How will the 2017 Spring Budget affect your employment rights?
In most cases an individual will only scan through the highlights of this year’s Spring Budget for those points that will affect them as an individual, but how will your employment be affected, if at all, by the changes?
Some of the key points from the 2017 Spring Budget are:-
The National Living Wage will increase from £7.20 per hour to £7.50 per hour from 1 April 2017 (this is NOT the National Minimum Wage).
The amount of income an individual, that is a UK-resident, can receive before being charged income tax (the Personal Allowance) will increase from £11,000 to £11,500 from 6 April 2017.
The amount that you earn before paying tax at the Higher Rate Threshold (40%) will increase from £43,001 to £45,001 from 6 April 2017.
A Tax-Free Childcare Policy will provide up to £2,000 a year in childcare support to parents for each of their children under 12 years of age and up to £4,000 for each disabled child up to the age of 17.
To qualify for Tax-Free Childcare, parents will have to be working and each earning at least £115 per week but not more than £100,000 each per year.
Working parents with children aged three and four will be entitled to increased childcare of 30 hours per week (up from the previous entitlement of 15 hours) from September 2017.
The government will invest £5million to promote and increase the number “returnships” to help and encourage people back into employment, in both the public sector and private sector, after a career break;
From 2019, ‘T-levels’ will be introduced for those aged between 16 and 19. T-levels will allow technical students to train through different routes including construction, digital and agriculture and all students must take part in an industry work placement.