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30 April 2009 / Charlotte Hamer
Issue: 7367 / Categories: Features , Procedure & practice , Employment
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Employment law overhaul

Charlotte Hamer rounds up a bumper crop of recent employment law changes

The vast majority of statutory changes affecting employment law come into force on one of two dates in each year: 6 April or 1 October. The changes made on 6 April this year were something of a bumper crop, affecting a wide variety of practice areas including:

SDRP

The repeal of the statutory dispute resolution procedures and accompanying provisions (Employment Act 2008, ss 1, 2, 20, Schedule; Commencement No 1, Transitional Provisions and Savings Order 2008, SI 2008/3232, Art 2) (subject to transitional provisions), including repeal of provisions relating to:

      
      ●     automatic unfair dismissal for failure to follow statutory dismissal and disciplinary procedure, and partial reversal of Polkey;

      
      ●     inability to bring a claim where a grievance has not previously been raised; and
  

      ●     extension to time limits in certain circumstances.

ACAS Code changes

Introduction of the new ACAS Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures and accompanying provisions under which an unreasonable failure

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Cripps—Radius Law

Cripps—Radius Law

Commercial and technology practice boosted by team hire

Switalskis—Grimsby

Switalskis—Grimsby

Firm expands with new Grimsby office to serve North East Lincolnshire

Slater Heelis—Will Newman & Lucy Spilsbury

Slater Heelis—Will Newman & Lucy Spilsbury

Property team boosted by two solicitor appointments

NEWS
The Supreme Court has delivered a decisive ruling on termination under the JCT Design & Build form. Writing in NLJ this week, Andrew Singer KC and Jonathan Ward, of Kings Chambers, analyse Providence Building Services v Hexagon Housing Association [2026] UKSC 1, which restores the first-instance decision and curbs contractors’ termination rights for repeated late payment
Secondments, disciplinary procedures and appeal chaos all feature in a quartet of recent rulings. Writing in NLJ this week, Ian Smith, barrister and emeritus professor of employment law at UEA, examines how established principles are being tested in modern disputes
The AI revolution is no longer a distant murmur—it’s at the client’s desk. Writing in NLJ this week, Peter Ambrose, CEO of The Partnership and Legalito, warns that the ‘AI chickens’ have ‘come home to roost’, transforming not just legal practice but the lawyer–client relationship itself
A High Court ruling involving the Longleat estate has exposed the fault line between modern family building and historic trust drafting. Writing in NLJ this week, Charlotte Coyle, director and family law expert at Freeths, examines Cator v Thynn [2026] EWHC 209 (Ch), where trustees sought approval to modernise trusts that retain pre-1970 definitions of ‘child’, ‘grandchild’ and ‘issue’
Fresh proposals to criminalise ‘nudification’ apps, prioritise cyberflashing and non-consensual intimate images, and even ban under-16s from social media have reignited debate over whether the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA 2023) is fit for purpose. Writing in NLJ this week, Alexander Brown, head of technology, media and telecommunications, and Alexandra Webster, managing associate, Simmons & Simmons, caution against reactive law-making that could undermine the Act’s ‘risk-based and outcomes-focused’ design
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