United Kingdom: Employee Rights/ Labour Relations

As the national minimum wage (NMW) becomes a potential concern for more employers, the Fair Work Agency (FWA) begins preparations to begin enforcing it from April 2027.

If you hold a sponsor licence in the UK, understanding how a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) works is essential to avoid delays, refusals, and compliance risks.

A quick look at the Minutes of the National Employment Tribunal User Group for March 2026 is very revealing as to the current state of the Employment Tribunals Service across England and Wales.

Regulations have been made under the Employment Rights Act 2025 and the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 to ensure labour market enforcement and licensing functions can be carried out from 7 April 2026...

UK businesses employing overseas workers face a critical 31 May 2026 deadline for their Appendix 4 report to HMRC. Understanding the qualifying conditions, the economic employer principle...

Employment Tribunal claims have surged by 54% in Q3 2025 compared to the previous year, driven by increases in whistleblowing and discrimination cases, as well as AI-enabled claim preparation by unrepresented parties. With the Employment Rights Act 2025 provisions yet to take full effect and no significant investment in tribunal resources, the system faces mounting delays and cancellations that threaten workers' ability to enforce their rights.

The number of employees who are members of a trade union has continued to fall in recent years. Government data published in May 2025 confirmed that trade union membership fell to a record low of only 22% of UK employees in 2024.

Industrial action is not defined in statute but, as a general guide, amounts to concerted action taken to put pressure on an employer. It includes strikes and actions short of a strike such as picketing, work-to-rule, go-slow and a ban on call-out.

In this episode, Tom Heys and David Lorimer are joined by Lulu Seikaly from Payscale to unpack the US experience. They explore how state-level laws are working in practice and the challenges employers are facing.