Employment Law Coffee Break: Our next webinar, latest developments on employment law reforms, and immigration update
Published on 5th September 2025
Welcome to our latest Coffee Break in which we look at the latest legal and practical developments impacting UK employers
Our latest webinar on employment law developments
With the government continuing to push forward its "New deal for working people", please join associate directors, Emma Wills-Davies and Natasha Burbidge, at our webinar on Tuesday 16 September looking at the Employment Rights Bill: latest developments and actions, together with other topical developments.
This webinar forms part of our Eating Compliance for Breakfast series (view the full programme). Other webinars in this series which may be of particular interest include:
- EU AI Act: key compliance updates – Tuesday 23 September
- Failure to Prevent Fraud: the first month and beyond – Tuesday 7 October
Taking stock of the latest developments: recent changes and announcements and actions to take
This summer has seen some important announcements for employers which we will be covering in more detail at our webinar on 16 September. We set out below headline points to take note of, including: the new failure to prevent fraud offence now in force; non-disclosure agreements and victims of crime; implementation roadmap for the Employment Rights Bill; and recent calls for evidence on parental leave and unpaid internships.
UK employment law is undergoing a period of significant change with the Employment Rights Bill and other legislative proposals on the horizon. Our microsite tracks the progress of individual reforms and sets out the associated practical implications for employers and actions to take.
1 September: New failure to prevent fraud offence in force
The new failure to prevent fraud offence in the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 came into effect on 1 September 2025.
The offence holds companies accountable for fraudulent activities carried out by associated persons for their benefit. To defend a claim under the Act, a commercial organisation must demonstrate that it had reasonable procedures in place to prevent fraud.
Employers should ensure that relevant documentation, including employment contracts and applicable policies and procedures, are updated and that up to date, appropriate and effective training is provided, particularly for employees in high-risk positions.
1 October: NDAs and victims of crime
From 1 October, victims of crime will be legally permitted to make certain disclosures to prescribed people or bodies, for specific purposes related to the relevant criminal conduct. A non-disclosure agreement (NDA) entered into on or after that date that seeks to prevent a "permitted disclosure" will be unenforceable.
Employers should ensure that they understand the change to the law and that they understand the implications for their business; the new law does not only apply to employment relationships and may therefore need to be factored in where NDAs are used in other situations.
Internal guidelines on use of NDAs will need to be updated and appropriate training provided for relevant staff. Template settlement agreements, COT3s and other applicable contracts will also need to be checked and, as necessary, appropriate wording inserted for any agreements entered into on or after 1 October.
Employment Rights Bill: implementation roadmap and proposed changes
The Employment Rights Bill continues to make progress through Parliament. On 3 September it received its third reading in the House of Lords and has now been passed back to the House of Commons.
At the start of July, the government published a roadmap to implementation which sets out when we can expect consultations on specific proposals as well as when certain reforms will come into effect, once the bill has received royal assent (which is still expected this autumn).
Consultations expected imminently include the reforms to protection from unfair dismissal, fire and re-hire, bereavement leave, rights for pregnant workers, some aspects of the trade union reforms and proposals around zero hours contracts.
As the bill has passed through Parliament, a number of amendments have been made to it. We must now wait for the outcome of further debates to know for certain what amendments will make it into the bill's final form. Government-backed amendments include extending the proposed new right to statutory bereavement leave to cover miscarriages, softening (to an extent) the proposed ban on fire and re-hire and statutory restrictions on the use of non-disclosure agreements.
The House of Lords also agreed a number of further amendments, including around a duty to investigate whistleblowing complaints and unfair dismissal protection to kick in at six months rather than from day one of employment; however, it remains to be seen whether or not these will be agreed to by the House of Commons.
The government has also indicated that it intends to consult on non-compete clauses, employment status and AI in the workplace.
Recent calls for evidence: parental leave and unpaid internships
The government launched a call for evidence as part of its review of the current parental leave system in July which looked at the whole spectrum of existing statutory leave and pay rights available to families. The call for evidence closed on 26 August.
The government has also published a call for evidence on unpaid internships, internships paid below the national minimum wage, unpaid work trials, work trials paid below the national minimum wage, voluntary workers, volunteers and work shadowing. The call for evidence closes on 9 October, with a response expected early 2026.
EHRC consultation following the Supreme Court ruling in 'For Women Scotland'
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) consultation on changes to the Code of Practice on services, public functions and associations closed on 30 June 2025. This followed the Supreme Court ruling in For Women Scotland on the definition of "sex" under the Equality Act 2010 as meaning "biological sex".
The EHRC has today delivered its proposed revised code to government. The government will now consider the proposals and is also responsible for commencing the parliamentary process for its approval. The EHRC has confirmed that it will publish the final code on its website once it comes into force.
In the meantime, the EHRC interim update following the decision remains available.
Immigration developments: what do employers need to know and do?
One of the biggest changes made to the UK immigration system on 22 July 2025 is in relation to the Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF) level that jobs would need to be at in order to hire applicants from abroad. Previously this was set at RQF level 3 (A level), however this has been increased to RQF level 6 – which is equivalent to a UK bachelor's degree.
In addition, the skilled worker route currently qualifies for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) after a period of five years. The white paper has revealed plans to increase the requirement from five years to 10 years; however, at present, there is no further information or guidance on this proposed reform and it remains unclear as to when this will come into effect and if this will affect those already in the UK on the skilled worker or points-based system route.
The immigration skills charge will also be increased, for the first time since its introduction in 2017, by 32% in line with inflation.
For small sponsors, this charge is currently at £364 for the first 12 months and then £182 for each additional six months. An increase by 32% would bring this fee up to around £480.48 for the first 12 months and then around £240.24 for each additional six months.
For medium or large sponsors, the current fee is £1,000 for the first 12 months and then £500 for each additional six months. A 32% increase would bring this to approximately £1,320 for the first 12 months and then approximately £660 for each additional six months.
The exact date of this increase is yet to be confirmed but should be noted by those who sponsor overseas workers as this will further increase costs. It is important for sponsor licence holders to keep in mind that they should not pass costs associated with the Certificate of Sponsorship or Immigrations Skills Surcharge onto sponsored workers.
To help businesses track and horizon scan developments in this area, the Osborne Clarke Immigration team has created an online hub, the UK immigration white paper tracker. They aim to update this hub as more details come to light.
The areas looked at include:
- enhancing English language proficiency
- proposed changes for the skilled worker route
- linking skills to sponsor licence holders
- amendments to student and graduate visas
For further information, please contact Head of Immigration, Gavin Jones, or your usual Osborne Clarke contact.
