Employment law winter update

What a year 2025 was for us employment lawyers!

We believe employment law is a microcosm of how society functions – and sometimes, it can cause much argument and division. There are those who believe the protections in the workplace go too far, and that long fought over rights should be weakened; conversely others including the current Government, via the Employment Rights Act, plan to extend the rights of employees and trade unions. In addition, our Employment Tribunals and Courts have increasingly been the arena where ideological disputes have been fought out. Below are just some of the things that engaged our minds last year.

Free speech

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) case involving Professor David Miller and the University of Bristol has been a significant legal battle.

The tribunal ruled that Mr Miller’s anti-Zionist beliefs were protected under the Equality Act 2010, making his dismissal unfair.

The university appealed the tribunal’s decision.

The EAT ruled that Mr Miller’s anti-Zionism beliefs are a protected characteristic.

This is a landmark decision on the balance between free speech and protected characteristics in the workplace, potentially influencing future cases.

Supreme Court Ruling on GRC

The landmark case For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers, decided in April 2025, resulted in a lot of media debate.

To recap, the Supreme Court ruled that ‘sex’ in the Equality Act 2010 meant biological sex. Much of the debate ignored the fact that the judgement reminded everyone that trans people still enjoyed the full protection of the Equality Act.

There is no hierarchy of rights and employers and others need to balance the rights of all.

We still await an updated Code of Practice from the Equality and Human Rights Commission, (EHRC) which will offer practical guidance on how to apply this ruling.

In the meantime there has been a further awaited Tribunal decision in the case of nurse Sandie Peggie v Fife Health Board and Others, in which the Tribunal has found that it was not discrimination to initially allow a trans woman to use the female changing facilities and only became harassment when Ms Peggie complained.  This ceased to be an issue once the rotas were changed so that the two were never on shift together and therefore could not meet in the changing rooms again.

In light of this Judgement, which is 311 pages long and issued on 8 December 2025, further clarity and guidance is really needed, whether by appeal (which is now expected to happen) or from the long awaited EHRC guidance.

National Minimum Wage

The present and increased National Minimum Wage (NMW) rates as of April 2026 are:

• For people 21 and over NMW is£12.21 and will be increasing to £12.71.
• Currently, 18 to 20-year-olds receive £10.00 an hour, this will be going up to £10.85.
• Under 18s receive £7.55, they are set to receive £8.00 an hour, which is the same as apprentices.

It is important Employers ensure that they are meeting the National Minimum Wage requirements, as this is a legal obligation.

Neonatal Care Leave and pay (from April 2025)

To qualify, you must have a child in neonatal care for at least seven consecutive days.

Neonatal care is care for newborn babies, which starts in the first 28 days after their birth and can include hospital care, medical care or palliative or end of life care.

Employees may now be able to receive one week’s leave for every full and continuous day that their baby is in neonatal care up to a maximum of 12 weeks.

It is important that employers have up-to-date family leave policies to be reflective of these statutory changes, which is something we can help prepare, if you don’t have a suitable policy in place.

Employment Rights Bill – Generally

The Bill was behind but has now passed into law.

The only provision that comes into force immediately is the repeal of the provisions introduced by the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023.

A draft Picketing Code of Practice regarding the removal of the requirement for unions to appoint a picketing supervisor and a draft revised Code of Practice on industrial action ballots and notice to employers have just been published in advance of the changes coming in on 18 February.

The Employment Rights Bill – Unfair dismissal

One of the biggest changes is the change to the qualification period to bring an unfair dismissal claim.

This had been ping-ponging between the House of Commons and the House of Lords, until the Government conceded to the Lords’ demands, that the qualifying period of employment for unfair dismissal claims will be six months, rather than a day one right, as set out in the Labour Party manifesto.

In some quarters, this has been celebrated as a win, but it needs to be remembered that currently the qualifying period is two years!

That said, it should be noted that there have always been exceptions to the two-year rule, because dismissals which breach the Equality Act or whistle-blowing legislation (amongst others) have always been day one rights – and will remain so.

It therefore remains to be seen how much impact there will be, in reality. There will undoubtably be some extra spurious claims, but we already see that with disgruntled employees trying to fit themselves within the parameters of the Equality Act to enable a claim.

One thing which will be impacted is that employers will now have to proactively manage probationary periods.

We also await consultations and impact assessment for the removal of the unfair dismissal compensation cap, which was a late change to the Act. Currently it is limited to a year’s pay or £118,223.00.

Any increase in case load will also be a real concern for the Employment Tribunals who are already overwhelmed. At present, we are receiving Tribunal dates listed for a year and more down the line, and even longer in some regions, with one trial being listed for August 2027.  If parties are having to wait in excess of a year to have a claim heard, this is justice for neither party.

ACAS Early Conciliation

From 1 December 2025, the ACAS Early Conciliation period changed from six weeks to twelve weeks. The new time period applies to all claims where early conciliation starts on or after 1st December 2025.

Currently our employer clients are finding that ACAS are so stretched that often, they didn’t make contact at all during the six-week conciliation period.

The addition of a further six weeks making compulsory conciliation almost three months long, when added to plans to extend the employment tribunal time limit to six months from 2027, may mean our employer clients being unaware of a claim for nearly a year by the time the overstretched tribunal staff get around to serving it.

Generally

Disputes at work reflect those in society generally, and people on both sides of the divide can care passionately and genuinely about them.

Resolving these competing concerns is difficult and time-consuming, but we care for you and your workforce and will walk the tangled path with you to find the best solution we can.

Get in touch with our Employment law experts today.