Recruitment

New and updated

• Date:

  26 February 2026

  Type:

  Podcasts and webinars

  Podcast: Employment Rights Act 2025 - why HR should review its probationary process before July 2026

  The Employment Rights Act 2025 marks a major shift in unfair dismissal law. From January 2027, the qualifying period will drop from two years to six months - applying retrospectively to employees hired from July 2026 - and the cap on compensatory awards will be removed altogether. Stephen Simpson, principal editor at Brightmine, joins the podcast to break down the changes and share practical steps HR should be taking now to prepare.

• Type:

  Employment law guide

  Job applicants with convictions: safeguarding vulnerable groups

  This guide provides an overview of regulated activities involving children and vulnerable adults under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006. It covers what is considered regulated activity, describes key rules and obligations, and highlights exclusions.

• Type:

  Employment law guide

  Job applicants with convictions: rehabilitation periods

  This guide outlines the rules for rehabilitation periods - the length of time after which an individual's conviction becomes "spent" - as set out in the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.

• Date:

  13 February 2026

  Type:

  Commentary and insights

  Employment Rights Act 2025: 10 key policies employers need to revamp

  Updated to detail the number of employment law reforms in the 289 pages of the Employment Rights Act.

• Type:

  How to

  How to shortlist job candidates

  Updated to reflect that restrictions on automated decision-making are removed by the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 from 5 February 2026, but that employers must still have safeguards in place. 

• Type:

  FAQs

  How does the UK GDPR affect the processing and retention of recruitment data by employers?

  Updated to reflect that restrictions on automated decision-making are removed by the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 from 5 February 2026, but that employers must still have safeguards in place. 

• Type:

  FAQs

  Can an employer use AI to make shortlisting decisions?

  Updated to reflect that restrictions on automated decision-making are removed by the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 from 5 February 2026, but that employers must still have safeguards in place. 

• Type:

  Economic data

  Recruitment

  Updated to include data for January 2026 on the availability and recruitment of permanent and temporary staff from the KPMG and REC UK Report on Jobs compiled by S&P Global in association with the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC). 

• Type:

  How to

  How to lead HR planning for the Employment Rights Act 2025

  Updated throughout to reflect the Government's updated timeline on the introduction of the different reforms under the Employment Rights Act 2025.

• Type:

  Editor's choice

  Coming soon

  There are no recent updates to highlight.