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Employment law brief: 14 August 2026

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Three hundred briefs in, our treasured author & Harvey enthusiast, Professor Ian Smith, has a lot to shout about from the employment coalface
  • Reviews the latest Employment Rights Act 2025 regulations ahead of the next phase of implementation in October.
  • Analyses four recent appellate decisions on restraint of trade, the right to be accompanied, harassment under the Equality Act 2010, and the scope of employment tribunal decision-making.

Legislation changes are hotting up in the run-up to the next major phase in bringing into force the Employment Rights Act 2025 in October. In the last month we have had complex regulations on access for trade unions to workplaces, the lowering of time limits for employment tribunal (ET) actions and extending the permissible forms of trade union ballots.

On the case law front, the four cases considered here cover a wide range. The first is a Court of Appeal case on restraint of trade; usually, such cases tend to be merely factual examples of very old and established

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NEWS
As family justice moves further away from the courtroom, collaborative law is emerging as an increasingly important route to resolving separation disputes
A busy period for employment law is producing important lessons for employers, employees and tribunals alike
From forgotten interest claims to case-management appeals, a string of procedural developments offers useful—and occasionally cautionary—lessons for practitioners

Jonathan Fisher KC highlights that it now accounts for around 40% of criminal offences, with roughly 70% involving technology, and argues that the UK cannot simply prosecute its way out of the problem. Detection, investigation and prosecution all require improvement, while different fraud types demand tailored responses.

How forcefully can a litigant criticise a public authority before robust advocacy crosses the line into unreasonable conduct? 
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