Welcome to the April issue of the Fast Forward Newsletter. This month’s news and signposts to helpful guidance are on:

Fast Forward News and Resources

• Webinar recording: Wages, labour costing and National Minimum Wage 2022
• New resources: On direct labour costing and 2022 wage rates, self-employed workers, environmental guidance and employer of choice business templates.

Industry News

• Ukraine guidance
• Just Good Work – New poster available in Ukrainian

Legislative News and Updates

• Statutory Sick Pay – Coronavirus updates
• Right to work updates from 6th April 2022
• Employer duty to provide PPE extended to agency workers

We’d also like to get your feedback whether you’re a brand, supplier, factory, warehouse or other organisation. Please do get in touch.

The Fast Forward Team

FAST FORWARD NEWS

Webinar and Guidance
Wages, labour costing and National Minimum Wage 2022

The National Minimum Wage increased on 1 April 2022 to £9.50 an hour for 23+ years, representing a 6.6% increase on 2021 rates. This interactive webinar and accompanying guidance shares practical steps you can implement into your business through effective labour costing and communication with relevant business partners.

Supplier Engagement Programme (SEP)
This month’s new resources

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INDUSTRY NEWS

Ukraine Guidance

• From 3 May 2022, Ukrainian nationals in the UK who have temporary visas, including work, study or visit visas will be able to apply to the Ukraine Extension Scheme.  The scheme is free to apply.  Successful applicants will get 3 years leave to remain in the UK and will have the right to work, study and access public funds.  Ukrainians who had visas on or before 18 March 2022, or visas which have expired since 1 January 2022, will be able to apply.  Further information will be available on GOV.UK in due course.
• Ukrainians can apply for benefits and other types of financial support from the day they arrive in the UK.  Find out more from DWP’s new web page: Financial support for those fleeing the conflict in Ukraine.
• Government has published a useful guide for Ukrainians arriving in the UK. It contains specific information for those arriving on the Homes for Ukraine Scheme, as well as general information about accessing benefits and public services and what to do if things go wrong.  The free Just Good Work app contains information and advice on working in the UK and can be downloaded in Ukrainian.
• Stronger Together will be publishing a practical guide to the responsible recruitment and employment of workers affected by the crisis in Ukraine. We will share this on Fast Forward’s LinkedIn when available.

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Just Good Work

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LEGISLATIVE NEWS

Coronavirus is now treated the same way as any other illness in respect of Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)

This means there is no longer any entitlement to SSP from day one of illness, or to SSP for periods of self-isolation where the worker is not sick.

GPs will now be able to authorise fit notes digitally without the need to print and sign them. This means instead of a handwritten signature in ink, fit notes will have the doctor’s name included in the form, which can either be printed or sent digitally to patients.  While this is being rolled out, the existing fit note will still be legally valid and should be accepted until notification that it is being withdrawn.

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Right to work updates

An updated Employers Guide to Right to Work Checks has been published, to reflect changes in legislation due to come into force on 6 April 2022 including:

• Biometric Residence Cards, Biometric Residence Permits (BRC/BRPs) and Frontier Worker Permits (FWPs) removed from the list of acceptable documents as right to work checks for people with these permissions will be carried out online from 6th April.
• The addition to List B, group 2 of a Certificate of Application (CoA) digital or non-digital confirming a valid application to the EUSS on or after 1 July 2021 together with a Positive Verification Notice (PVN) from the Employer Checking Service (ECS)
• Changes and further guidance to enable employers to use Identity Service Providers (IDSPs) to carry out digital identity verification as part of a right to work check (Annex D)
• The extension to the COVID-19 temporary adjusted right to work checks until 30 September 2022 (Annex E).
• Previous guidance specified that right to work checks must be carried out by employees, but on page 13 of this draft guidance, under ‘Checking the validity of documents,’ it says: “The responsibility for checking the document is yours. Whilst it may be delegated to your members of staff (this includes agency workers engaged by you and working under your control), you will remain liable for the penalty in the event the individual is found to be working illegally and the prescribed check has not been correctly carried out. You may not delegate this responsibility to a third party where you are carrying out a manual check of original documents. This would indicate that the Home Office are happy for such checks to be carried out by agency workers as long as they are working under your control.“
• The guidance also includes a new Annex F, covering employment of Ukraine nationals.

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PPE update

The Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 (PPER 1992)) places a duty on every employer in Great Britain to ensure that suitable PPE is provided to ‘employees’ who may be exposed to a risk to their health or safety while at work. PPER 2022 extends this duty to agency workers on a contract for services and came into force on 6 April 2022.

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