Employment Edit: 28 August 2025

Legal Updates

Minimum wage rates

Earlier this month, the government published the latest remit for the Low Pay Commission (LPC). The remit sets out the government’s request for recommendations from the LPC on the rates of National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage that should apply from April 2026.

In Next Steps to Make Work Pay, the government indicated that it will remove what it describes as the ‘discriminatory’ age bands so that every adult will be entitled to the same minimum wage. Currently, only those aged 21 or over are entitled to receive the National Living Wage (currently £12.21 per hour), with those aged 18 to 20 entitled to the National Minimum Wage, which is set at a lower rate of £10 per hour. To reduce the immediate financial impact of this change, the government does not intend to make this change in one go and instead is looking to bridge the gap gradually. As a first step, the National Minimum Wage rate was increased from April 2025 to narrow the gap between that and the National Living Wage rate.

In May 2025, the LPC launched a consultation into (amongst other things) how best to remove the age bands for adults. This consultation set out potential options for moving towards a single adult rate. The government has requested that the LPC takes the findings of the consultation into account when it issues its recommendation for the April 2026 rates. The LPC is expected to issue its recommendations in October this year.

Post-employment whistleblowing protection

Alleged detriments experienced after the claimant brought and settled employment tribunal proceedings fell within post-employment protection against whistleblowing detriments, according to the EAT.

The claimant, a doctor who had made several disclosures about patient safety during his employment, brought an unfair dismissal and whistleblowing detriment claim against the respondent. After the parties agreed to settle that claim part way through the hearing, the respondent made several statements about the case (which had been crowdfunded) to combat what it saw as adverse comments in the press and on social media. The claimant then brought further employment tribunal proceedings alleging that the respondent’s statements were whistleblowing detriments linked to the patient safety disclosures he made during his employment.

The respondent claimed that the statements were not made in the employment context as they were made in the context of the claimant being a crowdfunded litigant. At first instance, the majority of the employment tribunal agreed with this point, finding that the statements fell outside of the ‘employment field’ and so he was not eligible to bring a whistleblowing detriment claim. The EAT disagreed – it held that the statements were covered by the post-termination protection that employees are entitled to for blowing the whistle during their employment. In particular, the EAT noted that the alleged detriments were closely connected to the claimant’s employment as they related to the earlier employment tribunal proceedings and that the claimant was subjected to the alleged detriments in his capacity as a former employee.

However, the claimant’s appeal was rejected for other reasons (including a finding that the respondent’s statements were not materially influenced by the claimant’s patient safety disclosures), but the principle regarding post-employment detriments provides important clarification on the scope of whistleblowing protections.

(Day v Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust)

Employment Rights Bill latest

And just like that, Parliament’s summer recess is coming to an end next week, with the next stage of the Employment Rights Bill’s progress through the House of Lords scheduled for 3 September 2025. This autumn promises to be a busy time on the legislation front with the Bill expected to receive Royal Assent by the end of this year. To keep on top of the reforms in the Bill and what these reforms mean for employers, don’t forget to check out our Employers’ Handbook to the Employment Rights Bill and Beyond.

Thought-leadership, themes and trends

Workplace investigations – the power of preparation

In workplace investigations, proper planning can mean the difference between a process that builds confidence and one that invites challenge. In the second in our series of articles for People Management, Victoria Newman looks at the power of preparation and shares her advice on how to scope and plan an investigation to avoid issues down the line.

Respect at work

Earlier this summer, the CIPD released its annual Working Lives Scotland report, which benchmarks job quality in Scotland based on the survey responses from over 1,000 workers across various sectors and occupations. In a series of articles, we will consider the five ‘Fair Work’ themes covered in the report – respect, security, opportunity, fulfilment, and effective voice – and will identify suggested actions for employers to help address these issues.

In the first article, Rebecca Mullins explores the theme of respect and looks in particular at workers’ responses to questions about their health and wellbeing, relationships, conflict at work and work–life balance.