equal pay in the workplace contact Avery Walters employment law solicitors today for a free initial consultation on making a discrimination claim.
Contact our employment law lawyers by calling our Leeds law firm on 0113 200 7480 or Harrogate law firm on 01423 564551. We are ready to speak to you confidentially about any potential claims.
What is the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage?
The minimum wage you can expect to receive will depend on your age. Those over the age of 25 should receive the full National Living Wage.
The below table provides the National Minimum Wage:
Current rate from 1 April 2020
National Living Wage £8.72
21-24 Year Old Rate £8.20
18-20 Year Old Rate £6.45
16-17 Year Old Rate £4.55
Apprentice Rate £4.15
Accommodation Offset £8.20
Some employers will pay their staff the National Living Wage which currently stands at £9.50 an hour (£10.85 an hour in London). This is entirely at the discretion of the employer.
Other types of payment
There are other types of payment that you may receive from your place of work. Here Avery Walters discuss the other potential pay and benefits you may be entitled to.
Sickness Pay
Generally, your employment contract will show what rights you have to company sick pay, and over what period. By law, there is no absolute entitlement to company sick pay. This decision is solely at your employer’s discretion.
You may be entitled to Statutory Sick Pay (“SSP”), regardless of what is in your contract of employment. This may be an addition to any company sick pay if your employer has a sick pay policy.
The payment limit of SSP is generally, 28 weeks in a 3 year period. Currently, the weekly SSP amount is £95.85 per week.
There are a number of criteria that you must pass to qualify for SSP. These are that you must:
have 4 or more consecutive days of sickness (including Sundays and bank holidays). You must be incapable of carrying out your work (the first 3 “waiting days” do not qualify);
notify absence to your employer within their set deadlines (within 7 days if they do not have one);
supply evidence of you being incapacitated, such as self-certificate or doctor’s certificate;
earn at least £118.00 (before tax) per week.
If you are off work again within 8 weeks of your first absence, you do not need to clock up another 3 days before SSP becomes payable on the 4th day. These are known as “linked waiting days”.
Holiday Pay
Holiday pay is paid at your standard rate of pay. Full-time employees as a minimum, should receive 5.6 weeks of paid holiday each year (equal to 28 days including Bank Holidays). You may be offered more than this in your contract of employment, but this is entirely the employer’s decision.
Part-time employees should also be entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid holiday each year (equal to 28 days including Bank Holidays) calculated on a pro-rata basis.
You must take holidays when it is convenient with your employer- there is no absolute right to take the holiday times of your choosing. Generally, the notice time is twice as long as the time you wish to take off. You may also be allowed to transfer some holiday days to the following year if your employer agrees.
Maternity/Paternity Pay
Your maternity pay will start on the same day as your maternity leave. You are not allowed to receive it while you’re still at work or if you are more than 11 weeks before your due date. You can receive either maternity or paternity leave through the birth of your child, adoption or surrogacy.
By law, statutory maternity pay lasts up to 39 weeks and is broken down by:
6 weeks pay of 90% of your average weekly pay (before tax)
33 weeks getting either £151.20 a week or 90% of your average weekly pay (before tax) - whichever is less
By law, statutory paternity pay is either £151.20 a week or 90% of your average weekly pay (before tax) - whichever is less and is available to those who have been with the same company for 6 months or more.
Both Maternity and paternity pay is subject to the usual tax and National Insurance deductions. Your paternity/maternity pay will not increase if you have more than one baby (Twins, Triplets etc).
Tips and Gratuities
Tips and Gratuities do not count towards the National Minimum Wage you can expect to receive. However, you do have to pay tax on them.
Tips can be received:
as cash at the end of a shift or from a customer
as part of your pay packet
through an amount that’s pooled and shared between all staff. This is called a ‘tronc’ and the person who looks after it is called the ‘troncmaster’.
The UK government offers advice to employers on how to handle tips and gratuities. This, however, is only advisory and employers do not have to follow it.
Redundancy Pay
If you have been employed with your present employer for a minimum of 2 years, you are entitled to a minimum statutory redundancy payment from your employer.
The amount of a statutory redundancy payment is calculated using a formula based on:
how long you have worked for your employer (see below); and
your age (see below); and
your weekly pay (see below)
Statutory redundancy pay is worked out as follows:
1.5 week’s pay for each complete year of employment when you were aged between 41-64 inclusive
1 week’s pay for each complete year of employment when you were aged between 22-40 inclusive
0.5 week’s pay for each complete year of employment when you were aged between 18-21 inclusive. Employment before the age of 18 is ignored when working out statutory redundancy pay.
The weekly wage used to work out statutory redundancy payment will usually be your normal weekly gross pay at the time you were made redundant. This sum can be up to the maximum limit which is £538.00 as of April 2020.
As of April 2020, the maximum statutory redundancy payment you could receive is £16,140.
Your rights under UK law
Equal Pay is covered in the UK under the Equality Act 2010.
The legislation ensures that someone must not receive less pay compared to someone in the same role who is of the opposite sex and doing equal work for the same employer. Things that must be equal include:
Basic pay
Pensions
Working hours
Holiday entitlement
Sick pay
Redundancy pay
Bonuses
Benefits such as mobile phones or company vehicles
How to get a settlement agreement after experiencing unequal pay
Whether you're young or old don't suffer in silence If you believe you've been unfairly reimbursed because of your gender.
Speak to one of our experienced employment law solicitors about challenging all gender biased behaviour as you may be able to get compensation from your employer for financial loss and injury to feelings.
Our specialist team of discrimination lawyers represent clients who have suffered wage and payment discrimination in the workplace. We have past experience in successfully securing compensation for clients who have suffered discrimination at the hands of many organisations
Contact our Employment Law Solicitors
If you feel you have been underpaid or unfairly paid due to your gender, our discrimination solicitors regularly represent clients in discrimination claims locally to our offices. For specialist employment law advice, contact our team of employment law solicitors in our Leeds or Harrogate offices today for a specialist, no-obligation FREE initial-consultation.
* Laura Stafford is the SFE accredited memberand a full member of STEP