Extension to ACAS Early Conciliation Window
The Government has published draft regulations to double the Acas Early Conciliation window from six weeks to twelve, with the new period applying to Early Conciliation started on or after 1 December 2025. In outline terms, this means conciliators will have a longer period to contact the parties and explore settlement before a claim is […]
Govt Report: Improving Gender Pay Equality in the Workplace
The UK government has published new guidance, “How to improve gender equality in the workplace: actions for employers”, to provide employers with evidence-based measures to improve recruitment, retention and progression outcomes for women. The guidance was produced by the Behavioural Insights Team and the Office for Equality and Opportunity. It sits within a wider toolkit […]
LPC Policy Remit Set for Minimum Wage Review
The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has released its policy remit for the Low Pay Commission (LPC) to consider when making recommendations on the 2025/26 National Minimum Wage (NMW) and National Living Wage (NLW). LPC minimum wages review The remit provides the framework for the LPC’s recommendations on the National Minimum Wage […]
Latest Changes to Employment Rights Bill – July 2025
A newly-published list of amendments to the Employment Rights Bill introduces substantial and previously unannounced changes to the legislation. The changes include a ban on confidentiality clauses in employment agreements preventing workers from speaking out about workplace harassment or discrimination; a revised, more targeted approach to fire and rehire restrictions; significant updates to the UK’s […]
Employment Rights Bill Roadmap
The Government has released its long-awaited roadmap for implementing the Employment Rights Bill (ERB), confirming a staged rollout of reforms through to 2027. The roadmap offers a three-year calendar that UK employers can now align with their HR, budgeting and compliance plans. The timetable clusters reforms during this period around common start dates, 6 April […]
Revised Guidance on NDAs
Section 17 of the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 will bring in the most significant restriction on non disclosure agreements (NDAs) since the #MeToo reforms. Under the new regime, any NDA signed on or after 1 October 2025 is unenforceable so far as it purports to stop a victim of crime, or anyone who reasonably […]
EHCR Updates Guidance on Single Sex Spaces
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has amended its post-Supreme Court guidance on single-sex workplace facilities, softening the hard line it adopted only two months ago and signalling a more pragmatic approach for employers. What has changed? Immediately after the Supreme Court’s April 2025 judgment in For Women Scotland Ltd v Scottish […]
Next Stage for Employment Rights Bill – June 2025
The Employment Rights Bill has now completed the most intensive part of its passage through the House of Lords and is now heading into the final parliamentary stretch. Employment Rights Bill completes House of Lords Second Reading The Lords’ committee stage finished on 24 June after eleven days of line-by-line scrutiny. Peers tabled […]
EHRC Issues Interim Guidance on Woman Definition Ruling
In response to the recent Supreme Court ruling in For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has issued interim guidance to help provide employers and other duty-bearers with some clarity on the practical implications of the decision. The interim guidance is to be followed by more in-depth […]
Legal Definition of a Woman is Based on Biological Sex: Employer Implications
The UK Supreme Court yesterday delivered a landmark ruling in For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers, clarifying that under the Equality Act 2010, the terms “woman”, “man” and “sex” refer exclusively to biological sex. The ruling follows years of debate and legal uncertainty due to conflicting interpretations of whether “sex” in law should […]