The Joy of HR.
The complete guide to employing people well in the UK. 17 chapters of employment law and good HR practice in plain English, from hiring to tribunals, with two chapters on non-financial misconduct for FCA-regulated firms.
Welcome back.
What’s inside.
Each chapter sets out what the law requires, what good practice looks like on top of it, and ends with a checklist. Every legal fact is sourced to legislation.gov.uk, GOV.UK, Acas, the ICO, the HSE or the FCA.
Part 1: Getting the basics right
- 1Employees, workers and the contractWho you engage, and on what terms, decides almost every right and duty that follows. This chapter covers employment status, the day-one written statement, what makes up a contract and how to change it lawfully.
- 2Hiring wellRecruitment is where discrimination law, immigration law and data protection all start to apply. This chapter takes you from the job advert to the end of probation, including the 1 January 2027 change to unfair dismissal protection.
- 3Background checks and vettingBackground checks protect people, but they are among the most intrusive things an employer does. This chapter covers when vetting is justified, criminal record checks across the UK, other checks, sector rules and fair decisions.
Part 2: Pay, time and leave
- 4Pay and the minimum wageThe minimum wage, deductions, payslips, equal pay, gender pay gap reporting, tips and workplace pensions. Pay is where small administrative errors turn into arrears, penalties and claims, so this chapter focuses on the checks that prevent them.
- 5Working time and holidayThe 48-hour week and opt-outs, rest breaks, night work, young workers, statutory holiday and how to pay it, including for irregular-hours and part-year workers. These rules protect health and safety, and holiday pay is about to gain a state enforcer.
- 6Family and life leaveMaternity, paternity, shared parental, adoption, neonatal, parental, carer's, dependants and bereavement leave, with the statutory pay that goes with them, and the protection that surrounds pregnancy and new parents.
- 7Health, sickness and wellbeingStatutory sick pay after the April 2026 reforms, fit notes, managing short and long-term absence fairly, disability and reasonable adjustments, menopause, stress and mental health, and the health and safety duties that sit underneath them all.
- 8Flexible and hybrid workingHow to handle statutory flexible working requests today, what is expected to change in autumn 2027, and how to run hybrid and home working safely and lawfully, including monitoring staff who work remotely.
Part 3: Conduct, fairness and culture
- 9Equality, harassment and the new prevention dutyThe Equality Act 2010 shapes almost every people decision you make. This chapter explains the core rules, the stronger sexual harassment duty and the new third-party harassment duty that started on 30 October 2026, and what to do now.
- 10Discipline, grievances and investigationsHow to handle misconduct, complaints and whistleblowing fairly, from the first conversation to the appeal. Built on the Acas Code, the right to be accompanied and the changes Acas and the government have in train.
- 11Non-financial misconduct in regulated firmsSince 1 September 2026, serious bullying, harassment and violence towards colleagues can breach the FCA conduct rules in non-bank firms as well as banks. This chapter explains the rules, their limits and the link to fitness and propriety.
- 12Non-financial misconduct in practiceHow a regulated firm can handle bullying, harassment and violence in a way that is fair under employment law and meets FCA expectations on breach reporting, fitness and propriety and regulatory references.
Part 4: Change, exits and disputes
- 13Performance and ending employmentHow to manage underperformance and probation fairly, dismiss lawfully when you have to, and end employment by agreement, with the 1 January 2027 unfair dismissal changes built in.
- 14Redundancy, restructuring and TUPEHow to run a fair redundancy process, meet the collective consultation and HR1 duties, calculate redundancy pay, handle TUPE transfers and change terms lawfully before and after the March 2027 fire and rehire protections.
- 15Trade unions, collective rights and enforcementUnion law is changing in stages through 2026 and 2027, and a new state enforcement body now checks pay. This chapter explains what has changed, including the large group of changes that started on 30 October 2026, what is still to come, and how to prepare.
- 16Employment tribunalsHow a tribunal claim starts, the new six-month time limits, what to do when an ET3 lands on your desk, what tribunals can award, and how to learn from decisions other employers have lost.
- 17HR data, records and technologyWhat data protection law expects of employers: lawful bases, privacy notices, subject access, retention, monitoring, AI and automated decisions, and how to choose HR software that keeps you compliant.
For FCA-regulated firms: non-financial misconduct.
Since 1 September 2026 the FCA’s conduct rules have covered serious bullying, harassment and violence by staff in non-bank firms, and new guidance explains how this kind of misconduct bears on fitness and propriety. Chapters 11 and 12 explain the rules and how to run investigations, conduct breach decisions and regulatory references alongside a fair employment process.
Read the short answer on the FCA’s non-financial misconduct rules
The changes it prepares you for.
Dates from the government’s published Employment Rights Act timeline. Where the commencement regulations are not yet made, the date is expected and may move.
| When | What changes | Chapter |
|---|---|---|
| 9 November 2026 | Six-month time limit applies to breach of contract claims in Scotland | 16 |
| 1 January 2027Regulations made | Unfair dismissal qualifying period cut to six months, and the cap on the compensatory award removed, where the effective date of termination is on or after this date | 13 |
| 1 January 2027 | Duty to tell workers of their right to join a trade union | 15 |
| 1 January 2027 | Tipping law strengthened | 4 |
| March 2027 | Fire and rehire protections | 14 |
| March 2027 | Equality action plans (gender and menopause) mandatory for public authorities | 4 |
| April 2027 | Equality action plans mandatory for private and voluntary sector employers, in line with the gender pay gap reporting cycle | 4 |
| April 2027 | Bereavement leave, including for pregnancy loss | 6 |
| April 2027 | Collective redundancy consultation: organisation-wide threshold | 14 |
| April 2027 | Blacklisting protections extended | 15 |
| August 2027 | Electronic balloting for statutory recognition and derecognition ballots | 15 |
| September 2027 | Regulations to prevent misuse of non-disclosure agreements in harassment and discrimination cases | 9 |
| October 2027 | Enhanced dismissal protection for pregnant women and new mothers | 6 |
| October 2027 | Flexible working changes | 8 |
| December 2027 | Regulation of umbrella companies | 1 |
| To be confirmed | Zero hours reforms: guaranteed hours, reasonable notice of shifts, and payment for cancelled or changed shifts | 1 |
Questions
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Who is it for?
Owners, directors, HR managers and line managers in UK organisations, from small employers to large ones. Two chapters are written for FCA-regulated financial services firms dealing with non-financial misconduct.
How up to date is it?
Edition 1 states the law as at 2 November 2026. Many Employment Rights Act 2025 changes are still to come, so we will publish new editions as they take effect. The latest edition is always on this page.
Does it cover Northern Ireland?
The guide covers the law in Great Britain. Northern Ireland has its own employment law, and the guide flags where that matters.
Is it legal advice?
No. It is general information, checked against official sources, to help you understand the law and good practice. For a specific situation, talk to us or to a solicitor.
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