Employment law newsletter - Autumn 2026 - BM Insights

Welcome to this bumper edition of the Autumn newsletter. This month sees the implementation of many significant measures contained in the Employment Rights Act 2025. These include extension of Employment Tribunal time limits and changes to the sexual harassment preventative duty. In addition, the Government has published an updated implementation timeline and we now know that statutory bereavement leave will be in introduced in April 2027 and the measures to improve access to flexible working in Autumn 2027. Significantly, the duty on employers to provide their workers with a written statement informing them of their right to join a trade union, which was due to be in place on 30 October 2026, has been put back to January 2027.

There have also been significant case law developments. We have an important decision from the Supreme Court about the scope of protection for part-time workers and an interesting Employment Appeal Tribunal decision about when the right to be accompanied is triggered.

In the Immigration context, a new Code of Practice on preventing illegal working was effective from 1 October 2026. This significantly extends the scope of the right to work regime and introduces a concept of extended liability. It has also been confirmed that the Immigration Salary List will close on 31 December 2026.

It’s been a very busy few months and that’s likely to continue with many employers already preparing for the wide-ranging changes to be introduced by the Employment Rights Act 2025 in January 2027 and beyond.

Please do take a moment to consider the articles in this Autumn newsletter, where we provide an update on a range of employment and immigration developments.

Webinar

We are pleased to inform you that our next Employment webinar “Looking Ahead to 2027 in the World of Employment Law” will take place on 10 December 2026. Details of the topics to be covered and of our presenters will be included in our invitation to the event which will be sent shortly. We do hope you can join us.

Employment Rights Act 2025

October 2026 implementation dates confirmed

Extension of Employment Tribunal time limits and increased protection from sexual harassment in force this month.

Right to trade union written statement delayed to January 2027

The Government will provide a standardised statement for employers to issue to new and existing workers.

Flexible working change to be implemented in Autumn 2027

Details published of the process to follow if employers are thinking of rejecting a flexible working request.

Employment Rights Act 2025: Significant trade union measures are imminent

Right of access into workplaces and new rights and protections for trade union representatives are imminent.

Code of Practice on preventing illegal working

New Code of Practice from 1 October 2026 extends the scope of the right to work regime to prevent illegal working.

Statement of Changes to Immigration Rules

The recent changes affect skilled workers, the suitability rules and the EU Settlement Scheme.

Immigration Salary List closure confirmed

The Immigration Salary List will close on 31 December 2026, marking a significant change to the UK’s sponsorship system.

Supreme Court decision on protection for part-time workers

Part-time status can be an effective cause of less favourable treatment and does not need to be the sole cause.

Thank you and Next!

The EAT held that the Employment Tribunal was wrong to reject Next’s “material factor” defence.

EAT decision on scope of the right to be accompanied

The right is not triggered unless the individual actually makes a request to be accompanied.

Why choose judicial review instead of an unfair dismissal claim?

Judicial review is the means by which the courts supervise the exercise of public power.

New Global Standard for Menopause and Menstrual Health in the Workplace

The Standard provides key guidance for employers to support their employees and to set up appropriate workplace systems.

Team news

I am delighted to share that we have been recognised in the Legal 500 2027 Guide with an excellent Tier 1 ranking for our national Employment team and our Welsh pensions practice.

The Guide also recognised individual lawyers, notably, Joanne Davies who was included in the prestigious “Hall of Fame” list. In addition, seven other members of the team, Jane Biddlecombe, Rupert Graham-Evans, Rajiv Joshi, Paula Kathrens, Gillian McCue, Matthew Smith and myself were named “Leading Partners”, “Leading Associates” and “Next Generation Partners”.

The results reflect the depth of established expertise across the team and we are very proud of these results.

The rankings research process is rigorous, and we know that feedback from our clients is key to our success so thank you to all our clients who participated.