October is a big month for UK employment law, and small businesses lacking a dedicated HR team could be forgiven for feeling caught off guard.
From longer tribunal claim windows to stricter rules on preventing harassment, several significant reforms under the Employment Rights Act are landing in quick succession throughout the month, in what’s being described as the largest overhaul of British employment law in a generation.
The good news? There’s still time to prepare. We spoke to HR consultants and employment lawyers directly about what’s actually changing, where small businesses are most likely to be caught unprepared, and – crucially – what you can do about it before the end of the month.
What changes are actually coming, and when?
Unlike previous waves in employment law reform, three major changes are happening within one month, at the beginning and end of October.
Grace Pariser, founder of HR On Call, puts the scale of it bluntly: “For a business with no HR function running in the background, that’s three separate obligations arriving in the space of four weeks.”
Here are the three main reforms to get your head around:
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