Northern Ireland, miscarriage leave and the changing face of women’s rights
From 6 April 2026, Northern Ireland became the first part of the UK to provide a specific statutory entitlement to paid miscarriage leave. The new regulations give eligible workers up to two weeks’ paid leave following a miscarriage at any stage of pregnancy, including for partners, and the entitlement is available from day one of […]
Expansion to Whistleblowing Protections for Sanctions Breaches
The UK Government has announced important changes to whistleblowing legislation, extending legal protections to individuals who report breaches of financial, trade and transport sanctions. These reforms, coming into effect on 26 June 2025, are intended to improve enforcement by encouraging greater transparency and information-sharing across regulated sectors. Legislative update The Public Interest Disclosure (Prescribed Persons) […]
The Importance of Probationary Periods Now and for the Foreseeable
Probationary periods have long been an effective tool to effectively manage employees, especially when assessing their long term suitability for post. With the upcoming change to unfair dismissal rights [read this for more info: must read for employers: managing day one protection from unfair dismissal — Osborne & Wise], probationary periods are going to be […]
Managing Day One Protection from Unfair Dismissal
The employment law landscape is undergoing significant transformation in 2025, with a raft of reforms recently in force or on the horizon. In a world where many jurisdictions appear to be pulling back from workers’ rights (think Trump’s approach to DEI), it is quite a contrast that here in England and Wales, there is a […]
Amendments to the Employment Rights Bill (‘ERB’)
Last week, over 200 pages of amendments to the Employment Rights Bill were published in response to consultation with various stakeholders. These amendments are wide ranging and cover a number of the new protections, including changes to zero hours contracts, sick pay, trade union law and many other areas. In this article, Penny Morrison summarises […]
Labour’s New Deal for Working People
The New Deal is aimed at improving the lives of working people by strengthening their individual and collective labour rights. The authors examine the more radical concepts. Labour’s promises include: • Banning zero hours contracts;• Removing the qualifying period for certain employment law rights;• Banning ‘fire and rehire’;• Introducing collectively bargained fair pay agreements;• Introducing […]
Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023
The government has recently passed the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 and it will come into force on 26 October 2024. In short, it creates a new, proactive statutory duty on all employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. Any failure to do so will result in an increase of up to 25% […]