Happy New Year and welcome to our first quarterly newsletter of 2026. 

In this newsletter we provide an update on the Employment Rights Bill as that was finally passed into law on 18th December, look at recent case law judgements / employment tribunal claims, and focus on Artificial Intelligence in the Workplace.

From basic Contracts of Employment to a fully Outsourced HR service we can help.  If you would like to know more about any of our support, consultancy, and training services, and see how we can help you, please visit our website or contact us at info@connectivebusiness.co.uk to arrange a Free no-obligation consultation.

Legislation Updates

Employment Rights Bill

A number of changes have been confirmed between now and April 2026 as detailed below.

Now

• The rules regarding ‘minimum service levels for strikes have been removed.
• The ACAS Early Conciliation Period has been increased from 6 weeks to 12 weeks.

February 2026

• Dismissal for taking part in industrial action will become ‘automatically unfair’.
• The following changes apply to trade union activity.
  • the time needed to give notice of industrial action will reduce to 10 days.
  • unions will need a simple majority to vote for industrial action.
  • picket supervisors will no longer be required.
  • industrial action mandates will last for 12 months.
  • industrial action and ballot notices will be simplified.
  • political fund rules will change.

April 2026

• Paternity leave will become a ‘day one right’, allowing notice of leave to be given from the first day of employment.
• Parental leave will become a ‘day one right’, allowing notice of leave to be given from the first day of employment.
• The restriction on taking paternity leave after shared parental leave will be removed.
• The following changes apply to Statutory Sick Pay (SSP).
  • this will be paid from the first day of illness.
  • the lower earnings limit will be removed.

• The maximum ‘protective award’ for failure to consult in collective redundancy will double to 180 days’ pay.

• Sexual harassment will become a ‘qualifying disclosure’ under whistleblowing law. This will mean protection from detriment and unfair dismissal for whistleblowers making a sexual harassment disclosure.
• Employers will need to create action plans around menopause and gender pay gaps (this is only voluntary from April 2026 but will become mandatory sometime in 2027).
• The following changes apply to trade union activity.
  • simplifying how a trade union can gain recognition in a workplace.
  • allowing trade union members to vote electronically.

Further changes are planned in October 2026 and into 2027, more detail will be provided nearer the time.

Case Law Updates

Protected Conversation upheld by ET and EAT in unfair dismissal case

G was employed as a branch manager.  The company managed successfully to cover G’s role while absent sick, and considered they could continue without the need for a branch manager.  G was invited to a return to work meeting, however the company wanted to discuss making an offer to G of an exit package involving terminating his employment for the stated reason of redundancy with an enhanced redundancy payment of £10,000.  During the meeting, G was informed that if he accepted an offer of £10,000, the parties would sign a compromise agreement; but, if he rejected it, the company would “go through a redundancy procedure”. The company sought to make the meeting a ‘protected conversation’, describing the proposal as “off the record” and “without prejudice”.  G was given 48 hours to consider the proposal.  After the meeting, there was a further exchange of text messages by which a breakdown of the figure of £10,000 was provided in response to G’s request. G did not accept the proposal within the stated 48 hours, and so he was invited to a formal meeting to discuss his potential redundancy, eventually leading to dismissal. G claimed unfair dismissal, and sought to rely on the protected conversation as evidence of unfairness.  The company argued that this was inadmissible as evidence in the claim.  G argued that there had been impropriety on the part of the company in the way it had dealt with meeting such that the default position of inadmissibility should be ousted and that he should be allowed to refer to the content of the meeting in his unfair dismissal claim.  An Employment Tribunal (ET) disagreed and ruled that the content of the meeting was inadmissible.  G’s subsequent appeal was dismissed by the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) stating that the ET judge had concluded that while it may not have been fair for the company to use a discussion about G’s return to work as a pretext for raising with him the possibility of severance on agreed terms, it did not constitute improper behaviour to do so.  Also, impropriety had to be assessed by looking at the aggregate effect of the pre-determined redundancy, the false pretences for the meeting and the 48-hour deadline. However, the judge concluded that these factors did not subject G to undue pressure either individually or cumulatively, and that the company did not behave improperly overall.

Whilst the ACAS Code recommends an employee being given a minimum of 10 days to consider an offer, that relates to considering a written offer.  Ultimately, the judgment on impropriety is left to the ET to consider in view of all the relevant circumstances.  In this case, the judge had regard to the fact that G was swiftly provided with a breakdown of the figure offered; that the meeting was conducted calmly; and that he had time to discuss matters with his family.  If the claimant had accepted the verbal offer, the pre-termination negotiations would have continued and, at some point, he would have been presented with written terms of a settlement agreement to consider.  The judgment recognises that parties can reach an agreement in principle quickly, provided the employee is then given time to take advice, reflect and consider a settlement agreement.

Transgender Participation and the Equality Act

H, a professional pool player and transgender woman with a Gender Recognition Certificate, had previously played for the Kent women’s team. In August 2023, the English Blackball Pool Federation amended its rules to restrict female competitions to biological women only. As a result, the claimant could no longer compete in the women’s category, though participation remained open in men’s or open competitions.  H brought a county court claim alleging direct discrimination on the basis of gender reassignment under the Equality Act 2010.  The claim was dismissed.  The court held that the terms “sex” and “woman” in the Equality Act 2010 refer only to biological sex.  The correct comparator for the claimant was a biological man who was not transgender, and such a person would also have been excluded from the female category.  As a result, there was no less favourable treatment and no discrimination on the ground of gender reassignment.  Although unnecessary to dispose of the claim, the court also considered the sports exception and the single-sex services exception. It held that pool qualifies as a “gender-affected activity” because, on average, men have sex-related advantages in the game, and that excluding biological men was necessary to secure fair competition and proportionate to the legitimate aim of promoting fairness and female participation. Arguments under the Human Rights Act were also rejected, with the court signalling that an appeal would have little prospect of success.

This decision reinforces the principle that “sex” under the Equality Act 2010 means biological sex, regardless of a Gender Recognition Certificate.  For service providers, sports bodies and potentially employers offering single-sex spaces or activities, the case signals that exclusions based on biological sex may be justified where fairness, safety or legitimate aims are engaged.  It also lowers the threshold for what may be deemed a “gender-affected activity”, which could have wide-ranging implications beyond high-contact sports.

Training

Operational Managers are key to a Company’s success, and how they work with and manage their teams is an essential part of this.  Failing to provide them with the essential training they require will lead to more issues within the workplace.

We run a number of ‘1 to 1 HR Coaching for Managers’ modules, all of which are delivered remotely via Microsoft Teams and takes around 1½ to 2 hours:

• Being an Effective Manager / Responsibilities of a Manager;
• Dealing with Misconduct (Discipline), Poor Performance (Capability) and Grievances;
• Managing Attendance / Sickness Absence;
• Managing Performance / Developing People;
• Dealing With Conflict;
• Managing Recruitment;
• Managing Investigations.

More details on all of the above can be found on our website.

Artificial Intelligence in the workplace

The use of AI in the workplace is being implemented by some, considered by more.

Adopting an AI-embedded solution responsibly in the workplace hinges on people having the right skills to make the best use of it. This covers skills such as managing sensitive data and data engineering, as well as problem-solving and evaluation.

Whilst AI automation of repetitive tasks has generally been welcomed as it can increase productivity and reduce stagnation / boredom, there is the temptation for some to simply rely on AI results without questioning them.  This can be a dangerous and high-risk approach for businesses.  AI should be a helpful tool to assist, not replace, human decision making.

When implementing AI in the workplace, you need to set out specific details on its use to ensure clarity and understanding.  Our draft AI Usage policy is available to help, just contact us to request a copy.

Partner Services

We have long-term partnerships with key providers which enables us to provide other recommended services to our clients.

Our partnerships include:

• Financial Services;
• Legal Services via Howells Solicitors;
• Health Insurance and Staff Healthcare Benefits via Western Provident Association (WPA);
• Health and Safety via Sure Safety;
• Workplace Wellbeing via Wellfinite;
• Cloud based HR Software via WorkSmarter.

Visit our website to see full information on our partners and their services.