In a judgment handed down today, For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers the Supreme Court has determined the meaning of ‘man’, ‘woman’ and ‘sex’ in the Equality Act 2010 as referring to biological sex, not acquired or certificated sex under a Gender Recognition Certificate. Background The appeal arose in the context of a […]
On 30 March 2025, the UK Home Office announced that businesses will soon be legally required to carry out right to work checks on everyone working in their name. This change will bring gig economy and zero-hours workers in line with other employees, with civil penalties being imposed on businesses that hire illegal self-employed contractors
Expansion of illegal working regime to gig economy Read More »
The government is seeking evidence and views on areas of equality policy to help better understand how the law is working in practice and on areas of possible equality law reform. The call for evidence will help shape the measures included in the draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill and the Employment Rights Bill. The equality
Call for evidence: New equality laws on the horizon? Read More »
The following changes come into effect in early April 2025: National minimum wage (NMW) The new NMW rates which will apply from 1 April 2025 are as follows: Rate From 1 April 2025 National Living Wage age 21+ £12.21 Age 18-20 £10.00 Age 16-17 £7.55 Apprentice rate £7.55 Accommodation offset £10.66 Neonatal care leave
April employment law changes Read More »
The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has issued updates on its decisions in two parallel investigations into suspected anti-competitive behaviour in relation to freelance labour in the production and broadcasting of sports content (where it issued an infringement decision) and freelance and employed labour in the production, creation and / or broadcasting of television
At a glance Immigration fees: From 9 April 2025, ETA fees will increase by 60% to £16. Sponsor licence fees will rise by 7%, and the cost of assigning a Certificate of Sponsorship will increase by 120% to £525. UK ETA update: From 2 April 2025, all non-visa nationals must have UK Electronic Travel Authorisation
UK Immigration update: immigration fees, UK ETA and eVisa update and the care sector Read More »
Eight months after the King’s Speech announced the government’s intention to introduce compulsory ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting for large employers (ie those with 250+ employees), the government has published a consultation paper seeking views on its proposal. The measures will ultimately form part of the upcoming Equality (Race and Disability) Bill. The consultation
Consultation launched on ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting for large employers Read More »
Today the government published its responses to 5 consultation papers on aspects of the Employment Rights Bill (ERB) and put forward amendments to the ERB following consultation with businesses and trade unions. Increased penalties for collective redundancy breaches The maximum protective award for failure to collectively inform and consult on collective redundancies will increase from
Employment Rights Bill enters next stage: Responses to consultation and amendments Read More »
The Court of Appeal’s decision in Higgs v Farmor’s School is the latest case in the arena of competing workplace rights, following the prominent judgments in the claims brought by Maya Forstater and David Mackereth, highlighting the difficulties employers can face in striking the delicate balance between conflicting opinions. This case underscores the importance of
A clash of beliefs: The Higgs v Farmor’s School case Read More »
The government has laid regulations before Parliament to bring into force the Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023 with effect from 6 April 2025, nearly two years after the legislation received Royal Assent. Neonatal Care Leave will apply to parents of babies who are admitted into neonatal care up to 28 days old and who have
Neonatal care leave and pay to be in force from 6 April 2025 Read More »
Labour’s Plan To Make Work Pay, published before the election in May, stated: “Labour will update trade union legislation, so it is fit for a modern economy, removing unnecessary restrictions on trade union activity and ensuring industrial relations are based around good faith negotiation and bargaining. This will end the Conservatives’ scorched-earth approach to industrial
The Future of Work: Insights into the new Employment Rights Bill: #6 Industrial action Read More »
In the latest of our articles taking an in-depth look at aspects of the Employment Rights Bill (ERB) we focus on the provisions which strengthen and simplify the law on trade union organising and recognition, which include: Introducing a duty on employers to inform workers of their right to join a trade union. Strengthening trade
Hotels, restaurants, bars, pubs, sports, gaming, and leisure attractions, all heavily rely on casual and seasonal workers to ensure the business is appropriately resourced to respond to fluctuating demand throughout the year. As such, hospitality and leisure is the sector which is most likely to be impacted by the government’s upcoming changes to the law
Background As announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, in the Autumn Budget 2024, the government will be introducing new legislation, from April 2026, to combat non-compliance in the umbrella company market. Umbrella companies are employment intermediaries who employ temporary workers on behalf of agencies and/or end clients. The workers’ services will ultimately
Autumn Budget 2024 – Umbrella Company Tax Reforms Read More »
The dynamic nature of business means that employers and their workforces must sometimes go through evolutionary changes to keep pace with, for example, economic shifts, technological developments, market trends, or legal/regulatory requirements. Current UK employment legislation permits evolution of this type, albeit with certain protections for employees built in. Redundancy dismissals are possible provided that
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