01 November 2021 
Julia Ascott, Employment Taxes Specialist
From 1 April 2022, the NMW and NLW rates will be increased as follows:
Whilst it is appreciated that the UCU are still in dispute over the 2020/21 and 2021/22 single pay spine, the lowest (proposed) full-time salary from August 2021 is set at £17,338. Universities paying salaries at this rate will need to take great care that they are not breaching NMW/NLW when the rates increase in April. The most common pitfalls in the HE sector that may lead to NMW breaches have been highlighted in our NMW e-learning courses but, in summary, they can include:
With potential uplifts in wages required, along with the increased cost of the Health & Social Care Levy of 1.25% across all classes of NIC, universities should be re-forecasting their wages budget to adequately assess the financial impact of these measures. To put some context around this increase, based on HESA analysis of staff costs in 2019/20, total salaries and wages in the HE sector was circa £17b. The Health & Social Care Levy of an extra 1.25% would cost universities (not employees) £216m on top of existing NIC duties.
