Employment Rights Act Changes, and Why Employment Teams Will Struggle to Hire

Since 1 October, most employment tribunal claims can be brought within six months instead of three. On 30 October, employers have to take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment, and they become liable for harassment by third parties such as customers and clients. Then on 1 January 2027, the qualifying period for unfair dismissal drops from two years to six months and the cap on compensation goes.

There are plenty of law firm guides on what employers need to do about all that. This one looks at it from my side of the desk, the people doing the work and the firms trying to hire them.

More work, same number of people

The maths is fairly simple. A longer window means claims stay live for longer. A six month qualifying period means far more people can bring an unfair dismissal claim. No cap means more of those claims are worth fighting. All of it lands on an employment team somewhere.

I reckon employer side teams feel it first. Handbooks, harassment policies, manager training and risk reviews all need doing now, ahead of 30 October. Claimant side firms feel it more from January, once the new qualifying period kicks in.

What does not change overnight is the number of employment lawyers. There is no quick way to make a 4 PQE employment solicitor. So every firm that decides it needs one more pair of hands is fishing in the same small pond, at the same time.

Where I would be careful

I will be straight, I do not think every firm sees a flood on day one. Tribunals already take a long time to hear claims, and plenty of employers will not change anything until a claim lands on them. So I expect demand to build through 2027 and keep building, steadily.

There is also a fair argument that the bigger firms saw this coming over a year ago and have already hired. Some will have. The firms I would watch are the mid sized and regional ones, whose clients are small and medium businesses that have never had to think much about unfair dismissal in the first six months of someone's employment. Those clients are about to need advice they have never paid for before.

Where I would look if I was hiring

If the obvious candidates are all taken, these are the places I would look.

• Commercial litigators with tribunal experience who would like to specialise.
• In house employment lawyers who want to go back into private practice.
• HR professionals who have qualified, or are qualifying, through the SQE.
• Strong 2 PQE lawyers who can take on the advisory work, so your senior people are freed up for hearings.

US firms are building employment teams in London as well. Fisher Phillips, a US employment firm, opened its first European office in London in September with 11 lawyers. They will be hiring from the same pool as everyone else.

If you are an employment lawyer

You are in a stronger spot than you have been for a while. Firms will want to know whether your work is mostly employer side or claimant side, and mostly advisory or mostly contentious, so be clear on that. Have your numbers ready too, how many hearings you have run, how many matters you carry and what you handle without supervision. Facts carry more weight than a general story.

If you run an employment team

Hire before January rather than after. The firms that start looking in February will be up against everyone who has just had their first busy month.

If you are already stretched going into the new year, or you are an employment lawyer wondering what this means for your next move, I would be keen to hear how you are thinking about it. When would you be free for a quick chat next week?

Sources

• Acas, Employment Rights Act 2025
• Stephenson Harwood, increased employment tribunal time limits
• Lewis Silkin, What's in the Employment Rights Act
• nonbillable.co.uk, Fisher Phillips opens in London