British businesses considering any reductions in their workforce need to mind a new labor law expected to go into effect next year or risk costly penalties, McGuireWoods London associate Adam Penman wrote in an Oct. 15, 2026, article in People Management.
The Employment Rights Act 2025 expands employers’ obligations to consult with employees before making any large-scale redundancies (layoffs, in American parlance). Businesses will have to consider redundancies across a whole organization rather than a single establishment, potentially bringing far more redundancies within the scope of collective consultation. Penalties for violations will also go up.
“With the expansion of the threshold trigger, it will become more complex and potentially twice as costly for businesses that fail to comply,” Penman wrote.