With both Wimbledon and the FIFA World Cup now behind us, another summer of sport has come to an end. Whether you were cheering courtside (Helen M), or watching the game in the middle of the night (Helen KB) there’s no doubt these events have brought people together regardless of their interest in tennis or football.
Now, as attention turns back to business, it’s a good time for business owners to focus on the upcoming changes in employment law.
October 2026
Harassment
Employers will need to take ‘all reasonable steps’ to prevent sexual harassment – current law says ‘reasonable steps’
*our clients’ policies have already been amended to reflect this change
Employment tribunal time limits
Time limits for making a claim to an employment tribunal will increase to 6 months. The current time limit for most claims is 3 months.
January 2027
Fire and rehire
Dismissing someone then rehiring them on worse terms and conditions will become an automatically unfair dismissal in most cases.
From January 2027, it will be an automatic unfair dismissal for employers to use the practice to change certain core employment terms unless they meet a narrow exemption for financial difficulties. These restricted variations include
- reductions to pay,
- changes to total hours,
- reductions to leave entitlement,
- changes to pensions
However, there will not be an automatic unfair dismissal where the employer can show:
- evidence of financial difficulties that were affecting, or were likely in the immediate future to affect their viability •
- the changes to restricted variations were to eliminate, prevent, significantly reduce or significantly mitigate the effects of those financial difficulties
- the employer could not reasonably have avoided the need to make the changes
Unfair dismissal
Protection from unfair dismissal will become a right after 6 months of being in a job – currently, someone must have worked for their employer for 2 years before claiming unfair dismissal. Employees who have worked for you since July 2026 will therefore be eligible.
The limit on the compensatory award for unfair dismissal will be removed
2027 dates TBC
Increased pregnancy and maternity rights
The Employee Rights Act will strengthen protections against dismissal for pregnant workers and those returning from maternity leave.
Bereavement leave
There will be a new right to statutory bereavement leave. The leave will be unpaid.
Collective redundancy
Employers will need to consider the total number of redundancies across their whole organisation, not just individual workplaces – currently, collective redundancy rules only apply to individual workplaces
