Employment Matters

From 1 October 2026, the ERA 2025 doubled the time limit for bringing most employment tribunal claims from three months to six months. Employers should review document retention policies, and to build witness evidence capture into exit processes.

From 30 October 2026, independent trade unions may request access to workplaces (both physically and digitally) whether or not any workers are union members. Employers should audit their worker voice mechanisms and develop a clear access strategy.

From 1 January 2027, the ERA 2025 will remove the statutory cap on unfair dismissal compensation. In an uncapped regime, dismissed employees may seek to recover not just salary and benefits but annual bonus, deferred awards, carried interest and the future upside of equity holdings.

October 2026 brings another wave of significant employment law changes under the ERA 2025, covering tribunal time limits, harassment liability, and new trade union rights.

The FCA's new rules on non-financial misconduct came into force on 1 September 2026, extending to non-bank firms (including asset managers, brokers and insurers) the requirement to treat serious bullying, harassment, sexual misconduct and violence with the same rigour as financial wrongdoing.

The Government has published a consultation on modernising equal pay and pay discrimination law, aiming to prevent pay discrimination, protect vulnerable workers, and make disputes easier and cheaper to resolve. The proposal to fix the existing regime before extending it is welcome, but there is a real risk the result will be more, rather than less, complex.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham confirmed that the Government will legislate to restrict the use of non-compete clauses in employment contracts. The options on the table range from an outright ban to statutory duration caps and salary or company-size thresholds. Detailed proposals have not yet been announced.

Cross-border remote working has become increasingly common in the UAE. Clear policies, defined approval processes, and proactive monitoring is essential.

The UAE has evolved rapidly into a global destination for senior professionals across financial services, technology, and professional services, with its favourable tax environment and sophisticated legal framework creating competitive talent dynamics unlike those in most other jurisdictions. Growth is most sustainable where hiring, onboarding and retention are treated as part of the same legal strategy.

From 1 October 2026, the UK's right-to-work compliance obligations extend beyond traditional employees, reaching contractors, agency workers, platform-based workers, and complex supply chains. Liability now travels up the supply chain, meaning every business in a subcontracting chain may be exposed to civil penalties even without a direct contractual relationship with the worker in question.

Employers sponsoring workers face two related risks: an unexpected benefit-in-kind tax liability where immigration costs are met by the employer, and pay parity exposure where sponsored and non-sponsored employees perform the same role.

Mishcon de Reya has produced what it believes to be the first comprehensive empirical study of its kind, reviewing several hundred Employment Tribunal judgments to identify the factors that strengthen or weaken interim relief applications. Protect, the leading UK whistleblowing charity, wrote the foreword to the report. The full report is available on the Mishcon website.

Miriam Carrión Benítez has joined the firm as a Partner in the Employment Department, bringing expertise as a respected equality and human rights barrister and an expert in all aspects of Education law.