Three employment law duties land on small firms in October
Tribunal claim windows double on 1 October. Two more duties arrive on the 30th, and the written union notice is the one with nobody chasing it.
From 1 October, the time limit for bringing most Employment Tribunal claims doubles from three months to six.
That covers discrimination, unfair dismissal and unlawful deductions from wages. It brings those claims in line with the six-month limits that already apply to statutory redundancy pay and equal pay.
Two further duties take effect on 30 October. Employers must take "all reasonable steps" to prevent sexual harassment, including harassment by third parties such as customers, clients or contractors.
On the same date, employers must give workers a written statement telling them of their right to join a trade union. Independent unions also gain a statutory right to request access to the workplace, physically or digitally.
Grace Pariser, founder of HR On Call, told Startups.co.uk that for a business with no HR function, that is three separate obligations in the space of four weeks.
The longer claim window changes the arithmetic of record-keeping. Jasia Kazmi, an employment lawyer at Witan Solicitors, said a dispute raised five or six months after the event is harder to answer, because memories fade, people move on and the paperwork may not be there.
Juliet Irving, Director of HR Operations at Impact HR, advised keeping records of conversations, decisions, performance issues and grievances so a business can evidence what happened months later. The practical step is briefing line managers on what to record and when.
Pariser put a price on getting it wrong. She said there is nothing to stop an ex-employee bringing a baseless claim that can cost an employer upwards of £15,000, and suggested firms consider legal expenses insurance. Tribunal cases now face years-long waits to be heard.
The third-party harassment duty widens the circle of people a business is answerable for. Irving said the new protections can extend to interactions with customers, clients, contractors, service users and members of the public.
Kim Croasdale, founder of the consultancy Entela, set out four steps: a workplace risk assessment covering public-facing and lone-working roles, a written harassment policy with a named contact, direct training for staff and managers, and updated supplier and client contracts so harassing behaviour is something the business can act on. She said the contracts point is the one small businesses are most likely to miss.
On unions, the attention-grabbing change is not the risky one. Pariser said unions will not let an employer forget the access right exists, because they are the ones who will ask for it. Nobody chases the written notice, which she said makes it the one most likely to slip through the cracks.
The government has yet to confirm what that written statement must contain. Irving noted that the Central Arbitration Committee cannot impose a statutory workplace access agreement where an employer has fewer than 21 workers — but the written notice duty applies at any headcount.
Access is not recognition. Irving said the two are separate, and workers remain free to decide whether to engage with or join a union.
Two dates for the diary, then: 1 October for the documentation habits that protect you six months out, and 30 October for a harassment policy, a contracts review and one short written notice that no regulator will remind you to send.