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Employment law brief: 17 April 2026

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After too much Easter nibbling, Ian Smith hops through a flurry of legislative activity & case law
  • Legislative developments dominate, with uprated social security benefits, new measures under the Employment Rights Act 2025 and revised Vento bands for injury to feelings awards.
  • Recent case law, though limited in number, delivers key clarifications on whistleblowing motives, the distinction between reason and motive in discrimination, the scope of COT3 settlements, and the increasingly adversarial approach of employment tribunals.

In spring, a young employment lawyer’s fancy turns to… the statutory instruments containing the uprating of social security benefits, the employment protection maxima and the national minimum wages, along with not one but two commencement orders for the Employment Rights Act 2025. To cap this off we have, not Easter bunnies and chocolate eggs, but the employment tribunal (ET) presidential increases of the Vento scales for awards for injury to feelings. A heady mix indeed.

Perhaps to compensate for this frenetic activity on the legislative front,

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Charles Russell Speechlys—James Paterson

Charles Russell Speechlys—James Paterson

Charles Russell Speechlys further bolsters Private Equity expertise with the appointment of James Paterson

Ellisons—Samuel Flower

Ellisons—Samuel Flower

Ellisons strengthens Rural Affairs team with senior appointment

Sidley—Carl Hotton

Sidley—Carl Hotton

Sidley adds insurance mergers and acquisitions partner to London office

NEWS
A deputy costs judge correctly exercised his discretion to allow late service rather than strike out the point of dispute, the Court of Appeal has held
Prince Harry, Baroness Doreen Lawrence and five others have lost their case against the publisher of the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday and MailOnline, in Various Claimants v Associated Newspapers [2026] EWHC 1637 (KB)
Public confidence in the justice system is being undermined by a lack of accessible, useable data, magistrates have warned
The Sentencing Council has launched draft guidelines for facilitation and endangering another person during a sea crossing to the UK
Government proposals to make independent written legal advice a prerequisite for workplace non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) may prove unworkable, according to a senior employment lawyer
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