HR and Employment Law FAQs November 2025

1. Will Make UK be responding to the recently launched Government consultations relating to the Employment Rights Bill?

Yes, our Policy Team will be submitting responses and would welcome any contributions you wish to share with them. Briefly summarised, the Government is seeking views on the following:

• The new duty on employers to inform workers of their right to a join a trade union
• Trade union rights of access to the workplace
• Enhanced dismissal protections for pregnant women and new mothers
• Leave for bereavement including pregnancy loss

You can read more about the specific issues that will be explored in each of these consultations in our recent e-alert: Employment Rights Bill: four more consultations launched.

We are keen to hear your views on the proposals in these four consultations, including your insights on how specific measures might affect your business and workers in practice. If you would like to contribute, please email our Policy Team by Friday 12 December 2025.

If you are a Make UK subscriber, you can speak to your regular adviser about any queries you may have relating to the Employment Rights Bill. If you are not a Make UK subscriber, our expert HR and legal advisors can offer guidance on a consultancy basis. For further information, click here.

2. What is happening to the Immigration Skills Charge (ISC) from 16 December?

The Immigration Skills Charge (ISC) must be paid by an employer when it sponsors a migrant worker in the UK either via the “Skilled Worker” route or via the “Global Business Mobility (GBM) route for a Senior or Specialist Worker” (subject to certain exceptions).

On 15 October 2025, the draft Immigration Skills Charge (Amendment) Regulations 2025 were laid before Parliament. If these are approved, the ISC will increase by 32% from 16 December 2025 onwards and will be payable as follows:

• Small companies or charities: £480 ISC payable for any period of employment up to 12 months, followed by £240 for each subsequent six-month period stated on the Certificate of Sponsorship.
• Medium and large companies: £1,320 ISC payable for any period of employment up to 12 months, followed by £660 for each subsequent six-month period stated on the Certificate of Sponsorship.

These increases – which aim to bring the ISC rates in line with inflation – were set out in the Government's White Paper on restoring control over the UK immigration system.

In addition, it is worth noting that three Standard Occupation Codes will be added to the list of occupation codes that are exempt from the ISC: 2463 (clergy); 3431 (sports players); and 3432 (sports coaches, instructors and officials).

If you are a Make UK subscriber, you can speak to your regular adviser for guidance on immigration issues. If you are not a Make UK subscriber, our expert HR and legal advisors can offer guidance on a consultancy basis. For further information, click here.

3. Will the 1 December changes to Acas early conciliation affect the time limits for claims?

Yes. From 1 December 2025, the Acas early conciliation period will be extended from six weeks to twelve weeks. The early conciliation period starts when the claimant contacts Acas, and ends when Acas sends the early conciliation certificate. This means that an employer and an employee will have up to twelve weeks to try to resolve their dispute, with Acas acting as conciliator, before the employee brings a claim. The twelve weeks is a maximum, so either party can decide to end things earlier.

The rules around how early conciliation extends the time limit for claims have not changed. Depending on whether early conciliation ends well before the time limit or less than one month before the time limit, the time limit is extended by either the length of the early conciliation period or one month after early conciliation ends.

This increase to 12 weeks means that if someone starts early conciliation very close to the three-month time limit, early conciliation could extend time by twelve weeks plus a month, rather than six weeks plus a month, which will leave some employers receiving a claim around five and a half months after the dismissal or other act or omission giving rise to the claim. This could increase to up to eight and a half months from October 2026, assuming the provision in the Employment Rights Bill to extend tribunal time limits to six months for most claims comes into force then.

We understand that this change has been brought in to relieve pressure on Acas. Anecdotally, we are hearing that currently employers are sometimes not being contacted by Acas until very late in the early conciliation period or, in some cases, not being contacted at all. The Government hopes that extending the early conciliation period will increase the number of claims being settled via early conciliation.

As an employer, you should ensure that your document retention systems are adequate to deal with a claim made some months after the employee may have left the business and that any disciplinary, grievance or performance processes have been appropriately documented.

If you are a Make UK subscriber, you can speak to your regular adviser for guidance on early conciliation as well as negotiation and settlement related issues. If you are not a Make UK subscriber, our expert HR and legal advisors can offer guidance on a consultancy basis. For further information, click here.

4. Can you tell us about the new Living Wage rates?

The Living Wage Foundation recently announced the following increases to the “real Living Wage” rates, which should be implemented by “Living Wage Employers” by 1 May 2026:

• The “real Living Wage” is now £13.45 per hour across the UK (an increase of 6.7%).
• The “London Living Wage” is now £14.80 per hour (an increase of 6.9%).

These rates – which are separate from the statutory National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates – are voluntary rates, which have been independently calculated based on what is needed by a worker to cover living costs in London and more broadly across the UK.

According to the Living Wage Foundation, there are now nearly 16,000 accredited Living Wage Employers, including half of the FTSE 100, as well as big household names and thousands of SMEs.

(Note that the Government has not yet confirmed the National Living Wage or National Minimum Wage rates that will apply from 1 April 2026 onwards, however we will inform you when the final rates are known.)

5. What changes do we need to know about in relation to the HR1 form?

If you are proposing to dismiss 20 or more employees by reason of ‘redundancy’ at one establishment within a rolling 90-day period, you need to comply with certain statutory collective consultation requirements, and also to notify the Government by completing an HR1 form. (Remember that in this context ‘redundancy’ has a wider meaning than in the traditional sense and extends for example to dismissals and re-engagements to effect changes to employment terms).

The submission of an HR1 form is a significant obligation; a failure to comply can result in a criminal offence and an unlimited fine.

From 1 December 2025, it will only be possible to complete the HR1 form online (i.e. it will no longer be possible to submit a paper version). In addition, certain changes were made recently to the information the employer is required to provide when completing an HR1 form. The key changes include the following:

• It is no longer necessary to provide a detailed breakdown of the affected employees by occupational groups.
• When explaining the business rationale for the proposed redundancies, the form includes a new option of “Change in supply chain/loss of supply chain contract”.
• It is no longer possible to state consultation dates which are in the future (i.e. the consultation must have already commenced, or be commencing on day you submit the form).

From a practical perspective, it is worth noting you cannot save information in the form and come back to it; so gather all the information you need before you start to complete the form.

Remember that you also must provide a copy of the HR1 form to the employee representatives with whom you will be consulting on the proposed redundancies.

Finally, keep in mind that various changes are planned in relation to collective redundancies under the Employment Rights Bill, including to the threshold which triggers statutory redundancy consultation requirements and submission of the HR1 – see our spotlight on collective redundancy for further details.

If you are a Make UK subscriber, you can speak to your regular adviser with any queries you may have about redundancies and/or access detailed guidance, including template letters, in the HR & Legal Resources section of our website.

If you are not a Make UK subscriber, you can contact us for further support on this topic or to access our resources. Please click here for information on how we can help your business.