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

Virgin Rail uniforms hit the headlines some time ago, as some female employees refused to wear the “skimpy” and “revealing” blouses, claiming passengers would be able to see any dark underwear worn underneath. The official uniform launch was delayed by three weeks in order to allow staff “to have a uniform they felt comfortable in”, and to help achieve this, any concerned employees were offered a £20 clothing voucher to buy 'suitable underwear'. This may have been more of a p

Dear Rosalie We have a woman on maternity leave who has raised a grievance about her treatment. She is unhappy because we recently told her she would not get a pay award as we only had 5 months of the year to assess her performance. She is also unhappy that we have not kept in touch with her over issues like removing her desk and not putting her into a team for bonus purposes. We don’t think we have done anything wrong. Rosalie replies: You are in difficulty, especially with

The symptoms of it can be – in certain circumstances – according to a Glasgow Employment Tribunal. Ms Davies, a Court Officer for the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service (SCTS), had been suffering from extensive medical problems related to the menopause. She was prescribed medication which required to be dissolved in water. On one occasion, after returning to the Court, she noticed that a water jug on her table had been emptied. She could not remember if this contained her m

Sexual harassment is a difficult issue for any workplace, but ignoring it is never an option. Since October last year, it has become a proactive duty for employers to prevent sexual harassment, rather than the previous duty, which was to react to such harassment when it happened. So how do we reckon employers are doing one year on? Well, probably not as well as they could is the short answer. Remember the legislation was introduced by the previous Government, with the aim of

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has set out its priorities for the year ahead – and there are some major changes on the horizon...

It is now estimated that 1 in 7 people within the UK population are probably neurodiverse. Consequently, it is perhaps no surprise that...