Employment Law and Labour Law

The Court of Appeal's decision in Burger v Wetherspoons reinforces established principles on vicarious liability and contractor independence. When a security guard employed by a contracted company assaulted a patron, the court examined whether the pub chain could be held liable for the contractor's employee's actions. The case offers critical insights into how businesses can maintain clear boundaries with contractors and effectively transfer risk through outsourcing arrangements.

Legal budgets are expanding in 2027, yet the gains are being consumed by compensation costs, escalating law firm fees, and unfunded AI initiatives. In-house legal teams face a paradox of growth without capacity, forcing strategic pivots toward insourcing, alternative legal service providers, and adaptable operational frameworks designed for sustained performance.

In-house legal teams are rapidly expanding their scope of work, driven by AI capabilities and rising law firm costs. But as the perimeter of what they handle grows faster than their budgets and capacity, many are discovering that bringing work in-house creates new challenges around workload management and sustainable operations. The question isn't whether to insource more work—it's how to build the flexible, AI-enabled operating model needed to handle it effectively.

The UK's new Fair Work Agency has published its delivery plan for 2026-2027, signaling a shift toward more integrated and proactive enforcement of employment law. With new powers to enforce holiday pay, statutory sick pay, and national minimum wage violations, alongside advanced data-scraping capabilities and AI-driven case management, employers face heightened scrutiny across multiple compliance areas.

As artificial intelligence becomes embedded in everyday business operations, organisations face a critical shift in how they measure and reward performance. While better data promises more precise incentive systems, the ability to observe everything may create more problems than it solves, particularly when prediction is mistaken for causation and measurement begins to distort the very behaviours it seeks to encourage.

Employees will be entitled to two weeks of unpaid bereavement leave in the event of the death of a qualifying relative, or a pregnancy loss which occurs before 24 weeks. This is the statutory minimum. Employers are free to offer paid or additional bereavement leave, but the government has expressly ruled out introducing statutory pay for the new entitlement.

Central government is proposing a six-month implementation window for public authorities to comply with the Code of Ethical Conduct requirements under the Public Office (Accountability) Bill, commonly known as Hillsborough Law. With Royal Assent expected in late 2026 or early 2027, authorities face significant pressure to review existing codes, secure governance approvals, and embed cultural changes across their organizations. The question is whether this timeline is realistic given the scope of work requir

Employment tribunals are seeing a sharp rise in interim relief applications, with monthly filings now matching what used to be annual totals. These applications can force employers to continue paying dismissed employees' salaries and benefits for months while awaiting a final hearing, creating significant financial exposure even when the employee isn't working.

The FCA's latest enforcement data reveals a dramatic shift in regulatory priorities, with over 75% of enforcement operations now concentrated on financial crime. This analysis examines the breakdown of these investigations, the rising influence of whistleblowing disclosures, and what this strategic realignment means for firms navigating an increasingly focused regulatory landscape.

With the 31 October 2026 connection deadline rapidly approaching for pension providers and schemes, this update examines the latest guidance from the Pensions Dashboard Programme, TPR's heightened scrutiny of scheme data accuracy, and PASA's new toolkit for managing member enquiries and post-use behavior reporting.

This autumn issue examines the Pension Schemes Act 2026 reforms and explores how artificial intelligence is transforming the pensions sector. The publication addresses critical topics including pensions dashboards, collective defined contribution schemes, SIPP rule changes, and the upcoming NMPA increase.

This comprehensive weekly roundup examines critical regulatory developments affecting UK financial services, from the FCA's new non-financial misconduct regime to inheritance tax changes for pension pots and emerging risks in the private credit market. The analysis covers enforcement actions, cybersecurity challenges posed by frontier AI, and supervisory reviews of unclaimed Child Trust Funds, providing essential insights for financial services professionals navigating an evolving regulatory landscape.