Employment Law Newsletter – Spring 2025
Welcome to our bumper edition of the Spring newsletter. As can be seen, it has been an extremely busy few months. From the significant Supreme Court judgment about the legal definition of “woman” and the Court of Appeal judgment about the scope of protection for whistleblowers to this week’s Government announcement about major Immigration reforms. It can be challenging to keep up to date. There have also been high-profile amendments to the Employment Rights Bill which has now reached the House of Lords. Take a moment to consider our Spring newsletter which also includes a case update on the consequences of leaving out relevant and material details in a job application form as well as an overview of the consultation paper on mandatory ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting for large employers.
Articles
Supreme Court decides on legal definition of “woman”
In a high-profile judgment, the legal definition of “woman” refers to biological sex for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010.
Government’s plans for major immigration reforms
The Government has published its proposals to reform the current Immigration Rules with the aim of cutting back immigration significantly.
Employment Rights Bill: six months on
The Government made significant amendment to the Bill in March 2025 and the Bill is now being considered by the House of Lords.
No whistleblowing protection for external job applicants
In a significant judgment, the Court of Appeal confirmed that external job applicants, other than those within the NHS, do not have whistleblower protection.
Immigration Statement of changes
Changes to the Skilled Worker Route and Global Talent Route were some of the changes announced in the Statement and effective in April 2025.
Group Life Schemes: some taxing issues for employers
From 6 April 2027, unused pension pots and associated death benefits will form part of the deceased’s estate for inheritance tax purposes.
Need for honesty in job application form
An employee was fairly dismissed for gross misconduct when he failed to include relevant details of his employment history in his application form.
Consultation paper on ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting
Mandatory reporting for large employers is proposed and the consultation period ends on 10 June 2025.
Impact of US tariffs on UK Defined Benefit schemes
We look at the potential impact regarding funding levels, buy-out pricing and concerns over the strength of the sponsor’s covenant to the scheme.
Employment Rights Bill: Government consultation responses
These relate to strengthening SSP, collective redundancy and fire and re-hire remedies, agency workers and zero hours contracts and industrial relations proposals.
Changes to eVisas
Important changes to eVisas were made on 27 March 2025 when the Immigration (Biometric Information Etc.) (Amendment) Regulations 2025 came into force.
Employment Rights Bill: House of Commons Briefing Paper
This summarises the debates on the Bill, witness evidence from different sectors as well as business organisations and trade unions and the key themes.
Team news
I am pleased to inform you that Madeleine Mould returns from maternity leave this month and we are all delighted to be working with her again.
Employment Right Bill Hub
As you know, we have written regularly about the Bill over the past six months and it is likely that most employers will be affected by the Bill’s wide-ranging proposals.
We have created an Employment Rights Bill Hub on our website which includes links to all our articles about the Bill, Government resources and publications as well as a timeline of the Parliamentary process so far and next stages. The Hub can be accessed here and we will continue to write about the Bill to help keep you up to date with further amendments and developments.
I hope you will find all the articles above informative and the new Employment Rights Bill Hub helpful. If you would like any further information please do not hesitate to get in touch with your usual Blake Morgan contact.
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