There have been many HR Changes in 2017, so let’s get right to it.
National Living Wage & National Minimum Wage
The first HR changes of 2017 are to the National Living Wage and the National Minimum Wage. From April 2017, the National Living Wage will increase by 30 pence. The rate will go from £7.20 to £7.50 per hour. The National Minimum Wage will also increase from:
- £6.95 to £7.05 for 21 – 24 year olds
- £5.55 to £5.60 for 18 to 20 year olds
- £4.00 to £4.05 for 16-17 year olds
- From £3.40 to £3.50 for apprentices
Apprenticeship Levy
Secondly, there’s the Apprenticeship Levy. This is payable by employers with an annual pay bill of £30 million, and is due to come into force April 2017. Payments wont commence until May 2017.
Employers meeting this criteria will nee to report and pay the levy to HMRC through PAYE. Anyone that pays into the levy, will have access to the new digital apprenticeship service which funds apprenticeship training.
Salary Sacrifice Schemes
The third HR change in 2017 is the clamp down on salary sacrifices. From April 2017, most salary sacrifice schemes will be subject to the same tax as cash income. Exceptions to this are:
- Childcare
- Cycling to work scheme
- Ultra-low emission cars
- Pensions
Fourth, Gender Pay Reporting. Subject to parlimentary approval, the recently published Pay Gap Regulations should come into effect April 2017. The first Gender Pay Report is due the 4th April 2018.
General Data Protection Regulation
Finally, the last HR change in 2017 is the General Data Protection Regulation.
The Regulations contains provisions that promote more accountability, transparency and governance. Some of the measures are as follows:
- In cases of data breaches, businesses must notify the relevant authority without delay and where possible no later than 72 hours. Data subjects must also be informed without delay about breaches that could pose a high risk to their rights and freedoms.
- A subject may request for their data to be deleted if there are no legitimate grounds for retaining the data. This is known as the right to be forgotten or right to erasure.
- When a subject’s consent is required, they must be asked to give it as a written statement. Silence or inactivity is not a sign of consent.
- Organisations must appoint a ‘data protection officer’ if they process sensitive personal data on a big scale, or regularly and systematically monitor data subjects on a large scale.
- It imposes higher maximum penalties for failure to comply, including fines of up to £20 million or 4% of annual global turnover (whichever is higher).
For more HR Changes, you can contact us.
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