Employment tribunal claims are more common than most business owners realise. And the majority of claims that result in settlements or awards don't involve dramatic wrongdoing — they involve process failures, documentation gaps, and avoidable mistakes that have accumulated over time.

Here are the most common mistakes I see in small and growing businesses — and what to do about them before they become expensive.

Fire and rehire — dismissing employees and offering to re-engage them on different, usually less favourable, terms — has been a controversial but legally available option for employers who needed to change employment conditions.

The Employment Rights Act effectively closes that door.

Under the new legislation, fire and rehire will only be permissible in the narrowest of circumstances: where the employer can demonstrate that the variation was genuinely necessary to prevent a business failure, and where they've exhausted all alternatives through proper consultation.

The Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 introduced a new preventative duty on employers. It requires you to take 'all reasonable steps' to prevent sexual harassment of your employees — not just to respond when it happens.

The Employment Rights Act builds on this framework, and the direction of regulatory travel is clear: employers are increasingly expected to be proactive, not reactive.

For small business owners, 'all reasonable steps' can sound like a phrase designed for large organisations with dedicated HR and legal teams. So let's make it concrete.

Statutory Sick Pay has sat in the background of most small business HR conversations for years — a figure you know you need to pay, a process you hope you don't need to use too often.

The Employment Rights Act changes that picture. The SSP reforms are more significant than many business owners realise, and they have direct implications for how you handle absence across your team.

Of all the changes in the Employment Rights Act, this one tends to generate the most questions — and the most anxiety — from small business owners.

The two-year qualifying period for unfair dismissal protection is changing. You will only have 6 months of protection.  This is a huge shift.

Here's what you need to understand — and what you need to do about it.

One of the most frustrating things about the Employment Rights Act rollout is that it's not a single moment. There's no one date when everything changes overnight.

Instead, different provisions are coming into force at different points across 2026 and 2027. Which means the risk of getting caught out isn't just about knowing what's changing — it's about knowing when.

Here's a practical guide to the key implementation dates and what they mean for your business planning.