With the Employment Rights Act finally gaining Royal Assent in December 2025, we take a look at what's in store for employment law in 2026. Our updated tracker highlights some of the key changes for 2026: April 2026 New pay rates: Each April new statutory minimum rates apply for the year ahead. From 1 April 2026, minimum pay rates per hour will increase to: ·         National Living Wage: o 21 and over - £12.71 – 4.1% increase (or £977 increase per year for full time staff o

Performance appraisals remain one of the most misunderstood and often disliked processes in the workplace. Despite good intentions, many organisations still rely on annual reviews that feel stressful, subjective, and disconnected from real performance.  As businesses head into 2026, this approach is becoming both ineffective and risky. And that’s the topic up for debate in the latest episode in our We can work it out podcast series, with John Hayes and Amanda Rajkumar .  Wh

An employment tribunal has ruled in favour of Sandra Moody, a black higher-level teaching assistant, who successfully proved race discrimination, harassment and unfair dismissal after being accused of having an “angry face” and intimidating pupils at a Southwark primary school. The tribunal found that complaints about her tone and facial expression were vague, exaggerated and influenced by negative racial stereotypes, with similar behaviour by white colleagues not scrutinised

Following the successful conclusion of the Tom James v Max Potter case in the High Court last month, Constantine Law Managing Partner, John Hayes, writes for The Times today (11 December) about the ease with which interim employment injunctions are granted in the High Court. John points out that this practice of “holding the ring” can lead to a hugely expensive and stressful speedy-trial process during which all the usual High Court steps are compressed into between two an

Before our readers unwind for Christmas, we thought it prudent to round up where we are with The Employment Rights Bill’s ping pong deadlock.  As far as day one unfair dismissal rights goes the deadlock has finally broken with the government conceding a six-month qualifying period before the right applies. It also announced that the 52-week cap for compensation for unfair dismissal would be removed, currently the maximum award is £118,223. It is not however clear if the cap w

The Home Office has opened a major consultation on plans to overhaul the UK settlement system—proposals that could reshape long-term migration routes, employer sponsorship strategies, and the expectations of anyone currently working toward Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR). These changes, set out in the policy paper   A Fairer Pathway to Settlemen t , are among the most far-reaching in years. In our latest episode of The Employment Law Podcast, our immigration partners, Alex F

The Home Office’s new A Fairer Path to Settlement  proposals could leave hundreds of thousands of migrant workers waiting far longer to settle in the UK. Constantine Law's immigration partner Alex Finch  speaking to Personnel Today , warns the plans will “require a fundamental re-engineering of the UK immigration system,” creating clear winners and losers. Alex comments: “The focus of the statement is on the contribution of the individual. But that is hard to reconcile with

CONSTANTINE LAW November 20 th ,  2025   The government has today published a statement and consultation on proposals for earned settlement.  The Immigration White Paper published in May 2025 confirmed that a consultation would be launched before the end of the year.  However, according to Alex Finch Business Immigration Partner at Constantine Law,  the accompanying statement published today is more thorough than might have been expected and represents another strong statemen

Non-compete litigation is climbing sharply, with High Court claims issued by employers against former staff up 43 per cent this year, according to a new report. A rise in business creation (up 3.5% year on year) and a slowdown for permanent hiring sending professionals into self-employment are cited as two possible reasons for this rise. Commenting to People Management, Constantine Law partner, Alan Lewis , warns that October 2026 will mark a major turning point: the use of