April Changes to Statutory Payments

The compensation limits and minimum awards that apply to certain awards that employment tribunals can make and other sums payable under employment legislation change with effect from 6 April.

These include:

• the limit on the compensatory award for unfair dismissal, which will increase from £118,223 to £123,543 (This is likely to be the last such increase since the compensatory award is to be removed by S.25(3) of the Employment Rights Act 2025 (ERA 2025). This change is anticipated to come into effect on 1 January 2027, together with the reduction of the qualifying period for unfair dismissal from two years to six months)
• the limit on a week’s pay for the purpose of calculating, among other things, statutory redundancy payments and the basic award for unfair dismissal, which will increase from £719 to £751
• the limit on the compensatory award for failure to allocate and pay tips fairly, which will increase from £5,135 to £5,366
• guarantee pay, which will increase from £39 to £41 per day; and
• 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, which will increase from £8,763 to £9,157.

These new rates take effect where the ‘appropriate date’ for the cause of action (such as the effective date of termination in an unfair dismissal claim) falls on or after 6 April 2026.

Where the appropriate date falls before 6 April, the old limits will still apply, irrespective of the date on which compensation is awarded.

Other Increases:

With effect from 5 April 2026, statutory maternity pay (after the first six weeks) will be £194.32 per week (increased from £187.18) or 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings, whichever is lower.

The same increase applies, from 6 April 2026, to statutory adoption pay(after the first six weeks), statutory paternity pay, statutory shared parental pay, statutory neonatal care pay, statutory parental bereavement pay and maternity allowance.

Additionally, statutory sick pay will rise from £118.75 to £123.25 per week from 6 April 2026.

Also, the three-day waiting period for statutory sick pay will be abolished so that sick pay will be payable from the first day of sickness absence. This change is also expected to come into force on 6 April.