Key employment law updates | September 2026

Welcome to our monthly update, where we highlight key employment law developments and upcoming changes.

Employment Rights Act: Are you ready for the key changes on 1 October 2026?

Following the first wave of Employment Rights Act ("ERA") reforms introduced in April 2026, employers should now be preparing for the next wave of significant changes which will take effect starting on 1 October 2026. For a snapshot overview of the key changes, including a recap of the provisions already in force and those still to come, please see our recent article.

Increased tribunal time limits: from 1 October 2026

From 1 October 2026, the time limit for bringing a claim in the Employment Tribunal will increase from 3 to 6 months (it is likely to apply to causes of action which take place after 1 October 2026 only). This means that employers could face claims relating to events that occurred many months earlier and, combined with the longer ACAS Early Conciliation period, employers may not become aware of a claim until almost a year after an employee has left the business.

It is essential that organisations take steps now to strengthen their processes and prepare for the longer claims period. Our top three preparation tips are:

1. View potential claims in context: as employees will have a longer period in which to bring a claim, it will likely increase the volume of workplace disputes progressing to the Tribunal. Employers should factor the longer time limit into the approach to handling workplace disputes and settlement discussions.

2. Review record-keeping and document retention practices: organisations should audit their document retention policies and record-keeping practices to ensure records are robust enough to reconstruct events well after they occurred to reflect the longer claims window. Important records such as contracts, policies, correspondence, emails and financial information should be retained appropriately.

3. Adjust investigation procedures and invest in training: employers should review investigation procedures and ensure managers receive training on maintaining accurate and contemporaneous records to ensure matters are documented consistently, and evidence is collected and preserved promptly. Clear and comprehensive documentation from the time of the event in question is crucial to the strength of a defence of claims.

Further changes in October 2026

Looking ahead further, new trade union measures and enhanced workplace harassment measures come into force on 30 October 2026, at a glance, these include:

• Trade union measures: independent unions will have a right to request physical and digital workplace access, and employers will need to be aware of the short timescales for responding and negotiating arrangements, alongside substantial financial penalties for non-compliance. Employers must also ensure managers understand the enhanced protections afforded to union members, representatives and those taking industrial action. The duty to inform workers of their right to join a trade union, previously scheduled to take effect on 30 October 2026, has been pushed back to January 2027.

• Sexual harassment and third-party harassment measures: the duty to prevent sexual harassment will increase from taking “reasonable steps” to “all reasonable steps”. Incoming measures will strengthen employers' duties to prevent both sexual harassment and harassment by third parties, such as clients, customers and contractors. Employers will be expected to demonstrate a proactive and documented approach, including tailored risk assessments, effective policies, training and practical safeguards. Liability can arise from a single incident, and compensation awards remain uncapped. Regular policy reviews, manager training and contractual protections with key third parties will be essential to mitigate risk.

Look for our October bulletin for substantive tips and advice in relation to these changes.

Throughout the month of October, the Government is also expected to introduce regulations to establish the Fair Pay Agreement Adult Social Care Negotiating Body in England, as well as targeted procurement reforms levelling the playing field between out-sourced private sector employees and employees transferred from the public sector.

How we can help

Our innovative 21st Century Manager Programme is a four-day management development programme delivered over a 3-month period, designed to equip managers with essential skills, knowledge, and behaviours to effectively reduce risk, increase engagement and motivation, manage performance and improve workplace culture (two-day option also available). The programme uses a number of accelerated learning techniques to bring about genuine change for the better. To arrange a session for your team or for further information, please get in touch with Joanne Boyle.

New rights for bereavement leave

The Employment Rights Act 2025 will introduce a new day-one right to bereavement leave, which is due to come into force in April 2027.

The Government has confirmed the leave will include the following key elements:

• Eligibility: this is a day one right available to employees when they lose a spouse or partner (including civil partners, partners in a long-term committed relationship), parent, adult child, or sibling. This will also cover step, half, adoptive, kinship care and foster relationships, broadening the application beyond traditional family structures.

• Pregnancy loss: the new rights will also cover all types of pregnancy loss (including through miscarriage, ectopic, molar and chemical pregnancies, termination or unsuccessful IVF embryo transfer) that occurs before 24 weeks' gestation. Women and their partners (including the other biological parent, the spouse, civil partner or partner, an intended co-parent, and intended parents in a surrogacy arrangement) who experience a pregnancy loss before this time will be entitled to the leave.

• Duration: employees will be entitled to up to two weeks of unpaid leave, which can be taken flexibly within 56 weeks of the bereavement. Bereavement leave does not need to be taken as a continuous period of leave, and can be split up by the employee.

• Evidential requirements: employees will not be subject to evidential requirements to be entitled to bereavement leave.

• Notice: in the first eight weeks of bereavement, employees should give notice before they are due to start work on the day they intend to take leave or "as soon as is reasonably possible". Beyond eight weeks of bereavement, employees should provide one week's notice before the requested date of leave.

These rights will establish a statutory minimum level of protection, although many employers already provide more generous compassionate leave arrangements. The Government has indicated that further guidance for employers and employees will be published.

What actions should employers take now?

In anticipation of the changes due to take effect in April 2027, employers should keep an eye out for further guidance from the Government and plan to review and update their policies and procedures to accommodate the new statutory bereavement leave entitlement, which will cover a wider range of family relationships, as detailed above, by April 2027. We expect the Government to provide further detail in the coming months.

Government provides further details on changes to flexible working

On 15 September 2026, the Government published its response to the consultation on proposed reforms to the flexible working regime, providing further detail on how employers will be required to handle requests that they are considering refusing. The changes, which will be introduced under the Employment Rights Act ("ERA"), are expected to come into force in autumn 2027. The Government's response follows comments by First Secretary of State Louise Haigh, stating that employers seeking to refuse a request would need to "sit down with their employee, properly consider it and explain why".

The key changes to flexible working under the ERA

Employers who cannot immediately accept a flexible working request will be required to adhere to a test of reasonableness when refusing a request, and explain the decision to refuse the request by stating the ground(s) for refusal, including why it is reasonable to refuse the application. Employers must also comply with the requirement to consult with the employee before refusing a request for flexible working.

The new requirement to consult

The Government's response to the consultation clarified the proposed process for consulting with an employee when considering and rejecting a request, as follows:

Setting up and providing notice of the meeting: Employers must hold a consultation meeting with the employee, and provide notice of the time and purpose of the meeting in advance. Organisations should provide "fair and reasonable notice" taking into account the specific circumstances of the organisation and employee.

During the meeting: There will be no express requirement for a person with the authority to make a decision on a flexible working request to be in attendance, although this will likely be the case in practice. The employer must explain the purpose of the discussion, which is to:

• consider the feasibility of the requested arrangement and explore whether any identified challenges can be addressed; or
• where the requested arrangement cannot be accommodated, consider suitable alternatives (e.g. alternative working patterns, considering different implementation dates or exploring whether a trial period would enable the arrangement to work in practice).

Importantly, the guidance is clear that these discussions should be conducted with the objective of reaching agreement rather than simply confirming a decision that has already been made.

After the meeting: The reforms will also introduce additional record-keeping requirements which require employers to communicate both the outcome of the meeting and the outcome of the request in writing. There is no requirement for a statutory right of appeal, although employers will have the discretion to offer an appeal process as part of their internal procedures.

Next steps

The Government will make regulations which bring the test of reasonableness into force and stipulate the consultation process to follow when an employer is considering refusing a request.

Practical steps for employers

With secondary legislation and further guidance still to come, employers should monitor developments closely over the coming months. The proposed reforms signal a move away from a relatively procedural approach and towards a more substantive assessment of flexible working requests, with greater scrutiny of both employers' decision-making processes and the reasons for any refusal. Employers should review their flexible working procedures in order to assess whether current processes involve meaningful consultation, adequate record-keeping and clear written explanations for decisions. Please get in touch if you would like assistance with this, using the Contact Form on our website or by contacting a member of our team using the details below.

Consultation on Acas guidance on disciplinary and grievances closed on 23 September 2026

Acas closed the consultation on its updated draft Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures (the "Code") on 23 September 2026. This will be the first full revision of the Code since 2009, and will have significant implications for how employers manage workplace disputes, disciplinary action and employee complaints.

The existing Code provides principles-based guidance on handling disciplinary and grievance matters. Its primary focus is on formal disciplinary and grievance procedures. While the foreword to the Code does address resolving matters informally before using formal procedures, this does not form part of the statutory Code.

Proposed changes

One of the most significant changes proposed by the draft Code is the increased emphasis on resolving workplace issues at an early stage. Some of the key changes at a glance:

• Informal resolution: the draft Code expressly encourages employers and employees to address concerns informally wherever possible before commencing formal disciplinary or grievance procedures. Importantly, employers would also be expected to explain what informal steps have already been taken or why informal resolution was not appropriate in the circumstances. This would create a clear evidential record and may lead to greater scrutiny of decisions to move directly to formal action.

• Suspension: the draft Code makes clear that suspension is not disciplinary action and should only be used where necessary. This stance reinforces the principle that employers should be able to justify any decision to suspend an employee.

• Employees' interaction with policies and training: while not framed as a strict consultation duty, the draft Code encourages employers to develop policies in collaboration with workers. The draft Code also places a stronger emphasis on training and support for managers, employees and workplace representatives. For employers, this may increase scrutiny of policies and whether managers have received appropriate training before conducting investigations, hearings and grievance processes, particularly where an employee later challenges procedural fairness.

• New principles for handling disciplinary and grievance procedures: there is a focus on the overall process and reasonableness of the steps taken as the draft Code contains a new standalone section dedicated to overarching handling principles which emphasises early resolution, avoiding unnecessary escalation, acting promptly, making reasonable decisions and explaining concerns clearly.

Why are the changes important for employers?

A failure to follow the Code does not automatically give rise to legal liability in itself, however, Employment Tribunals will take the Code into account when considering relevant claims. In certain claims, including unfair dismissal, an employment tribunal has the power to increase or reduce an employee's compensation by up to 25% where there has been an unreasonable failure to comply with the Code. As the compensatory award for unfair dismissal will be uncapped from 1 January 2027 in line with the changes under the ERA, uplifts have the potential to be significant going forward. Employers need to be familiar with the expansion of the Code to seek to minimise the potential risk of failing to comply with the Code when dealing with disciplinary and grievance issues. 

Quarterly tribunal statistics: What they mean for Employment Tribunal matters and for your organisation

The latest 'Tribunal Statistics Quarterly' covering April to June 2026 paints a clear picture of a tribunal system under increasing pressure. Receipts continue to outpace disposals across the tribunal system as a whole: overall receipts increased by 12% compared to the same quarter last year, while disposals rose by only 3%.

Employment Tribunal: the numbers

In Q1 2026/27, Employment Tribunals received approximately 25,000 claims. During the same period, the tribunal disposed of only 10,000 claims. At the end of June 2026, there were approximately 537,000 open Employment Tribunal claims. The most significant trend is the continued growth in single claims. The tribunal received 14,000 single claim receipts in Q1 2026/27, representing a 28% increase compared to the same period last year. At the same time, disposals fell by 6% (6,100 disposals) and the open caseload increased by 51% to 70,000 cases.

More broadly, the statistics confirm that Employment Tribunal disposal volumes have remained below receipts for the last two years, contributing to a growing backlog across the system. The overall tribunal open caseload now stands at its highest level since 2013, with hearings being allocated as late as 2029.

What do these statistics mean for you and your organisation?

More employees are pursuing claims: The sharp increase in single claim receipts suggests that more workplace disputes are progressing into formal litigation. Grievances, dismissals and discrimination complaints are increasingly resulting in tribunal claims rather than being resolved informally. With the time limit for bringing most Employment Tribunal claims increasing from 3 to 6 months on 1 October 2026, this trend looks set to continue. 

Delays will continue to be the norm: The growing backlog has practical consequences for organisations facing claims. With reports of hearings being listed as far ahead as 2029, the statistics support the wider concern that cases are taking substantially longer to progress through the system.

Alternative dispute resolution may become increasingly attractive: For employees, lengthy delays can create uncertainty and financial pressure, potentially making mediation or settlement more attractive. Equally, employers may conclude that the commercial cost of defending a claim through to a hearing outweighs the benefits of continuing litigation. While settlement will not be appropriate in every case, prolonged delays may make early resolution a more attractive option for both parties.

Prevention remains better than cure: The most effective response is not simply to prepare for claims, but to focus on preventing them wherever possible. Employers should ensure that:

• policies and procedures are kept under review;
• managers receive regular and comprehensive training;
• workplace concerns are addressed promptly and effectively;
• robust records are maintained and retained appropriately; and
• potential disputes are identified and managed at an early stage.

How we can help

Our Employment team offers a range of training sessions for managers and employees. Our training focuses on equipping managers and employees with essential skills, knowledge and behaviours to effectively manage performance and improve workplace culture. If you would like to learn more about our bespoke training offering, further details can be found in our management training brochure. To arrange a session for your team, please get in touch with Joanne Boyle.