Employers Federation Northern Ireland is celebrating 160 years of supporting employers across Northern Ireland, building on a long tradition of advice, representation and practical help for businesses and organisations.

The Federation was originally formed in May 1866 as the Belfast Engineers, Shipbuilders, Founders and Machine Makers’ Association. It was established by some of Belfast’s leading industrial employers at the time, including Harland and Wolff, to share information, provide mutual support and respond to employment relations challenges.

The milestone year also comes at a time of change for the Federation. It comes following the unexpected death of Peter Bloch, who led the organisation with commitment, integrity and deep care for members and staff for 35 years. Under Peter’s leadership, Employer Federation strengthened its legal support for employers—helping companies and organisations of all sizes, across every sector, to deal with complex and often sensitive workplace issues.

The Federation has now appointed its new Managing Director as Michelle McGinley. Michelle was previously Director of Legal & Policy and stepped into the role of Acting Managing Director following Peter’s death. She provided steady, thoughtful and highly effective leadership, ensuring continuity of service to members while supporting colleagues through significant change.  Michelle took up the role permanently in April 2026 and is the first female to hold the position in the Federation’s 160‑year history. She will work closely with Federation’s experienced team to build on the organisation’s values and continue delivering practical, trusted support for members.

Employers Federation will mark the 160^th anniversary throughout the year as we look forward to the future.

In discrimination claims, where a claim is successful, the Tribunal will assess compensation for the hurt, upset and humiliation caused by the discriminatory act(s).

These awards are known as Injury to Feelings awards, often referred to as Vento bands, following the case in which clear guidelines for assessing such compensation were established.

The Presidents of the Employment Tribunals in England and Wales and Scotland have now published their annual increases to Injury to Feelings awards in the 9th Addendum to the Presidential Guidance.

Although this Guidance does not formally apply in Northern Ireland, the updated bands are generally followed by the Industrial Tribunal and Fair Employment Tribunal.

NEW INJURY TO FEELINGS AWARD BANDS

Lower band

• £1,300 to £12,600

(previously £1,200 to £12,100)

Applies to less serious cases of discrimination.

Middle band

• £12,600 to £37,700

(previously £12,100 to £36,400)

Applies to cases that do not merit an upper band award.

Upper band

• £37,700 to £62,900

(previously £36,400 to £60,700)

Applies to the most serious cases of discrimination.

Exceptional cases

• Over £62,900

(previously over £60,700)

Reserved for the most exceptional circumstances.

When do the new bands apply?

The updated Injury to Feelings award bands apply to Tribunal claims presented on or after 6 April 2026.

The Employment Rights Act 2025 (Commencement No.3 and Transitional Provisions Regulations 2026 update both the Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) rules in Great Britain (GB) and Northern Ireland (N.I.)

What is changing?

The Regulations amend the bringing into effect of two major changes:

• Statutory Sick Pay (General) Regulations 1982 (GB)
• Statutory Sick Pay (General) Regulations (N.I.) 1982

1. Removal of Waiting Days

Employees will now be entitled to SSP from Day One of sickness absence, rather than Day Four.

2. 2. Removal of Lower Earnings Limit

Employees will no longer need to earn above the Lower Earnings Limit to qualify for SSP. This means all employees, including lower‑paid and part‑time workers, will be eligible.

For lower earners, SSP will be paid at 80% of normal weekly earnings or the standard SSP rate, whichever is lower.

COMMENCEMENT DATE

These changes take effect on 6 April 2026 and apply in both Great Britain and Northern Ireland from this date.

TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS

The Government has published Guidance: Sickness absences that start before and end on or after 6 April 2026 and more technical guidance that can be accessed here SSP-Transitional-Protections-Guidance-published (003)

The transitional arrangements will apply where sickness absence began before 6 April 2026 and continues on or after that date.

• If an employee is serving waiting days under the old rules when 6 April 2026 arrives:
• Waiting days before 6 April 2026 remain unpaid.
• From 6 April 2026 onwards, waiting days no longer apply.
• SSP becomes payable from 6 April 2026, even if the absence began earlier.

There is no back‑payment for waiting days that fell before 6 April 2026.

2. Employees previously excluded due to low earnings (below the Lower Earnings Limit)

If an employee started their sickness absence before 6 April 2026 and was not entitled to SSP under the old rules, because they earned below the Lower Earnings Limit:

They may become entitled to SSP from 6 April 2026, provided:

• The sickness absence started on or after 22 September 2025, or
• The absence started earlier, but the employee returned to work at some point between 22 September 2025 and 5 April 2026 (so the absence is not continuous).

In these cases:

• SSP is payable from 6 April 2026.
• SSP is payable for up to 28 weeks, calculated using average weekly earnings before the sickness absence.

3. 3. Long‑running continuous absences that began before 22 September 2025

An employee will not become entitled to SSP from 6 April 2026 if:

• Their sickness absence started on or before 21 September 2025, and
• The absence continued without any break up to 5 April 2026, and
• The absence (or a linked absence) continues on or after 6 April 2026.

In these circumstances:

• The employee must return to work for at least 8 weeks before a new SSP entitlement can arise.

4. 4. Employees already receiving SSP before 6 April 2026

Where an employee is already entitled to SSP before 6 April 2026, and the new rules would otherwise result in a lower rate of SSP (for example, due to the move to 80% of earnings):

• The transitional protection applies.
• SSP will continue to be paid at the uprated flat rate for the remainder of that continuous period of sickness, until:
• the employee returns to work,
• the 28‑week SSP limit is reached, or
• SSP entitlement otherwise ends.

KEY TAKEAWAYS FOR EMPLOYERS

There will be no retrospective payment for waiting days that fell before 6 April 2026. Some employees who were previously excluded from Statutory Sick Pay may become entitled part‑way through an ongoing sickness absence once the new rules take effect. However, long‑running continuous absences that began before 22 September 2025 will remain excluded until the employee returns to work. Employers should therefore check entitlement carefully before paying SSP in transitional cases.

As members will be aware, every April, Government confirms the annual increase of statutory payments to take into account factors such as inflation, cost of livings on economies conditions.

However, this year, in addition to those usual increases, there are two further significant changes coming into effect in Northern Ireland from 6 April 2026 namely to:

• Statutory Sick Pay
• Statutory Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay

We have summarised the main changes coming into effect below and identified those that will apply across the UK.

Other employment law changes are coming into effect in Great Britain only under their Employment Rights Act 2025, unless we have stated otherwise, these will not apply to Northern Ireland. In Northern Ireland we are currently awaiting the publication of the Good Jobs Bill and will keep Members updated.

SUMMARY OF CHANGES IN APRIL 2026:

1. Effective from Monday 6 April 2026 Increase in Limits to the maximum weekly rate of pay used for example to calculate redundancy pay and unfair dismissal awards

• Maximum Weekly Pay

Northern Ireland will increase from £749 to £783

Great Britain will increase from £719 to £751.

• Maximum compensatory award

Northern Ireland will increase from £118,455 to £123,785

Great Britain will increase from £118,223 to £123,543*

*The cap will be completely abolished from 1 January 2027 in Great Britain only (See our previous article here)

2. Effective from 6 April 2026 uprating of benefits such as:

• Statutory Sick Pay

Increases from £118.75 to £123.25

• Statutory Maternity Pay and other family friendly pay

Increases from £187.18 to £194.32

3. Effective from 1 April 2026 increase to the:

National Minimum Wage

• For 18 – 20 year, an increase from £10.00 to £10.85.
• For 16 – 17 year and apprentices, increases from £7.55 to £8.00

National Living Wage:

• For 21 year and upwards, increases from £12.21 to £12.71.

(See our article here)

STATUTORY SICK PAY

4. Changes to SSP to include the removal of the 3-day waiting period, removal of the lower earnings limit and  making it a Day 1 right for all.

This change is expected to come into force from 6 April 2026 but we are still awaiting sight of the separate Commencement Orders required to bring it into effect in both Northern Ireland and Great Britain. We previously informed you of the changes and impact on internal policies (See our article here) and will continue to keep you informed.

All of the changes (1- 4) above will apply across Great Britain and Northern Ireland – the only difference being that the maximum weekly rate of pay and maximum compensatory in Northern Ireland have historically been slightly higher than the rates in Great Britain.

STATUTORY PARENTAL BEREAVEMENT RIGHTS

5. Effective Monday 6 April 2026 significant changes to Statutory Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay extending statutory protections for employees who experience the loss of a child and introducing a new entitlement relating to miscarriage.

We previously circulated to members an updated Template Policy compliant with those changes that can be accessed in our Member area here

This change to Statutory Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay only applies to employees in Northern Ireland.

We have explained this right further below

EXTENSION OF PARENTAL BEREAVEMENT RIGHTS

Statutory Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay currently applies where an employee suffers the loss of a child under the age of 18, including stillbirth from 24 weeks of pregnancy.

From 6 April 2026, this right will be expanded to include miscarriage, covering both spontaneous pregnancy loss and specified medical interventions.

New Miscarriage Entitlement

Employees who experience a miscarriage — or who have a qualifying relationship to a woman who has experienced a miscarriage — will now be eligible for Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay, subject to the statutory criteria.

This entitlement will apply where the miscarriage is discovered on or after 6 April 2026.

Evidence Requirements

As with existing Statutory Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay arrangements, no medical evidence will be required.

To qualify for Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay, the employee must provide a Written Self‑Declaration confirming that they meet the eligibility requirements. This declaration must include:

• the employee’s name; and
• the date on which the miscarriage occurred or was discovered.

Day‑One Right to Statutory Pay

From 6 April 2026, Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay will become a day‑one right.

This means there will be no minimum service requirement and no minimum earnings threshold.

Employees may rely on either their actual earnings or their expected earnings, based on reasonable assumptions.

Key Points for Employers

Where entitlement arose before 6 April 2026, the existing rules will continue to apply. Therefore, miscarriage entitlement is not retrospective and will not apply where the miscarriage occurred or was discovered before 6 April 2026.

All existing rights under Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay will apply in full to miscarriage cases where eligibility arises on or after 6 April 2026.

Further Guidance

The Labour Relations Agency has published a webinar which is to help HR professionals, managers, understand how these new rights apply in practice. The LRA has said they will update their guidance on Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay to reflect these changes.

We will continue to keep Members Up to Date.

The GB Government has introduced new Code of practice on industrial action ballots and notice to employers reflecting legal changes that took effect on 18 February 2026 under the Employment Rights Act 2025.

Key changes include:

• Simpler ballot notices – unions will have to provide less detailed information when notifying employers of a ballot.
• Shorter notice for industrial action – reduced from 14 days to 10 days (Northern Ireland remains at 7 days).
• Longer ballot validity – ballots opened on or after 18 February 2026 will be valid for 12 months, with no option to extend.
• Removal of the 40% support threshold for “important public services” – industrial action no longer needs this higher level of support (this threshold never applied in NI).
• No legal requirement to supervise picketing – unions will no longer be required to appoint a picket supervisor.
• Stronger protection from dismissal – employees taking part in lawful, official industrial action will be protected for the full duration of the action, not just for 12 weeks.

Consultation published on detriment for taking lawful industrial action

Following the Supreme Court’s decision in Secretary of State for Business and Trade v Mercer (2024), the GB Government has launched a consultation on protecting workers from detriment short of dismissal for taking part in lawful industrial action. The Court found that current law does not protect workers from sanctions such as warnings, disciplinary action or other penalties, and that this breaches Article 11 ECHR.

The Consultation proposes:

• Prohibiting all forms of detriment for taking part in lawful industrial action (the Government’s preferred option).
• Confirming that proportionate pay deductions during strikes will still be allowed.
• Considering whether to create a list of prohibited detriments, though little detail is provided.
• Allowing tribunals to apply ACAS Code uplifts to compensation in these cases.

Consultation closes on 23 April 2026, with regulations expected to take effect in October 2026.

The position in Northern Ireland

Industrial action laws in Northern Ireland will also be updated in several areas, but the approach remains more cautious than in Great Britain. The Department plans to keep the 7‑day notice period for industrial action, and will also look at ways to simplify the balloting process for unions and employers. It also intends to allow e‑balloting as an alternative to postal ballots.

The NI Code of Practice on Picketing states where picketing that is officially organised by a trade union should always have someone in charge ideally a union official. At present there is no proposal to change this requirement.

For employees taking part in industrial action, similar to GB the Department proposes to remove the current 12‑week limit on protection from dismissal for those involved in official industrial action. This means protection would last for the full duration of lawful action. The position on unofficial industrial action will remain unchanged—employees dismissed while taking part in unofficial action will normally not be able to claim unfair dismissal. There are no current proposals to amend the law to remove the lacuna identified by Mercer.

The 40% support threshold for “important public services” was never in place in Northern Ireland.

On 4 March 2026, in Great Britain, Government launched landmark gender pay gap and menopause action plans and published Creating an action plan: guidance for employers

Action Plans setting out new requirements for employers in England, Scotland and Wales to publish Gender Pay Gap and Menopause Action Plans.

These changes form part of the Employment Rights Act 2025 and will begin on a voluntary basis in April 2026, becoming mandatory in Spring 2027.

Although these requirements do not apply in Northern Ireland, they signal the direction of travel for workplace equality legislation and could influence future NI policy.

What is Changing in GB?

From April 2026, large employers (those with 250+ employees) in England, Scotland and Wales will be encouraged to publish an Action Plan alongside their Gender Pay Gap data. These plans must set out:

• How the organisation is reducing its gender pay gap
• How it is supporting employees experiencing menopause

The Government has published guidance and a list of recommended, evidence-informed actions employers can choose from. These include steps relating to recruitment, promotion, workplace culture, transparency and health‑related support.

Mandatory reporting is expected from Spring 2027, with plans published on the Government’s gender pay gap reporting platform. Employers who do not submit a plan may be publicly listed.

What will Action Plans look like?

Action plans will need to be practical and measurable. Employers must select at least two actions from a Government‑approved list, covering areas such as:

• Improving recruitment and promotion practices
• Increasing diversity in senior roles
• Supporting women with health conditions, including menopause
• Improving transparency around pay and progression

The menopause section includes actions such as manager training, workplace adjustments, access to occupational health and reviewing policies to ensure they reflect menopause‑related needs.

Further guidance will be issued in April 2026 on how to analyse data, choose actions, publish plans and monitor progress.

The position in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is not included in these new GB requirements. There is currently:

• No Gender Pay Gap Reporting duty in NI
• No requirement to publish Menopause Action Plans

However, Gender Pay Gap Reporting is expected to form part of the Good Jobs / Employment Rights Bill, likely no earlier than April 2027.

Although most of the GB Employment Rights Act 2025 will not apply in Northern Ireland, SSP is a devolved matter, and the Department for Communities has confirmed that Northern Ireland will follow the same SSP reforms as Great Britain.

In light of this the SSP changes coming into effect on 6 April 2026 will apply to Northern Ireland.

How do the SSP rules currently operate in Northern Ireland?

SSP is currently paid from the 4th day of sickness absence at a flat weekly rate (£118.75 per week from 6 April 2025, reviewed annually).

To qualify, employees need to be earning more than the Lower Earnings Limit, which is currently £125 a week (reviewed annually).

What is changing from 6 April 2026?

The key changes are:

1. SSP will be paid from the first full day of sickness, instead of from day 4. The current 3‑day waiting period will be removed;
2. The Lower Earnings Limit will be abolished, meaning employees will qualify for SSP regardless of how much they earn;
3. The SSP weekly rate will increase as part of the annual uprating cycle, rising from £118.75 to £123.25 per week from 6 April 2026.

These changes apply in Northern Ireland on the same timeline as Great Britain and represent the most significant reform to SSP in years.

The changes are explained in more detail in the Government Factsheet: Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)

What your Organisation needs to do

Removing the waiting days and the earnings threshold will mean more employees will qualify for SSP. It may also increase your levels of short‑term absence and the associated costs for your Organisation.

You should take steps now to prepare for the changes coming in April 2026 as follows:

1. Update your payroll systems so SSP is paid from day 1 and at the new SSP rate;
2. Review sickness absence policies to ensure they reflect day a SSP entitlement;
3. Check attendance management procedures so managers follow them consistently, particularly for repeated short‑term absences;
4. Brief and train managers on the new rules and re-inforce the importance of return‑to‑work interviews and of pro-active and consistent absence management;
5. Assess the impact on part‑time and lower‑earning staff, who may now qualify for SSP for the first time;
6. Audit the potential financial impact of the changes on your Organisation, including any knock‑on effects for enhanced sick pay schemes.

These SSP reforms sit alongside wider employment law changes expected under the forthcoming Good Jobs / Employment Rights Bill in Northern Ireland. However, SSP is one of the few measures being implemented ahead of the wider Bill.

Commentary

If your Organisation already provides contractual sick pay from day 1, the impact of these changes may be limited. However, if you currently pay SSP only, you will need to consider how these changes affect your policies, processes and day‑to‑day management of sickness absence. In particular, clear procedures and effective and consistent management of short term absence will be increasingly important.

In Great Britain, on 26 February 2026 the Government opened a further

Consultation on the threshold for triggering collective redundancy obligations.

This considers setting a new organisation‑wide threshold for triggering collective redundancy obligations should be set. The consultation runs from 26 February 2026 to 21 May 2026 and applies only to England, Scotland and Wales.

Employment law is devolved and Northern Ireland is not included in these proposals. However, the consultation does consider if the rules could apply to Northern Ireland where the same employer operates across both jurisdictions. This makes the proposals relevant for NI employers with GB operations or shared workforce structures.

Importantly “organisation‑wide” refers only to employees employed by the same legal entity, not everyone employed across a wider corporate group. This means the threshold is triggered per company, not per group. So, if Group Limited owns several separate companies, the numbers are not added together. For example, if Group A Ltd proposes 19 redundancies and Group B Ltd proposes 10, these figures would not be combined because the employees work for different legal entities. Only redundancies within the same employing company count toward the organisation‑wide threshold.

Proposals

Collective redundancy rules in Great Britain currently require employers to start consultation when they plan to make 20 or more redundancies at a single establishment within 90 days. The meaning of “establishment” has been shaped by case law, including the Woolworths decision, where many employees did not fall into collective consultation because their redundancies were spread across smaller sites, each below the 20‑employee threshold. This has been heavily criticised by some.

The GB Employment Rights Act 2025 will change this by introducing a new requirement to consult when redundancies reach a threshold across the whole organisation, not just at a single site. The consultation now seeks views on how that organisation‑wide threshold should be set.

The Consultation sets out four possible methods for setting the new threshold:

1. Method 1: Single Fixed Number (Government’s Preferred Option)

A fixed threshold somewhere between 250 and 1,000 proposed redundancies across the organisation. This is the simplest and most predictable approach.

2. Method 2: Percentage‑Based Threshold

Collective consultation would be triggered when an employer proposes to make a certain percentage of its total workforce redundant.

3. Method 3: Fixed Threshold Based on Employer Size

A sliding scale depending on total headcount, for example:

• 50 redundancies for employers with 0–2,499 employees
• 500 redundancies for employers with 2,500–9,999 employees
• 750 redundancies for employers with 10,000+ employees

4. Method 4: Combined Percentage and Fixed Threshold

A mixed model where smaller employers use a percentage trigger and larger employers use a fixed number.

The Government is leaning towards Method 1 but is seeking views on all options.

The consultation also includes an Analytical Annex, which estimates that up to 39,000 employers and 18.2 million employees could fall within scope depending on where the threshold is set.

Position in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is not included in these proposals, and the current Northern Ireland Good Jobs Bill does not contain similar plans. NI already differs from GB in some areas of redundancy law. For example, NI retained the 90‑day consultation period for 100+ redundancies, whereas GB reduced it to 45 days.

However, the GB consultation raises two important questions (see full details below) for NI employers:

• Could the new GB rules apply to NI employees if their employment has a “sufficiently strong connection” with Great Britain?
• Should employees outside England, Scotland and Wales be excluded when calculating total employee numbers for the new threshold?

This matters for employers who operate across both jurisdictions, have NI employees working remotely for GB operations, or have NI employees who regularly travel to GB for work. Determining whether an employee has a “strong connection” is fact‑specific and may be difficult in practice. This creates practical challenges for organisations that operate across both jurisdictions, particularly when monitoring headcount and assessing whether the new GB thresholds are triggered.

Question 15 seeks views:

The changes to the Collective Redundancy consultation threshold will generally apply only to employees who are working in Great Britain and not to those working

in Northern Ireland (unless their employment has a sufficiently strong connection with Great Britain).

Do you foresee any potential challenges for a business operating across both Great Britain and Northern Ireland when monitoring headcount and redundancies? Please explain your

answer.

[ ] Yes

[ ] No

[ ] Don’t know

[ ] Other

[FREE TEXT BOX] Please explain your answer below.

Question 21 seeks views:

Should employees outside of England, Scotland and Wales (where these regulations would apply) be excluded when working out the total employee numbers an employer has?

[ ] Yes

[ ] No

[ ] Don’t know

[ ] Other

We encourage any employer to provide us information, and we will feed those views into the Consultation response.

A number of new employment rights under the GB Employment Rights Act came into effect on 18 February 2026. These apply in Great Britain only.

Employers operating across both NI and GB should be aware of the increasing differences between the two jurisdictions.

The measures now in force in GB include:

• Repeal of most of the Trade Union Act 2016, removing many of the restrictions previously placed on Trade Unions and simplifying requirements around industrial action and political funds;
• Removal of the 10‑year ballot requirement for trade union political funds;
• Simplified industrial action notices and ballot notices, reducing administrative requirements;
• Strengthened protections against dismissal for employees taking part in industrial action;
• Employees newly eligible for ‘Day 1’ Paternity Leave and Unpaid Parental Leave can now give shortened notice of 28 days as a transitional measure.

These changes form part of a wider programme of reforms being rolled out across GB set out in the Plan to Make Work Pay and Employment Rights Act: timeline update

The position in Northern Ireland

NI has its own proposed Employment Rights Bill that is expected to be published at the end of April 2026. This NI Bill differs to the GB Employment Rights Act 2025.  Many of the NI proposals are aimed at bringing NI broadly into line with where GB currently is, rather than adopting the new additional rights now being introduced in GB.

However, in some areas, NI and GB share similar policy objectives but are choosing different methods to achieve them. For example, both jurisdictions are looking at ways to address exploitative zero‑hour contracts. NI is considering banded hours contracts, while GB is introducing a right to guaranteed hours.

Furthermore, some of the headline GB reforms will not be introduced in NI. For example, only in GB will the unfair dismissal qualifying period be reduced to 6 months, and only in GB will unfair dismissal compensation become unlimited.

It is also worth noting that some of the legislation being amended or repealed in GB never applied to NI in the first place. These include the Trade Union Act 2016 and the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023 which were never implemented in NI.

We will continue to highlight the similarities and differences for employers across NI/GB as the evolving landscape can be confusing. We are also liaising with our sister Organisation, MAKE UK to arrange a joint webinar exploring each proposal and considering the position in both jurisdiction.

The Economy Committee is currently considering the draft Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order (Northern Ireland) 2026.

This is the routine annual Order that updates statutory limits in key areas such as a week’s pay, redundancy payments and unfair dismissal awards.

While Northern Ireland has historically mirrored the increases applied in Great Britain, NI continues to use a different rounding method, meaning the NI figures are slightly higher.

Below is a summary of the updated limits proposed for Northern Ireland; the equivalent GB provisions have not yet been published.

INCREASE STATUTORY LIMITS (NORTHERN IRELAND)

■ Maximum amount of a “Week’s Pay”
Used for calculating statutory redundancy payments and the basic or additional award for unfair dismissal.

2025/26: £749
2026/27: £783
(GB 2025 was £719; 2026 yet to be published)

■ Limit on the Compensatory Award for Unfair Dismissal

2025/26: £118,455
2026/27: £123,785
(GB 2025 was £118,223; 2026 yet to be published)

■ Maximum Basic Award for Unfair Dismissals

2025/26: £22,470
2026/27: £23,490

(GB 2025 was £21,570; 2026 yet to be published)

■Limit on Guarantee Pay (per day)

2025/26: £39
2026/27: £41

(GB 2025 was £39; 2026 yet to be published but likely to be same as NI)

REMOVAL OF THE UNFAIR DISMISSAL CAP IN GB

Although this change does not apply in Northern Ireland, employers operating across the UK should note that in Great Britain, the statutory cap on unfair dismissal compensation, currently £118k or one year’s pay (whichever is lower) will be removed from 1 January 2027.

This change will significantly increase the potential exposure for GB‑based claims and is likely to reshape the types of cases brought before Employment Tribunals. We can expect to see higher‑value claims progressing in GB, particularly from higher‑paid executives or individuals with generous pension arrangements. Removing the cap opens the door for claims that previously would have been limited by statutory ceilings, meaning employers will need to be even more mindful of process, documentation and risk management.