Employer costs and law changes checklist for April 2025

Checklist of items to review 

• Statutory rates increase in April - updated rates can be checked here. The rate changes include the likes of the National Minimum Wage, National Living Wage, National Insurance contributions, Statutory Sick Pay, Statutory Maternity, Paternity, Shared Parental, Adoption, and Bereavement Pay. 

What do I need to do? Please note that these rates must be used by employers from 1 April (for the National Minimum and Living Wage) and 6 April 2025 for all other rates. 

• Compensation limits also increase in April. From 6 April 2025 these new rates apply to the likes of unfair dismissal and redundancy awards. 

What do I need to do? Make sure you are aware of these changes to advise business of legal risk. 

• Immigration fees are increasing from the 9 April 2025. While many are at a rate of 5-10%, employers should be conscious that for some Skilled Worker Visas, the cost of a sponsorship certificate is increasing by 120%.  

What do I need to do? Employers who are due to apply for a Certificate of Sponsorship on these visa routes, may want to apply before 9 April, when the rate rises take effect. 

• Neonatal Care law is effective from 6 April, for babies born on or after this date. Practitioners need to be aware of the leave and pay requirements under this new statutory right. Employees will potentially be able to claim neonatal care leave and pay from 14 April (this would be the first date when a child would have been in neonatal care for the qualifying period for a parent to claim the right).  

What do I need to do? This is a new statutory right and will need to be actioned immediately for qualifying employees. Company policies will need to be updated, plus guidance information and training. The CIPD have developed a flowchart and infographic to support you with this new right. 

• Hundreds of amendments to the Employment Rights Bill (ERB) are now in the draft.

What do I need to do? Review these amendments so that you can prepare and advise business ahead of any potential change.

Other amendments to be aware of

Please note that these amendments are in addition to what is already known to be contained in the ERB, all of which is not yet law. Of interest to the profession, the amendments include:  

Agency workers (zero hours contracts): Amendments confirming the intent for agency workers to have the right to guaranteed hours, reasonable notice of shifts and compensation for last minute changes (this is to close a loophole so agency workers are not used to fill in zero hours contracts gaps, when the government imposes restrictions on their use). 

Collective consultation - redundancy: Amendments changing the threshold test for collective consultation to be 20 or more workers "at one establishment” OR a certain number/percentage of employees affected across the employing entity. Further legislation will clarify how this works. 

Protective award (collective redundancy): Amendments to clarify that where employers fail to comply with collective consultation rules, tribunals would be allowed to double the Protective Award, from 90 days’ pay to 180 days' gross wages. 

Fire and rehire: Amendments making ‘fire and rehire’ dismissals automatically unfair where the employee, or someone else, is re-engaged to do the same or similar work.  

Enforcement powers: Amendments introducing a raft of new powers for the government, allowing these powers to be assigned to the proposed Fair Work Agency (FWA). These proposals include:

• Allowing the FWA to bring tribunal claims on behalf of workers (where the worker is not going to bring proceedings)
• For the FWA to offer legal assistance where needed (with the costs recoverable from guilty employers)
• To pursue up to six years of underpayments of labour market costs (such as holiday pay and sick pay) for employees, with additional financial penalties on employers to be paid to government. 

Flexible working: Amendments allowing employers to withhold certain 'reasons for refusal' of a flexible working request, where the reason relates to national security. 

Statutory Sick Pay (SSP): Amendments establishing the percentage rate for those earning up to the flat rate of SSP at 80% of normal weekly earnings, or the flat rate, whichever is lowest. 

Trade unions: Several amendments to trade union rights and access (these changes are explored in the tracker). In brief overview, amendments include: 

• simplifying information requirements around ballots for industrial action
• reducing the notice period ahead of industrial action from 14 days to 10 days
• extending the period that mandates for industrial action are valid for to 12 months (previously six months)
• extending unions access rights into digital formats

Umbrella companies: Amendments introducing a matter not previously included in the ERB, adding in that into the act that regulates employment agencies that where "employment business" is referred to, this should include businesses that participate in arrangements under which persons are supplied by their employer to work for other persons (umbrella companies). 

Unfair dismissal and detriment: Amendments allowing for an initial period of employment (probation) to be included in the reference period for calculating detriment rewards (without it be considered a period which should not be included and/or included at a lower rate). 

Working time records: Amendments requiring employers to keep certain annual leave and pay records for six years. 

What was not included or changed:  

No interim relief in collective redundancy or fire and rehire situations. 

There is also broad coverage of the proposal for two weeks of bereavement leave for those suffering pregnancy loss; miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, molar pregnancy, medical termination or unsuccessful IVF embryo transfer. The motion is not in the amended ERB but the government has now issued a response to the proposal. Stay up to date on these matters in the tracker. 

Tribunals to consider 

In R (Prestwick Care Ltd) v Secretary of State for the Home Department and R (Supporting Care Ltd) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2025] the Court of Appeal confirmed that there is no duty on the Home Office to consider the impact of revoking a sponsor licence. Employers may wish to be conscious of the comment from the Court that sponsorship is "a privilege not a right", and that when sponsor duties are not adhered to this breaks the chain of trust with the sponsor.  

In Mr N Walker v Robsons (Rickmansworth) Limited [2025] part of the rationale for the upholding of the claim of unfair dismissal was based on the fact that the claimant was moved to a more ‘junior’ desk position, and this was seen as a demotion, later contributing, in part, to his reasons for resigning. Practitioners may want to read the conclusions on constructive unfair dismissal on this matter.