Loxley HR & Mediation, Bedford (2026)

14/10/2026

The 30th October 2026 is just over two weeks away.

From then the ‘take reasonable steps’ extends to ‘take ALL reasonable steps’ to prevent harassment in the workplace - this duty extends to third party harassment too.

But what is considered as ‘all’?

If you would like to join my mailing list to receive a free 'All Reasonable Steps' checklist and fabulously informative and helpful updates, drop me a message or visit the weblink shown in my profile.

12/10/2026

Today I have been learning about the nuances of the upcoming changes under the Employment Rights Act 2025 - quite simply, so you don’t have to. This is especially needed as the government make changes to earlier proposed laws following consultation.

A full on day further unpicking Unfair dismissal rights, Third Party Harassment Prevention, Trade Union (a rights to access) regulations, the Fair Work Agency and more.

I have learnt so much that I can put into practice for my clients

30/07/2026

If you're a manager about to run performance appraisals and dread the process, take a breath. You're not alone.

74% of UK workers already think traditional appraisals aren't much use. So if you're worried about getting it wrong, you're not being paranoid, you're being switched on. 📊 (Source: SelectSoftwareReviews, 2026)

To help make sure you have everything you need, and not be one of the almost 60% of managers that say they feel unprepared to give constructive feedback, I built The Managers Appraisal Toolkit.

It takes the guesswork away, so every appraisal in your business follows the same solid structure, whether it's your first one or your fiftieth. Inside you'll find:

✅ A clear, confidence-building framework for the conversation itself
✅ Prompts to help you prep properly
✅ Tools to keep every appraisal fair and consistent across your team

This toolkit will have you covered. Get your free copy here:https://mcusercontent.com/ad3f73b9c2c87c84d219b799f/files/b72fd89c-effb-2880-46ed-e31f0af9e6ff/Loxley_HR_Managers_Appraisal_Toolkit_Lead_Magnet.pdf

14/07/2026

If you're a manager about to run performance appraisals and dread the process, take a breath. You're not alone.

74% of UK workers already think traditional appraisals aren't much use. So if you're worried about getting it wrong, you're not being paranoid, you're being switched on. 📊 (Source: SelectSoftwareReviews, 2026)

To help make sure you have everything you need, and not be one of the almost 60% of managers that say they feel unprepared to give constructive feedback, I built The Managers Appraisal Toolkit.

It takes the guesswork away, so every appraisal in your business follows the same solid structure, whether it's your first one or your fiftieth. Inside you'll find:
✅ A clear, confidence-building framework for the conversation itself
✅ Prompts to help you prep properly
✅ Tools to keep every appraisal fair and consistent across your team

Download the free toolkit here:https://mcusercontent.com/ad3f73b9c2c87c84d219b799f/files/b72fd89c-effb-2880-46ed-e31f0af9e6ff/Loxley_HR_Managers_Appraisal_Toolkit_Lead_Magnet.pdf

01/07/2026

If you're a manager about to run performance appraisals and dread the process, take a breath. You're not alone.

74% of UK workers already think traditional appraisals aren't much use. So if you're worried about getting it wrong, you're not being paranoid, you're being switched on. 📊 (Source: SelectSoftwareReviews, 2026)

To help make sure you have everything you need, and not be one of the almost 60% of managers that say they feel unprepared to give constructive feedback, I built The Managers Appraisal Toolkit.

It takes the guesswork away, so every appraisal in your business follows the same solid structure, whether it's your first one or your fiftieth. Inside you'll find:

✅ A clear, confidence-building framework for the conversation itself
✅ Prompts to help you prep properly
✅ Tools to keep every appraisal fair and consistent across your team

This toolkit will have you covered. The link is in the comments👇

12/05/2026

Zero Hours and Low Hours Contracts - The changes that have come into force and why this does affect you.

Most of the businesses I speak to about the ERA 2025 zero-hours changes say the same thing:

"We don’t use zero-hours contracts, so this doesn’t affect us."

In a lot of cases, they’re wrong.

The Employment Rights Act 2025 doesn’t just apply to workers on zero-hours contracts. It applies to workers on low-hours contracts - contracts that guarantee eight or twelve hours a week, where the worker is routinely rostered for thirty.

That description fits a very large number of businesses in hospitality, retail, care, and logistics who have never thought of themselves as zero-hours employers.

From later this year, those workers will have a right to be offered guaranteed hours reflecting their actual working pattern. There are also new rights to notice of shifts and compensation when shifts are cancelled at short notice.

The first step for any affected business is a workforce audit: look at every worker on a variable or low-hours arrangement, compare their contracted hours against their actual working pattern over a reference period, and model what a guaranteed-hours obligation would mean for payroll and operational flexibility.

That audit is a defined, fixed-scope piece of work. It is also the piece of work that tells you how much everything else will cost.

If you’re in hospitality, retail, care, logistics, or any sector that relies on flexible staffing, this is worth a conversation before the provisions come into force.

Comment below or message me if you’d like to talk through whether your workforce arrangements are affected.

[email protected]

06/05/2026

Unfair Dismissal : The uncapped liability bombshell most employers haven't processed yet.

From 1 January 2027, two things happen to unfair dismissal law at the same time.

The qualifying period drops from two years to six months.

The cap on compensation is abolished entirely.

Right now, even if an employer loses an unfair dismissal claim, their maximum exposure is roughly a year’s salary. From next January, there is no ceiling.

A senior hire who joins in July 2026, is dismissed in February 2027 for a badly handled performance issue, and struggles to find a comparable role could recover two or three years’ loss of earnings. For someone on £80,000 a year, that is a six-figure award.

The problem is that most employers are still making dismissal decisions the way they always have - informally, with limited documentation, relying on the qualifying period to protect them from short-service claims.

That protection disappears in eight months.

The work that follows from this is straightforward to scope: a disciplinary and capability procedure that works for short-service employees, a performance management framework that generates a contemporaneous paper trail from month one, and a manager briefing so that the people making decisions day-to-day understand what has changed.

Happy to talk through what this means for your business - drop a comment or send me a message.

[email protected]

29/04/2026

Why "Fire and Rehire" is no longer an option, since ERA 2025 has come into force.

For years, the approach to contractual change that most HR consultants reached for when negotiations stalled was some version of the same conversation:

"We’ve consulted. They haven’t agreed. We’re going to have to dismiss and re-engage."

That option is now effectively closed.

Under the Employment Rights Act 2025, it is automatically unfair to dismiss an employee where the principal reason is to re-engage them – or engage someone else – on varied contractual terms. The exceptions are narrow: the employer must show the variation was necessary to eliminate, prevent, or significantly reduce financial difficulties affecting its ability to carry on as a going concern. A desire to cut costs or improve efficiency will not qualify.

The financial stakes have also changed. Automatically unfair dismissal carries uncapped compensation from January 2027. An employer who dismisses 20 employees to change their terms of employment is not facing 20 individual claims with capped awards. They are potentially facing 20 claims with unlimited compensation each.

There is still a lawful route to achieving contractual change. It involves genuine consultation, documented negotiation, and incentivised consent. Done properly, it works. But it requires planning, and it requires a different approach to the process than most businesses are currently taking.

If you have clients who are planning restructures, changes to pay structures, or amendments to working arrangements, the old approach needs replacing now - not when they’re mid-process.

If this is relevant to anything you’re currently working through, feel free to message me directly.

[email protected]