Welcome to The Work Couch, the podcast where we discuss all things employment.

Continuing our deep dive into the Employment Rights Act 2025, this week we discuss the imminent wave of employment law reforms coming into effect in April 2026 - and the key actions to take now.

Host Ellie Gelder is joined by Charlotte White, partner, and Ramina Krivich, trainee solicitor, both from our Employment, Engagement & Equality team, who share their insights on:

• Statutory sick pay reforms and the practical steps employers can take to prepare;
• The establishment of the Fair Work Agency and how this will impact compliance procedures, litigation risk and settlement negotiations, and record-keeping;
• The doubling of the collective redundancy protective award period and how this could affect decisions on restructures and how consultation is undertaken;
• Trade union-related reforms and navigating a new landscape for employee relations;
• The extension of whistleblowing protections;
• Family-friendly changes; and
• Top tips to ensure business readiness for the April 2026 reforms.

The Work Couch will bring you more updates on the Employment Rights Act (ERA) as they develop. In the meantime, you can keep on top of all of the 25 plus employment law reforms introduced by the ERA - as well as access key watch-outs – by signing up to our ERA tracker, a free resource which is regularly updated by the Employment, Engagement & Equality team.

For a more detailed discussion on the family-friendly changes introduced by the ERA, listen to our previous Work Couch episode with Joanna Holford and Megan Latham here.

* Please note these podcasts will not run on Internet Explorer

We hope you enjoyed this episode. If you did, please subscribe to be notified when new episodes release. You can subscribe on Apple Podcasts and Spotify to stay up to date with the latest episodes.

All information is correct at the time of recording. The Work Couch is not a substitute for legal advice.

References

1. Next Steps to Make Work Pay
2. Employment Rights Act 2025

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to The Work Couch, the podcast where we discuss all things employment.

Host Ellie Gelder is once again joined by consultant employment lawyer Victoria Othen to talk about disability at work and what reasonable adjustments look like at each stage of the employment life cycle. In part two, which is packed with practical examples, they discuss:

• Relevant factors when assessing the reasonableness of an adjustment;
• Risks and exceptions relating to pre-employment health questions during the recruitment process;
• Case law on reasonable adjustments in respect of performance and attendance management, and redundancy processes;
• Reasonable adjustments to policies and procedures;
• Low or zero cost adjustments; and
• Victoria's top tips for employers to comply with their duty to make reasonable adjustments.

Listen to our previous Work Couch episode: Disability at work (Part 1): "Right to try work" and the law on reasonable adjustments.

Please note these podcasts will not run on Internet Explorer

All information is correct at the time of recording. The Work Couch is not a substitute for legal advice.

References

1. Equality and Human Rights Commission guidance on workplace adjustments

2. Noor v Foreign & Commonwealth Office EAT/0470/10

3. Dominique v Toll Global Forwarding Ltd EAT/0308/13

4. AECOM Ltd v Mallon [2023] EAT 104

5. Adjusting your recruitment process for a candidate with a disability: What is reasonable? (RPC article, 18 September 2023)

6. Waddingham v NHS Business Services Authority ET/1804896/13 & ET/1805624/13

7. Shearer v South Lanarkshire Council 4107433/23 (Scottish ET)

8. Archibald v Fife Council [2004] HL 32

9. Rentokil Initial UK Ltd v Miller [2024] EAT 37

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.