News

The ACAS Code of Practice on time off for trade union duties and activities sets out the distinction between trade union duties and trade union activities. Trade Union Duties Trade union duties relate directly to the representative role an elected trade union official performs in connection with matters for which the union is formally recognised. … Read more

The Employment Appeal Tribunal has decided that an employment tribunal was wrong to make a 100% reduction to a compensatory award (applying the principles set out in Polkey v AE Dayton Services Ltd [1987] IRLR 503) in a successful claim for unfair dismissal. Ms Pal was employed by Accenture (UK) Ltd in 2009. In September … Read more

The EAT has ruled that an ACAS agreed settlement (commonly referred to as a COT3) that settled an employment tribunal claim also covered a related appeal not expressly referenced in the agreement. Mr Turner brought a claim in the employment tribunal which included alleged non-payment under his employer’s PHI scheme. The PHI complaint was struck out. … Read more

SummaryOn 13th January 2026 the draft Bereaved Partner’s Paternity Leave Regulations 2026 were laid before Parliament to provide for up to 52 weeks’ paternity leave (to be known as bereaved partner’s paternity leave) in situations where the child’s mother or adopter has died in childbirth or within a year of the birth or adoption placement. … Read more

The Employment Rights Bill has now completed its passage through Parliament and has become law. On 18 December 2025, the Employment Rights Bill received Royal Assent and was enacted as the Employment Rights Act 2025. Royal Assent is the formal step by which the Bill became an Act of Parliament. The Act introduces additions and … Read more

The government has made regulations to extend the maximum period for ACAS early conciliation from six weeks to 12 weeks from 1 December 2025, to ease pressure on ACAS following an increase in caseload. The EC period is the period within which ACAS has a duty to promote settlement once a claim has been notified to … Read more

In Ndaryiyumvire v Birmingham City University [2025] 10 WLUK 719, the court ordered wasted costs against a firm of solicitors which had filed an application to amend particulars of claim citing two fictitious authorities. The firm explained that the document had been an unapproved draft generated by a member of staff using legal software with … Read more

The government has announced that it will drop the proposals for day-one unfair dismissal rights in the Employment Rights Bill and adopt instead a six-month qualifying period, in order to get the rest of the Bill passed by the House of Lords. Following two defeats in the House of Lords over the removal of the unfair … Read more

Contractual sick pay for school staff is determined by whether they fall under the Burgundy Book (teachers) or the Green Book (support staff). Both documents set out contractual sick pay arrangements that apply in addition to Statutory Sick Pay, but the rules, entitlements and the way entitlement is calculated differ between the two schemes. The … Read more

In Mayanja v City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council [2025] EAT 160, the Employment Appeal Tribunal held that an employment tribunal had erred by failing to revisit its liability findings after the late discovery of compelling new evidence that fundamentally undermined its assessment of the claimant’s credibility. The claimant, had applied for a role with … Read more