New statutory payment rates for maternity, paternity and adoption pay, as well as Statutory Sick Pay, came into force last week. While the new rates are still subject to parliamentary approval, maternity, paternity and adoption pay is set to rise by £1.33 a week to £136.78, with an 85p increase in Statutory Sick Pay to £86.70 per week.

Employers may be able to recover the statutory payments they make, but this depends on the level of Class 1 National Insurance contributions (NICs) paid in the relevant tax year.

If these amount to £45,000 or less, then the employer can recover 100 percent of the payments made, plus an extra three percent as compensation for the employer’s Class 1 NICs on these payments.

If the employer’s NIC liabilities are above the £45,000 threshold, they can recover 92 percent of the statutory payments made.

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The S4B Team