Business reorganisation

Copyright © 2026 LexisNexis

This topic considers the employment-related legal and practical issues that may arise when an employer reorganises the structure of its business and how to manage the interaction between them.

Implementing a business reorganisation—employment issues

A number of employment law issues arise when a business wants to implement a reorganisation. The various issues are both legal and practical and how to manage the interaction between them can be challenging.

In practice, businesses will often take calculated risks on short-cutting the relevant legal processes, perhaps to save time or by a degree of reverse engineering to achieve a desired outcome.

The exercise should be approached from the start as one that may be subject to legal challenge. This means that until the point a final decision has been taken on the new structure, all documents created for the purposes of planning the re-structure should be marked draft, and at a point in the process where a proposal has been reached, they should be marked 'subject to consultation'.

Once the business has a preferred new structure, usually from a range of options that have been considered, the following employment law issues

To view the latest version of this document and thousands of others like it, sign-in with LexisNexis or register for a free trial.

Existing user? Sign-in TAKE A FREE TRIAL
Powered by Lexis+®
Latest Employment News

Employment weekly highlights—8 January 2026

This edition of Employment weekly highlights includes: (1) a look back at some of the important employment law developments in 2025 and a look ahead to anticipated developments in 2026, (2) an analysis of the Employment Rights Act 2025 and its expected implementation, and analysis of enforcement concerns given the already stretched employment tribunal system, (3) a government impact assessment on the removal of the unfair dismissal compensatory award cap, (4) the Court of Appeal decision in Bailey v Stonewall confirming that the respondent did not induce the claimant’s employer into discriminating against her, (5) regulations bringing the Paternity Leave (Bereavement) Act 2024 fully into force, (6) an EAT case clarifying information and consultation obligations under Marclean, (7) dates for your diary, and (8) other news items of interest to employment practitioners.

Employment Law—looking back at 2025 and ahead to 2026

Employment analysis: The Lexis+® Employment team have put together a round-up of the key employment law developments in 2025, as well as a look ahead to the key things to look out for in 2026, including upcoming developments on the Employment Rights Act 2025 (ERA 2025), the Equality (Race and Disability) Bill and upcoming legislation and cases of interest.

Government publishes economic assessment on removal of the unfair dismissal compensation cap

The Department for Business and Trade has published an impact assessment for the removal of the unfair dismissal compensatory award cap as part of an economic analysis on the impact of the Employment Rights Act 2025 (ERA 2025). Baroness Lloyd of Effra previously confirmed in the House of Lords that an assessment of the removal of the cap would be included in the impact assessment and published before the provision was enacted. The impact assessment has confirmed that the costs of removing the cap under a six-month qualifying period for unfair dismissal will be significantly lower than under a ‘day one’ unfair dismissal right.

EAT provides clarity on the role of the Marclean judgment in relation to information and consultation obligations (Micro Focus v Mildenhall)

Employment analysis: The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has clarified that the test for triggering the statutory duty to consult in a collective redundancy under section 188 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (TULR(C)A 1992) depends on what an employer is proposing at the relevant time and does not require retrospectively aggregating redundancies over a rolling period using the ‘forwards and backwards’ approach established in UQ v Marclean. The decision by the EAT is the first determination on the Marclean judgment by an appeal court in the UK and therefore provides much needed clarity on a previously uncertain area of the law on collective redundancies.

View Employment by content type :  
News
Practice notes
Precedents
Q&As

Popular documents

What should a collective grievance process look like?

What should a collective grievance process look like?Paragraph 47 of the Acas Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures describes a collective grievance as a grievance raised on behalf of two or more employees by a representative of a recognised trade union or other appropriate

Can a settlement agreement provide that an employee will withdraw a data subject access request (DSAR)?

Can a settlement agreement provide that an employee will withdraw a data subject access request (DSAR)? If a settlement agreement provides that an employee will withdraw a DSAR, can the employer refuse to act on a DSAR subsequently made by that employee on the basis that it is ‘manifestly unfounded’

If a rentcharge is shown as being informally exonerated on title information, does this apply to the

If a rentcharge is shown as being informally exonerated on title information, does this apply to the current registered owner? Or does the informal exoneration only apply to the parties to the document which informally exonerated the rentcharge?This Q&A considers the situation where, at some

Late payment penalties—inheritance tax

Late payment penalties—inheritance taxWhile interest often accrues on overdue tax, the late payment of certain taxes may also attract a penalty. For information on the interest accruing on overdue tax, see Practice Notes: IHT—payment deadlines on death—Interest on IHT and Interest on late paid
What should a collective grievance process look like?

What should a collective grievance process look like?

What should a collective grievance process look like?Paragraph 47 of the Acas Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures describes a collective grievance as a grievance raised on behalf of two or more employees by a representative of a recognised trade union or other appropriate

Can a settlement agreement provide that an employee will withdraw a data subject access request (DSAR)?

Can a settlement agreement provide that an employee will withdraw a data subject access request (DSAR)?

Can a settlement agreement provide that an employee will withdraw a data subject access request (DSAR)? If a settlement agreement provides that an employee will withdraw a DSAR, can the employer refuse to act on a DSAR subsequently made by that employee on the basis that it is ‘manifestly unfounded’

If a rentcharge is shown as being informally exonerated on title information, does this apply to the

If a rentcharge is shown as being informally exonerated on title information, does this apply to the

If a rentcharge is shown as being informally exonerated on title information, does this apply to the current registered owner? Or does the informal exoneration only apply to the parties to the document which informally exonerated the rentcharge?This Q&A considers the situation where, at some

Late payment penalties—inheritance tax

Late payment penalties—inheritance tax

Late payment penalties—inheritance taxWhile interest often accrues on overdue tax, the late payment of certain taxes may also attract a penalty. For information on the interest accruing on overdue tax, see Practice Notes: IHT—payment deadlines on death—Interest on IHT and Interest on late paid