7 key business dates for your diary

1 April — National Minimum Wage increases

The minimum hourly rate that you must pay certain categories of worker will increase as of 1 April. See our beautiful infographic below and our section on staff pay for further information.

1 April — Digital records and VAT returns

Most businesses with an annual turnover of more than £85,000 will be required to sign up to Making Tax Digital, keep digital VAT records, and use specified software to submit their VAT returns to HMRC. Click here for the government step-by-step guidance on this.

4 April — Gender pay gap reports where 250+ employees

Employers with 250 or more employees as of 5 April 2018 have a duty to publish, before 4 April 2019, details about the gender pay gap in their company.

6 April — Payslip changes

Employers will be required to provide payslips to all workers, not just employees (eg casual workers too) for pay periods beginning on or after 6 April. Payslips will also need to include additional information about where workers’ pay varies according to the number of hours they have worked. Check your payroll system to ensure that you comply with the legal change.

6 April — Statutory sick pay increase

Statutory sick pay will increase from £92.05 to £94.25 per week.

6 April — Statutory maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental pay increase

Statutory maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental pay will increase from £145.18 to £148.68 per week.

You should review which of the above changes will affect your business and take steps as soon as possible to ensure that you are ready ahead of time.

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