Employment law 2025 update: Hot topics

About this event

Join us for for expert insights on the Employment Rights Bill, new employer duties, key tribunal cases, and what these changes mean for HR

We knew that 2024 was going to herald change for employers if a Labour government came to power and so it has come to pass. ‘The biggest upgrade to workers’ right in a generation’…so said Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner, on the day the Employment Rights Bill was introduced to Parliament in October. She wasn’t wrong…The first in what will be an array of measures to deliver the policies contained in the government’s Plan to Make Work Pay, the Bill is crammed with very significant changes for employers. From day 1 unfair dismissal rights, through to changes to zero hours contracts and a proposed ban on the practice of ‘fire and rehire’, there is a vast amount for employers to get to grips with over the coming months and years.

Meanwhile, a new duty on employers to prevent the sexual harassment of their workers came into force in October – as a proactive duty, it represents a significant addition to the compliance landscape for employers. At the same time, of course, the employment tribunals have been handing down the usual array of significant cases which will impact your HR decisions, day-to-day.

With this much change in the offing, our webinar is your ‘one stop shop’ to keep on top of what’s going on.

In particular, during our event we will be covering:

Duty to prevent sexual harassment

1. an overview of the new duty

2. tops tips for compliance

The Employment Rights Bill and beyond

1. a round-up and implications of the ‘need to know’ rights

2. a heads-up on other rights to be aware of

From the Employment Tribunal - key cases from the last 12 months including cases on

1. discrimination

2. redundancy

3. issues on termination

4. ‘appeal watch’

What’s in/ what’s out

1. new laws which made it through before the change of government…

2. …and a reminder of those that didn’t.

We hope you can join us.

Meet the speakers

Katherine Flower - Partner

Katherine is a partner in the Employment Team. She joined Burges Salmon in 2023 after 17 years with a major City law firm. Katherine has a broad employment practice and acts for UK-based and international clients across many different sectors including Energy, Built Environment and Financial Services. She has particular experience advising on the employment aspects of complex mergers and acquisitions, outsourcing and restructuring projects, and on board-level exits and appointments.

Katherine has authored a number of articles and blogs, and appeared in several podcasts, on subjects including redundancy, disability, and restrictive covenants.

Huw Cooke - Senior Associate

Huw is a senior associate in the employment team with substantial experience of advising national and international businesses on employment and business immigration issues. Huw regularly advises clients across a range of sectors including technology, education, transport and infrastructure – working with legal, HR and operational teams to provide pragmatic advice. Huw’s areas of expertise include complex employment tribunal claims, the employment aspects of corporate and commercial transactions (including TUPE, outsourcing, contracting and joint ventures), redundancies and restructuring programmes, restrictive covenant issues, and negotiated departures of senior management and board members.

Chloe Grant - Associate

Chloe is an Associate in the Employment team. A former teacher, Chloe has broad experience supporting both employers and employees on contentious and non-contentious employment issues. She advises clients on all aspects of UK employment law and has significant experience in conducting complex Employment Tribunal claims. Her practice includes disciplinary and grievance management, organisational change, cross-border work, corporate support and employee terminations.

Having gained in-house legal experience via a secondment to a national public sector organisation, Chloe enjoys building strong relationships with clients and developing her understanding of their business operations.

Kate Redshaw - Head of Practice Development

Kate Redshaw is head of practice development for the employment team. Having gained wide experience as a practising employment lawyer earlier in her career, Kate now focuses on developing initiatives for the team’s HR and in-house legal clients and on client relationship management. Her current projects are focussed on the government’s plans to overhaul workers’ rights and how this will impact employers. Previous projects have included extensive work on keeping the HR community up to date on employment law issues throughout the pandemic and more recently on how employers were supporting their employees through the cost-of-living crisis. A key part of Kate’s role is to get to grips with the latest employment law trends and themes and how they influence HR strategy and thinking. Kate regularly speaks and writes on these issues.

Kate also sits on the Law Society’s Employment Law Committee and is currently on a part-time secondment to the CBI, working with their team in responding to the government’s plans for employment law reform.

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