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Employment law in 2026 – what to expect

January 21, 2026 8:14 pm Published by

Employment Rights Act 2025 As you will have heard, the Employment Rights Bill is due to become the Employment Rights Act 2025. So what does this mean for employers? Well the biggest change will be that employees will be able to claim unfair dismissal once they have six months’ service. This is likely to take effect from January 2027. Action required: Ensure that your contracts of employment include a probationary period of 6 months and that line managers are reviewing employee performance from 2 months onwards, so that new staff are given a chance to address issues and if they are not meeting the standard of performance required they are given notice before 6 months. Changes due in April 2026: – Paternity leave Currently to take...

What can we learn from Employment law cases in 2025?

January 14, 2026 3:26 pm Published by

Is cancer automatically considered a disability and can an employer cover an employee’s period of absence permanently? In Wainwright v Cennox Plc an employee was diagnosied with breast cancer and took a period of sick leave. A colleague was appointed to temporarily cover the employee’s position in her absence. When the temporary cover threatened to leave she was offered the cover role as a permanent position. On their return from sick leave the employee with breast cancer raised a grievance which was not upheld and went on to win her claim for disability discrimination and constructive, unfair dismissal. She was awarded over £1.2M. This case highlights the importance of only making temporary changes when covering the role of an employee who is off sick. As with employees on maternity leave it is best practice to keep in...