According to proposals set out in a government policy paper, the revised rates for statutory maternity pay (SMP), statutory adoption pay (SAP), statutory paternity pay (SPP), statutory shared parental pay (ShPP), statutory parental bereavement pay (SPBP) and statutory sick pay (SSP) for tax year 2022/23 are to be as follows:

• the standard weekly rates of SMP, SAP, SPP, ShPP and SPBP will increase from £151.97 to £156.66 (or 90% of the employee’s weekly earnings if that amount is lower than the statutory rate) – it is assumed this will be for payment weeks commencing on or after Sunday, 3 April 2022
• the prescribed weekly rate of maternity allowance (MA) will increase from £151.97 to £156.66 (or 90% of the individual’s weekly earnings if that amount is lower than the statutory rate)
• the weekly rate of SSP will increase from £96.35 to £99.35 from 6 April 2022.

In addition, the amount of the earnings threshold, below which employees do not qualify for SMP, SAP, SPP, ShPP, SPBP and SSP, is to rise from £120 to £123 per week.

The government has published its response to its consultation on making COVID-19 vaccination a condition of deployment for frontline workers in health and social care settings in England and has confirmed that it will now bring forward regulations to implement a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination requirement. The regulations will cover all those who have direct, face-to-face contact with service users, including doctors, nurses, dentists, domiciliary care workers, porters, receptionists, cleaners, volunteers, agency workers and trainees (unless they are exempt). The requirement will apply across the Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulated health and social care sector, whether they are publicly or privately funded.

This means health and social care workers will need to have received a full course of COVID-19 vaccination in order to continue to be deployed. Some individuals will be exempt from the regulations:

• those under the age of 18
• those who are clinically exempt from COVID-19 vaccination
• those who have taken part or are currently taking part in a clinical trial for a COVID-19 vaccine
• those who do not have direct, face to face contact with a service user, for example, those providing care remotely, such as through triage or telephone consultations, or managerial staff working in sites apart from patient areas
• those providing care as part of a shared lives agreement.

The requirement will come into force in the spring, subject to the passage of the regulations through Parliament. There will be a 12-week grace period between the regulations being made and coming into force to allow those who have not yet been vaccinated to have both doses. Enforcement would begin from 1 April 2022, subject to Parliamentary approval.

The requirement will only cover COVID-19 vaccinations, not flu vaccinations.

As part of the Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021, the government has confirmed that it will continue to meet 95% of the apprenticeship training costs for employers who do not pay the Apprenticeship Levy and it will deliver several apprenticeship system improvements for all employers. These include:

• an enhanced recruitment service by May 2022 for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), helping them hire new apprentices 
• supporting flexible apprenticeship training models to ensure that apprenticeship training continues to meet the needs of employers. By April 2022, the government will consider changes to the provider payment profiles aimed at giving employers more choice over how the apprenticeship training is delivered, and explore the streamlining of existing additional employer support payments so that they go directly to employers
• introducing a return-on-investment tool in October 2022 to ensure employers can see the benefits apprentices create in their business.

The government has also confirmed the extension of the £3,000 apprentice hiring incentive payment for employers until 31 January 2022.

The government has published its response to its 2016 consultation on tipping, gratuities, cover and service charges and has confirmed its intention to bring forward legislative measures to ensure tips, gratuities and service charges go to workers in full. The legislative measures will include:

• requirements for employers in all sectors to not make any deductions from tips received by their staff, including admin charges, other than those required by tax law
• requirements for employers to distribute tips in a way that is fair and transparent, with a written policy on tips, and a record of how tips have been dealt with. Employers will be able to distribute tips via a tronc, and a tip must be dealt with by no later than the end of the month following the month in which it was paid by the customer
• provisions to allow workers to make a request for information relating to an employer’s tipping record. Employers will have flexibility in how to design and communicate a tipping record, but they should respond within four weeks
• requirements for employers to have regard to a new statutory Code of Practice on Tipping which will support the legislation.

Where employers fail to comply with the new measures, workers will be able to bring employment tribunal claims.

The provisions will be included in the upcoming Employment Bill which will be brought forward when parliamentary time allows.