Probationary Periods

Just a quick reminder in this bulletin. Effectively, the qualification period for unfair dismissal claims has now dropped from two years down to six months for all new employees who started a job on or after 1st July. Therefore, this means your opportunity to address...

Third Party Harassment

From 31 October 2026, Section 21 of the Employment Rights Act 2025 inserts new subsections into Section 40 of the Equality Act 2010 which makes employers liable for third-party harassment. The new test tribunals are likely to apply is to identify what steps an...

Trade Unions

Does your organisation have more than 20 employees? If so, there’s an important employment law change coming soon that you may be unaware of. From 30 October 2026, trade unions will acquire significant new workplace access rights. The proposals extend into...

Fixed Term Contracts

Fixed-term contracts are usually for well under two years, meaning that the recent two-year protection from unfair dismissal has generally been enough to cover the termination of such contracts. However, from 1st Jan 2027, unfair dismissal protection is set to be...

Electronic Balloting

The Government has published its new statutory Code of Practice to accompany the introduction of electronic and workplace voting for statutory trade union ballots under the Employment Rights Act reforms. The Code provides practical guidance on the conduct of these...