Do you remember when you could just take on a casual worker for a few days' work and pay them in cash, without ever really doing anything more? A handshake, a quick chat about what needed doing, and an envelope at the end of the week. For many small businesses, that was simply how extra help arrived during a busy spell. If those days have been fading for a while, from 1st October 2026 they are firmly behind us. Right to Work checks, long thought of as something you do for emp

You have run a good recruitment process, found the right candidate, and you have kept to our golden rule - you have made a conditional offer within 48 hours so that nobody has been left hanging around. So far, so good. The next stage is the one we know many employers skip, or leave until four months into the job when something does not look right. Then somebody finally asks whether the references were ever taken up. References, qualifications and pre-employment checks are not

We think employers could add some considerable weight to management training if they emphasised that failing to make reasonable adjustments in disability cases is not just a Company matter. Managers can be held personally liable too if it is judged their failures amount to disability discrimination. And, a recent Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) decision has backed this up - responsibility for reasonable adjustments does not necessarily stop with the employer. The case: Merri

Unless you have been reading our regular updates, you may have missed a subtle change in language on sexual harassment that will have a major effect on employers. From 30th October 2026, the Employment Rights Act 2025 raises the bar on harassment prevention. The existing duty to take “reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment becomes a duty to take “all reasonable steps”, and a brand-new duty requires employers to take all reasonable steps to prevent their staff being ha

From 1st January 2027, the qualifying period for ordinary unfair dismissal will drop from two years to six months. This alters the economics of recruitment for every organisation we work with. Until now, if you recruited badly, you had two years in which to correct the mistake in a fairly straightforward manner. From January 2027, that window becomes less than six months. So, the best way to avoid a claim of unfair dismissal is to recruit the right person in the first place,

The Employment Rights Act 2025 is now being implemented in stages. Some important changes are already in force, with further significant reforms taking effect from October 2026 and January 2027. Below we highlight some of the key changes SMEs should be preparing for. Holiday and Holiday Pay – Effective from: 6th April 2026 We have included this one as there has been little fanfare on this requirement. It will be audited by the new Fair Work Agency, and they have powers to fi

Dear Rosalie One of our long serving employees is in their late 60s, and has been suffering from a form of dementia for some time. We increasingly gave him menial tasks to perform, but recently his condition got worse. His wife knew that we were struggling with her husband’s condition, but said his work was what was keeping him going. Unfortunately, however, his condition got so bad that he needed so much supervision that we decided it was best to make his position redundant.

ACAS has published a draft new Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures for public consultation. This is a very important document, and the first full rewrite since 2009; although the Code was last updated in 2015, with minor adjustments. The consultation runs until 23rd September 2026, and ACAS has been clear that it wants to hear from employers and HR practitioners, not just lawyers and trade union bodies. It would be a good time to make your voice heard, a

Key changes under the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025, effective 19th June 2026 As if employers did not have enough to worry about with all of the new employment law changes, they need to take into account new data protection duties as well. New legislation means that from 19th June 2026, employers must have a formal process for handling employees' data protection complaints - and must update their privacy notices to reflect this. This is not just good practice; it is now a le

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