Good news does not always make headlines, but this is worth sharing. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published its annual statistics on work-related fatal injuries, and the picture is genuinely encouraging. Great Britain remains one of the safest places in the world to go to work – and the latest figures are, provisionally, the best on record. Even so, 126 families still lost someone last year to an accident that happened at work. So while we can take heart from the

Dear Rosalie One of our employees recently left for a better job. Fortunately she gave us plenty of notice so we deducted from her pay all of the money we spent on her expensive course qualification, that she completed just under two years ago. She has complained that this is illegal and immoral, and she will take us to Court and or Tribunal if we do not give her all of the money back. She signed a contract under which, in return for the time off and payment of course fees, s

Six months may well feel a long time away, Christmas certainly does. But for employers the next six months are very important, especially if you have staff you are not sure about, and who have joined you in the last 18 months. Because from 1st January next year, employees will only need six months' continuous service to bring an unfair dismissal claim. This replaces the current two-year qualifying period, and will affect the vast majority of employers in Great Britain. The ch

The Met office has issued high temperature warnings peaking mid-week, with the South and Central parts of Britain experiencing a significant heatwave (reaching 35°C to 38°C). While this week's extreme heat will have completely subsided by the weekend, the South and East will remain warmer than the rest of the country into next week as well. Highs will sit comfortably between 25°C and 26°C with sunny spells. This means consideration needs to be given to how this heat affects

From 1 January 2027, the qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims drops from two years to six months - and the compensation cap disappears. If you are hiring now, the clock is already ticking. And in reality, any employee hired since January 2025 is affected, as their employment will be less than 2 years by the time this comes into effect. So, they qualify from that date if you dismiss them unfairly. The Change - and why it matters right now 1st January 2027 is important

The Employment Rights Act 2025 is coming into force in phases from 2026 onwards. Many smaller employers have yet to update their contracts - and the consequences of delay are now very real. If you are one of our clients, you can relax as we are doing much of the heavy lifting for you. If you are not and need some help, however, pick up the phone and let’s see how we can help. Why This Can't Wait If you have not reviewed your employment contracts recently, they probably contai

We recently learnt of a situation where an employer made a verbal offer to a short-listed candidate at the end of their interview, and in front of others present, only to withdraw the offer two days later. This was because the appointing Manager was subsequently informed that Senior Management had now decided to save money by not replacing the vacancy that they had just filled!! This decision was clearly not the applicant’s fault, who had meanwhile tendered their resignation

As Bring your Cat to Work Day approaches on 22nd June and is swiftly followed by Bring Your Dog to Work Day on 26th June, we wanted to take a moment to share some thoughts with our clients. Many of you already know that our team has a well-earned reputation for being a group of genuine animal lovers, so it's a date that certainly brings a few smiles to our faces. The idea behind the days is a great one. Welcoming animals into the workplace can boost morale, encourage social i

Whilst this may be this month, it is arguable that with modern highly stressed workforces, we should always be reminding ourselves of the approaches we need to counter stress among employees. There will always be times when we need to work outside our normal hours; meaning early mornings, late nights or even weekends. And while technology gives us the ability to work anywhere and at any time, there are downsides to this. The pressure to be ‘always on’ can lead to stress and e

The President of the Employment Tribunals has issued the annual update to the Vento guidelines, setting out the bands of awards for injury to feelings, payable in cases of discrimination at work, adjusted for inflation. These updated figures, known as the Vento bands, apply in respect of claims presented on or after 6 April 2026 and are: lower band: £1,300 to £12,600 (less serious cases) middle band: £12,600 to £37,700 upper band: £37,700 to £62,900 (the most serious cases)

Scarcely believable we know, but with less than a week to go, the Government has finally published the enabling regulations that confirm the Statutory Sick Pay changes coming into force on 6 th April 2026. The Employment Rights Act 2025 (Commencement No. 3 and Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2026 remove any remaining uncertainty about what is changing and when - and for small employers, the time to act is now. What's Actually Changing? Three significant reforms take eff

Statutory Redundancy Pay, Tribunal Awards and the Reduction of the Qualifying Period for Unfair Dismissal claims. In addition to the previously published statutory pay increases for 2026 (refer to our Newsletter No 174), the annual increase in compensation limits have now been publicised. The limits apply to dismissals, including redundancies, occurring on or after 6 th April 2026. £751.00 - the maximum amount of a week's pay for calculating statutory redundancy pay and the

The modern workplace includes people who think, communicate and behave in different ways. In reality, it probably always has done, but increasingly dissatisfied employees are looking to the Courts to redress perceived or real poor treatment at the hands of employers. It is now estimated that 1 in 100 adults may be neurodivergent, yet only around 21.7% to 32% of autistic adults in the UK are in some form of paid employment, representing the lowest employment rate among all di

We all love a Public/Bank holiday, don’t we? Unless you are in the Payroll Department of course, when the holiday year is April to March, and Easter jumps around between April and March. For the holiday year of April to March of 2026/27, the reality is that there are 2 sets of Easter Public/Bank holidays within the same holiday entitlement. How do you deal with this? The Law on Public/Bank Holidays All employees are entitled to a set number of days off work each year by way

When this Government set out on their journey, they were ambitious in the scale of the changes they wanted to make to the employment relationship, but reassured us all that there would be lots of consultation. They said the same to the House of Lords. However, last week, they quietly released an update with potentially significant consequences for employers. With little fanfare, an Unfair Dismissal Factsheet was added to the Employment Rights Act 2025 webpage. It revealed two

Dear Rosalie One of our Line Managers was having some sort of session with one of his employees. She then came to see me to ask what he meant when he said she was a 'high maintenance tart'. I said I would try to find out and get back to her. I am not sure that I really want to know! I had to avoid laughing and to buy some time for a considered response. Rosalie replies: Unless you can think of a suitably bland interpretation or justify the assessment, then you may be in troub

Most employers are well aware that the Government is embarking on an ambitious series of reforms. These are aimed at rebalancing, in their eyes, the employment relationship. As part of these changes, from 1 st December 2025, the ACAS Early Conciliation period has been formally extended from six to twelve weeks, following regulations laid before Parliament on 4 th November 2025. This change comes amid rising demand for conciliation services and growing delays - currently ave

There are some important changes to statutory rates of pay that the Government have already announced, to take effect in 2026. National Minimum/Living Wage Rate Increases & Accommodation Rate The National Living Wage is to rise by 4.1%. It will go from £12.21 to £12.71 per hour. At the same time, the National Minimum Wage (NMW) rates will be increased as follows: from £10.00 to £10.85 per hour for 18 to 20 year olds (an 8.7% increase); from £7.55 to £8.00 per hour for 16 &

Bringing in young workers is brilliant for business – they are full of energy, ideas, and optimism (and occasionally questionable music taste). But here is the catch: the stats show they are also far more likely to get injured on the job. Let's break down what you need to know and what you can actually do to keep them safe, happy, and productive. Why Young Workers Are at Higher Risk? First month = Newbies are four times more likely to get injured in their first month than aft

Overview The Government intends to reduce the unfair dismissal qualifying period from 2 years to 6 months under the Employment Rights Bill. It is also considering removing the caps on unfair dismissal compensation. While the Bill is still progressing, employers should plan on the basis that these changes are likely, although as yet we are not sure when. For SMEs, where Management resources are stretched, this significantly increases the early-stage risk of Tribunal action. An