Employment Edit: 14 May 2026

Legal updates

Collective redundancy consultation

The EAT has considered when an employer’s obligation to collectively consult was triggered in an administration scenario.
 
When their employer entered into administration, some employees (fewer than 20) were dismissed as redundant with immediate effect on 2 May 2023. The majority of the remaining workforce (in excess of 20) were then dismissed on 5 May 2023, and the business was wound up. Several employees brought claims for protective awards on the basis that the employer had failed to inform and consult.
 
At first instance, the Tribunal concluded that the employees dismissed on 5 May were entitled to a protective award and the claimants dismissed on 2 May were not. The Tribunal concluded that there was still a genuine attempt by the administrators to sell the business as a going concern on 2 May and so there was not yet a proposal to dismiss 20 or more employees as redundant.
 
The EAT overturned this on appeal, finding that the Tribunal had incorrectly focussed on whether there was a single fixed proposal on 2 May covering more than 20 employees. The EAT noted that a “clear, albeit provisional” intention can be enough to trigger consultation obligations and the Tribunal was wrong to treat the likelihood of the business being sold as a going concern as irrelevant. On the facts, the EAT concluded that closure of the business was already in view by 2 May if the business could not be sold to the last interested party. The duty to consult was therefore triggered and so those dismissed on 2 May were entitled to the same protective award as the 5 May leavers.
 
(Ellard & Ors v Alliance Transport Technologies Ltd)

Employment Tribunal time limit

Under the ERA 2025, the time limit for bringing a claim in an employment tribunal is set to be extended from three to six months in October this year. There was some uncertainty as to whether the extended time limit would apply to breach of contract claims, as such claims were not mentioned in the ERA. This point has now been cleared up as the government has published regulations which expressly extend the time limit for bringing a breach of contract claim in the employment tribunal to six months.
 
The new time limit (both for breach of contract and other types of claims) is expected to be forward-looking only, so claims relating to dismissals and/or alleged breaches or incidents that happen before the extended time limit is introduced will continue to be subject to the existing three-month time limit. The next step will be commencement regulations which should confirm the expected implementation date of 1 October 2026.
 
To read more about how the extension of ET time limits could impact on claims, check out our ERA hub page below.

Business immigration guide

The UK’s immigration system has been undergoing significant change, which means there is a lot for employers recruiting and employing overseas nationals in the UK to keep on top of. To support employers, our Business Immigration team has updated our guide to business immigration summarising the key issues to consider when recruiting overseas nationals.

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