Employment law update

While the Employment Rights Bill has been grabbing the headlines lately, there are several other important changes to employment law quietly coming into effect soon. In this insight, we highlight what’s about to change and what it means for you.

Digital HR1 Forms from 1 December 2025

Where an employer proposes to dismiss as redundant 20 or more employees at one establishment within 90 days, they are required to notify the Secretary of State using an HR1 Form. Failure to do so is a criminal offence.

From 1 December 2025, employers will only be able to use a digital version of the HR1 and will no longer be able to download a hard copy / send it by email.

The digital form is slightly different to the previous downloadable version, including that:

• there are handy links to Companies House, the Charity Commission and Mutuals Public Register;
• it does not require employers to categorise the total number of employees by occupational group;
• instead of ticking a box to confirm representatives have received the form, you’ll be asked to confirm that a copy of the HR1 form has been given to all trade union and elected representatives;
• it will not accept consultation start dates in the future; and
• it has an additional reason for redundancy: “change in supply chain / loss of supply chain contract”.

It’s worth noting that once you have completed the digital HR1 form, it is not possible to export or share it, and you won’t be able to see any forms you have already submitted. Therefore, we suggest that you take a screenshot of the completed form and/or print it to pdf for your records before submission.

The Insolvency Service has published an FAQ document if you would like further details.

Extension of Acas early conciliation period from 1 December 2025

The government has published the Employment Tribunals (Early Conciliation: Exemptions and Rules of Procedure) (Amendment) Regulations 2025 extending the Acas early conciliation period from 6 to 12 weeks. It will apply to any case notified to Acas for early conciliation on or after 1 December 2025.

The purpose of the extension is to ease the pressure on Acas due to an increase in the number and complexity of cases. The government intends to review the position again in October 2026.

While extending the early conciliation period potentially allows extra time to resolve disputes, concerns have been raised about the implications for access to justice. Commentators have suggested that the extension is likely to cause further delays, particularly given the proposal in the Employment Rights Bill to extend the time limit for tribunal claims from 3 to 6 months. Collectively, these changes could result in employers not being aware of a claim for a long time after the relevant event. Given that some tribunal hearings are currently being listed for 2028, there is a risk that the overall process could become significantly protracted.

In response to these changes, we suggest that you proactively review your document retention policies. We also suggest that you revisit your grievance procedures and ensure that managers are receiving appropriate training on early intervention and dispute resolution to mitigate the risk of issues escalating.

MyHMCTS and Employment Tribunals

In May 2025, email was removed as a valid form of service for employment tribunal claims and responses. Legal professionals are now expected to use the online MyHMCTS portal instead.

Recently, MyHMCTS has announced several improvements to the platform for professional users, including the following:

• in-house lawyers will now be able to use MyHMCTS to manage cases;
• when a Notice of Change is completed, a confirmation email will be sent to both the organisation administrator and the named representative (previously this was only sent to the administrator);
• notifications on a case will be sent to both the named representative and anyone the case has been shared with on the MyHMCTS portal; and
• representatives will be able to see who else in their organisation has access to the case.

In addition, the employment tribunal service is gradually moving all telephone calls from local tribunal centres to a central national service team who can answer queries about cases. Telephone calls for the Nottingham, Birmingham, Newcastle, Leeds and London Central tribunal offices have already made the switch, and the remaining tribunal offices are set to join them by the end of March 2026.

If you need any advice on any of the issues mentioned above, please do not hesitate to contact a member of the TLT Employment Team.

Contributor: Victoria Wenn

This publication is intended for general guidance and represents our understanding of the relevant law and practice as at November 2025. Specific advice should be sought for specific cases. For more information see our terms & conditions.

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