Employment, contingent workforce and immigration | UK Regulatory Outlook April 2025

April employment law changes and new Vento bands published

April sees a number of changes that affect employers coming into force (see our previous Regulatory Outlook) including increases to the national minimum wage rates and other statutory payments, as well as the new statutory right to neonatal leave and pay.

New Presidential Guidance on Employment Tribunal awards for injury to feelings in line with the Vento bands has now also been published. For claims presented on or after 6 April 2025, the Vento bands are as follows:

• a lower band of £1,200 to £12,100 for less serious cases; 

• a middle band of £12,100 to £36,400 for cases that do not merit an award in the upper band; and 

• an upper band of £36,2400 to £60,700 for the most serious cases. The most exceptional cases are capable of exceeding £60,700. 

Tribunals have a discretion to award compensation within the Vento bands in light of the specifics of the particular case. They compensate for the emotional distress and injury to feelings suffered by the claimant due to discrimination. This includes the psychological impact and any resulting harm to the claimant's mental well-being. The amount awarded is intended to reflect the severity and impact of the discriminatory behaviour on the individual.

Government publishes call for evidence on equality reforms 

As part of its ongoing employment law reforms, the government has published a call for evidence on reforms to equality laws. The call for evidence encompasses both evidence and views about areas of the existing legal framework to help better understand how the law is working in practice, as well as evidence and views on areas of possible equality law reform that the government is considering.  This includes strengthening equal page, pay transparency, strengthening protection against combined discrimination, creating and maintaining workplaces and working conditions free from harassment, ensuring the Public Sector Equality Duty is met by all parties exercising public functions, and implementing the socio-economic duty. See our Insight for more.

UK Spring Statement 2025: tax anti-avoidance rules with criminal sanction target staffing supply chain

The UK chancellor, Rachel Reeves, in her spring statement in March outlined the government's plans to introduce further measures designed to close the "tax gap" – the difference between the amount of tax that should, in theory, be paid to HMRC, and what is actually paid. The measures aim to raise a further £1 billion by the end of the forecast. 

These latest anti-avoidance proposals would criminalise hirers, staffing companies, umbrella companies and other intermediaries who "promote" tax avoidance arrangements and fail to comply with the Disclosure of Tax Avoidance Scheme (DOTAS) regime, which, broadly, requires certain types of scheme to be notified to HMRC before they are implemented.

The problem that this addresses is that those who fail to comply with DOTAS are only exposed, at the moment, to civil liabilities. There is a feeling in government that DOTAS has, therefore, been ignored by many, allowing tax-avoidance arrangements in the staffing supply chain to be widely promoted in a relatively unchecked way.  Read more.