As the nation emerges from the Christmas break to start a brand-new year, we take a look at what is coming up in employment law over the coming months.
This year at a glance...
It is widely anticipated that the Employment Rights Bill (ERB) will be passed into law in the summer of 2025. This timing will depend on how much it is debated by Parliament. We know that most of the proposed reforms cannot come into force until further regulations are passed, which will take some time. As a result, we anticipate that the impact of the ERB will be limited during 2025.
The ERB is currently under scrutiny by a Parliamentary Committee, which is making amends to the wording before reporting back to the House of Commons in January 2025. One of the more noteworthy amends recently proposed by the government is to increase the time limit for all Employment Tribunal claims from 3 to 6 months. Where a dispute is ongoing (for example, in a grievance situation), an increase to the limitation period may assist employers, giving them a longer timeframe for negotiation & settlement before a formal claim is lodged against them. On the flip side, it is likely that a longer limitation period will result in increased uncertainty for employers and could only further increase the number of claims in an already back-logged tribunal system. This in turn could lead to additional delays listing hearings and issues with witnesses being asked to remember events that happened some time ago. We may see an...
A claim circulating on X (formerly Twitter) claimed that Kash Patel refused to get off a plane until someone found him a men’s FBI raid jacket, because the first one supposedly belonged to a femal...