Employment news analysis: The House of Commons has today published a document which lists all of the non-government amendments tabled to the Employment Rights Bill (ERB) ahead of the report stage which is due to commence on 11 March 2025. The proposed amendments are wide-ranging and include: (1) statutory leave and protection for victims of domestic abuse, (2) the reintroduction of statutory discrimination questionnaires, (3) changes to the rates of statutory maternity pay, other statutory family leave and statutory sick pay, (4) a requirement for large employers to publish their policies on parental leave and pay, (5) the recognition of kinship care, (6) the inclusion of pregnancy loss for the purposes of bereavement, (7) pay for carer’s leave and the inclusion of ‘caring’ as a protected characteristic, (8) a duty on employers to prevent harassment and violence in the workplace, (9) the establishment of a Working Time Council to consider issues relating to a move to a four-day working week, and (10) a requirement that the statutory probationary period be between three and nine months. The government intends to publish its own list of amendments to the ERB shortly.

Employment analysis: In Afshar and others v Addison Lee Ltd 7 January 2025 an Employment Tribunal held that drivers engaged by Addison Lee Limited (‘AL’) in its private hire business are workers within the meaning of the Working Time Regulations 1998 (‘WTR’) and the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 (‘NMWA’) and therefore entitled to receive paid annual leave under the WTR and the national minimum wage. In addition, in what is thought to be the first judicial decision on this question, the Tribunal held that the two-year backstop on unlawful deduction claims created by section 23(4A) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA 1996) is unlawful, having been introduced by regulations which were ultra vires section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972 (ECA 1972). Written by Oliver Segal KC and Melanie Tether of Old Square Chambers.

HMCTS Senior Service Manager for Employment Tribunals, Mark Lewis, has passed on the following message: 'Please be aware that all Employment Tribunal online services (affecting the submission of ET1s, ET3s and digital applications) will be unavailable during planned system maintenance from 19:20 on Wednesday 9 September 2026 until 05:00 on Thursday 10 September 2026. The outage is required to support the migration of data into the Employment Tribunals database and the implementation of changes to support decentralised case types. During this period, the usual "This service is temporarily unavailable" message will appear for anyone attempting to access the digital portals. Any party with a time limit expiring during this period should plan accordingly.'

HMCTS has passed on the following message: 'Please be aware that all Employment Tribunal online services (affecting the submission of ET1s, ET3s and digital applications) will be unavailable during planned system maintenance between 8:00 pm and 9:00 pm on Wednesday 23 September. During this period, access to services will be unavailable and users will be logged out. Please ensure any work is saved before 8:00 pm to avoid losing progress. The usual “This service is temporarily unavailable” message will be displayed. Any party with a time limit expiring during this period should plan accordingly.'

HM Courts and Tribunals Service has announced that Employment Tribunal online services will be subject to a planned upgrade, affecting the MyHMCTS portal, between 8.30 pm on Monday 31 March 2025 to 1.30 am on Tuesday 1 April 2025. Users attempting to access the service during this period will see a message indicating that it is unavailable. However, responses can still be submitted via email as usual.

HM Courts and Tribunals Service has announced that the planned upgrade to the Employment Tribunal online services, affecting the MyHMCTS portal only, has been delayed and will now take place between 8:30pm on Wednesday 2 April 2025 and 4:00am on Thursday 3 April 2025. Users attempting to access the service during this period will see a message indicating that it is unavailable. However, responses can still be submitted via email as usual.

Mark Lewis, HMCTS Service Manager for Employment Tribunals has passed on the following message: ‘Please be aware that all Employment Tribunal online services (affecting submission of ET1s, ET3s and digital applications) will be subject to a planned upgrade from 8 pm on Friday 27 March 2026 to 6 am on Monday 30 March 2026. The usual “this service is temporarily unavailable” message will appear for anyone trying to submit via the digital portals during this period. Any party with a time limit expiring in this period should plan accordingly’.

Mark Lewis, HMCTS Senior Service Manager for Employment Tribunals has passed on the following message: ‘Please be aware that all Employment Tribunal online services (affecting submission of ET1s, ET3s and digital applications) will be subject to a planned upgrade on Monday 27th July at 19:00 for a period of approximately 3 hours. The usual “this service is temporarily unavailable” message will appear for anyone trying to submit via the digital portals during this period. Any party with a time limit expiring in this period should plan accordingly.

Mark Lewis, HMCTS Service Manager for Employment Tribunals has passed on the following message: Please be aware that all Employment Tribunal online services (affecting submission of ET1s, ET3s and digital applications) will be subject to a planned upgrade on Tuesday 3 March between 20:30 and 23:30. The usual “this service is temporarily unavailable” message will appear for anyone trying to submit via the digital portals during this period. Any party with a time limit expiring in this period should plan accordingly.

Employment Tribunals (Scotland) has revoked its Practice Direction (PD) on the Fixing and Conduct of Remote Hearings, which came into force on 11 June 2020. President of Employment Tribunals (Scotland), Judge Susan Walker issued the revocation effective from 3 November 2025, stating that remote hearings are now well-established and the original guidance no longer reflects developed practices. The revocation was approved by the Senior President of Tribunals and Lord Chancellor under section 7A(2C) of the Employment Tribunals Act 1996.

President of Employment Tribunals (England & Wales), Judge Barry Clarke has announced the launch of 18 explainer videos on YouTube aimed at improving access to justice by clarifying tribunal procedures and complex employment law for unrepresented parties. The initiative also seeks to help litigants present focused claims and responses, reducing case management time. This marks the beginning of an ongoing project, with plans for additional videos in the future.

Mark Lewis, HMCTS service manager for Employment Tribunals, has passed on the following message: ‘Please be aware that all Employment Tribunal online services (affecting submission of ET1s, ET3s and digital applications) will be subject to a planned upgrade on Tuesday 11th November between 20:30 and 22:30. The usual 'this service is temporarily unavailable' message will appear for anyone trying to submit via the digital portals during this period. Any party with a time limit expiring in this period should plan accordingly.’