The annual changes to compensation limits and statutory payments will take effect from 6 April 2025.
Unfair dismissal cap
For dismissals effective from 6 April 2025, the cap on the compensatory award for unfair dismissal will increase from £115,115 to £118,223.
Week’s pay
The amount of a week’s pay used for calculating both the basic award for unfair dismissal and statutory redundancy pay will increase from £700 to £719.
Vento bands
In respect of claims presented to the Employment Tribunal on or after 6 April 2025, the applicable Vento bands will be as follows:
- a lower band of £1,200 to £12,100 for less serious cases,
- a middle band of £12,100 to £36,400 for cases that do not merit an award in the upper band, and
- an upper band of £36,400 to £60,700 for the most serious cases, with the most exceptional cases capable of exceeding £60,700.
Statutory entitlements
The rates of payment for a range of statutory leave entitlements, including statutory maternity, paternity and shared parental pay, and statutory sick pay will also increase:
- Statutory maternity pay (after the first six weeks), statutory adoption pay (after the first six weeks), statutory paternity pay, statutory shared parental pay and statutory parental bereavement pay will be £187.18 per week (increased from £184.03) or 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings, whichever is lower. The same increase applies to maternity allowance from 7 April 2025.
- Statutory sick pay will rise from £116.75 to £118.75 per week from 6 April 2025.
In addition, as part of the Employment Rights Bill the government has proposed to remove the 3-day waiting period for statutory sick pay and set it at 80% of normal weekly earnings for low-earnings employees who would currently not be eligible to receive it. However, these changes have yet to come into effect.
Neonatal leave and pay
From 6 April 2025 eligible employees have a right to take up to 12 weeks’ leave where their child requires 7 (or more) days of continuous neonatal care starting within the first 28 days following their birth.
It will be paid at the same rate as statutory paternity pay or shared parental pay, namely £187.18 per week.
We covered the new right to neonatal leave and pay in detail in our update last month.
Other increases
- Guarantee pay will increase from £38 to £39 per day.
- The limit on the compensatory award for failure to allocate and pay tips fairly will increase from £5,000 to £5,135.
- The minimum basic award in cases where a dismissal is unfair by virtue of certain health and safety, working time, employee representative, trade union, or occupational pension trustee reasons will increase from £8,533 to £8,763.