Daniel Barnett’s Employment Law Masterclass 2026

The Employment Rights Act 2025 Will Catch Out 90% of HR Professionals and Employment Lawyers. Here's How to Make Sure You're Not One of Them.

Daniel Barnett's first MasterClass lecture tour in seven years

Ten Cities | Eleven Dates

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Daniel Barnett’s Employment Law Masterclass 2026

The Employment Rights Act 2025 Will Catch Out 90% of HR Professionals and Employment Lawyers. Here's How to Make Sure You're Not One of Them.

Daniel Barnett's first MasterClass lecture tour in seven years

Ten Cities | Eleven Dates

Book Your Place >

In 6 Hours, Master the Employment Rights Act 2025 Changes That Will Catch Out 90% of HR Professionals and Employment Lawyers in 2026-27.

The Employment Rights Act 2025 is the biggest shake-up in UK employment law in a generation. New rules on fire and rehire. A reduced qualifying period for unfair dismissal - and the abolition of the compensation cap. A strengthened duty to prevent harassment. Expanded trade union access rights. And that's just the start.

If you're in HR or employment law, you already know it's here. But knowing about the changes and knowing exactly what to do about them are two very different things.

Which policies need rewriting? Which procedures will leave your organisation - or your clients - exposed if you don't update them now? And what are the practical steps that will actually stand up at tribunal?

Most of the guidance out there is vague, academic, or written by people who've never stood up in an employment tribunal. This Masterclass is different.

In one intensive day, Daniel Barnett - a barrister with 30 years' of employer-side experience - will walk you through every major change, tell you precisely what it means in practice, and give you a concrete action plan you can implement as soon as you get back to your desk.

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Programme

9.30am

Registration and Coffee

10.00am

Six-Month Unfair Dismissal Rights and Removal of the Compensation Cap

Why the shift from two years to six months fundamentally changes how you manage new starters from their first day.
The critical difference between a six-month qualifying period and a probationary period - and why confusing the two will land you in trouble.
What process you must follow when dismissing someone in their first six months
The five practical changes every employer needs to make to their onboarding, probation and performance management procedures before the new rules take effect.
How to document concerns about a new starter’s performance or conduct from week one in a way that will stand up at tribunal if you need to dismiss at month five.
What the new qualifying period means for fixed-term contracts, agency workers and other non-standard arrangements - and the specific risks most employers are overlooking.
The one question every tribunal will ask about a short-service dismissal under the new rules - and how to make sure you have the answer ready.
Why the removal of the statutory cap on compensatory awards for certain automatically unfair dismissals changes the financial risk calculation for every employer.
How tribunals will approach the assessment of loss without a cap - including the factors that could push awards into six or even seven figures.
Techniques for reducing compensation awards and settlement payments

10.45am

Dealing with AI Generated Grievances

Six common mistakes that HR keeps making with AI-generated grievances?
How to reduce a 28-page AI-generated grievance to something you can investigate?
What are the two questions that cut through pages of legal wallpaper in sixty seconds?
What do you do when the AI-generated grievance arrives halfway through a disciplinary process?
What can employers do when Claimants/employees cite cases that simply do not exist?

11.30am

Coffee Break

12.00pm

Third-Party Harassment and the Strengthened Duty

Why the new preventative duty changes harassment from something you react to into something you must actively stop before it happens - and what a tribunal will expect to see you doing.
The return of third-party harassment liability - what it means when your employees are harassed by customers, clients, contractors or members of the public, and why “we can’t control what other people say” is no longer an answer.
What ‘all reasonable steps’ actually looks like in practice - the specific policies, training, reporting mechanisms and management actions a tribunal will look for when deciding whether your organisation has met the threshold.
The ten-point audit every employer should carry out now to identify where their current harassment prevention measures fall short of the new standard - and the gaps that will be most obvious to a tribunal.
How the new duty interacts with the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s enforcement powers - and why you could face regulatory action even if no individual employee has brought a claim against you.

12.45pm

Lunch

1.45pm

Trade Union Recognition and Access Rights: The New Simplified Procedures and Expanded Union Access to Workplaces

How the Employment Rights Act 2025 lowers the barriers to statutory recognition - including the removal of the 40% support threshold and what that means for employers who thought they were safely below the radar.
The new right of union access to workplaces - what unions can now demand, how much notice they must give, and the very limited grounds on which you can push back.
How the new rules on unfair practices during a recognition campaign narrow what employers can lawfully say and do - and the specific communications that could now land you with an automatic declaration of recognition.
The practical steps every employer should take now to prepare for the possibility of a recognition application - including reviewing your employee engagement strategy, internal communications and management training before a union gets there first.

2.30pm

Imposing Contractual Changes: The New Law on Fire and Rehire

How to use variation clauses effectively - what makes a variation clause enforceable, what makes it worthless, and why the drafting matters far more than most employers realise.
The right way to negotiate and document individual consent to contractual changes - and the common mistakes that turn what looks like agreement into a constructive dismissal claim.
How to achieve collective agreement to contractual changes through a recognised trade union or employee representatives - and why the process matters as much as the outcome.
The practical toolkit for getting to “yes” without coercion — including consultation strategies, incentive packages and phased implementation that keep you well away from fire and rehire territory.
Why the Employment Rights Act 2025 has made dismissing and re-engaging on new terms one of the most dangerous things an employer can now do.
The new automatically unfair dismissal category for fire and rehire - and the very narrow exception that allows it, which most employers will struggle to meet.
What ‘financial difficulties’ actually means under the new rules - and why a desire to cut costs or improve efficiency almost certainly won’t be enough.
The critical test a tribunal will apply to decide whether the employer had no reasonable alternative to dismissing and re-engaging - and why you need to evidence every option you explored before going down this route.
What to do instead — the practical alternatives to fire and rehire that keep you on the right side of the new law while still achieving the contractual changes your business needs.

3.15pm

Coffee Break

3.45pm

Beyond the Headlines: The Employment Rights Act Changes Most People Are Overlooking

How the changes to collective redundancy consultation thresholds remove the single-establishment loophole - and why multi-site employers who previously avoided the 90-day consultation obligation may no longer be able to.
The strengthened protections for pregnant employees and those returning from maternity, adoption and shared parental leave - including the extended protected period during which dismissal becomes significantly harder to defend.
The new duty on employers to inform employees of their right to join a trade union — what you must include, when you must provide it, and the practical headache of getting the wording right without looking like you’re either encouraging or discouraging membership.
How the extension of the standard time limit from three months to six months gives claimants significantly more breathing room - and why employers can no longer rely on claims quietly going away.
What the longer limitation period means for your document retention and evidence preservation practices — and why the notes you used to throw away at four months now need to be kept for much longer.

4.30pm

Close

Over 1,000 attendees came in 2019: here’s what some of them said

I meet new potential clients and referrers at networking events and collect their business cards. Every month when I receive a copy of the next bulletin to review, I add them to my email list. My web guy posts the bulletin onto my website every month, so this constant addition of new content helps my Google rankings. Plus I get the bulletin posted on my LinkedIn account too as I have 1,000+ followers there. There’s always a spike in the stats on the day the bulletin goes out. I’m delighted with the service Daniel provides. Long may it continue!

David Parry

Daniel Barnett has just produced our first email update. Within days, I was contacted by people I hadn’t met in a long time. It resulted in two meetings being set up with potential for collaboration and further work opportunities, and resulted in one actual set of instructions which I billed for, more than covering the cost. I also received numerous emails saying how helpful and well written it was and congratulating me, which I naturally took full credit for. And all from the first bulletin – thank you, Daniel.

Thushara Polpitiye
Astute HR

The response of my clients to the newsletter has been genuinely enthusiastic. They say, ‘I love getting your newsletter, it’s so enjoyable, user friendly and fun to read. I literally meet people on the street who haven’t seen me for ages, who stop me and say, ‘I love your newsletter. All of the feedback says the same thing, that the newsletter is really easy to read and is user friendly. They get the information the way they want to hear it. The response from clients has been genuinely fantastic. I’m running my business and I’m really busy, so I want people to take things off me. With Daniel’s bulletin I get all the benefits and none of the hassle: all the benefits of a really good newsletter and none of the hassle of having to send it or manage. So it saves me money. It’s not a cost: it’s a saving. I genuinely look at my marketing budget and know that Daniel’s bulletin would be the last thing I’d drop.

Mike Cummins

Really chuffed with your continuing support with the employment law bulletins. They’ve gone down a treat with clients and prospects. So a BIG thanks!

Richard Llewellyn‐Bell

I consider it very important to have regular contact with clients and prospects. I know it goes down well with them, and it keeps me in the forefront of their minds. So, no question: it’s the right thing to do. It’s part and parcel of the ‘quilt’ of the marketing I do for my business. “One time I sent the bulletin out late, and clients emailed me to say, ‘Where’s the bulletin?’ – so I know they do read it! Some professionals have asked me, ‘Do you mind if we forward the bulletin to our clients?’ and I have said, ‘Not at all, as long as you send it as is, and don’t remove my logo and contact details from it!

Anonymous Client

I’m a very happy customer of Daniel’s Employment Law Bulletins. It’s a Done For You service with a style that’s conversational, friendly and pragmatic. Yes, we have smart people in our team who could write this material. But it takes time and focus to filter all the various legal developments and work out what we should and shouldn’t include in a newsletter. That time and focus doesn’t really add value to our business if we did it ourselves. Daniel’s team does all the work for us, so it saves us time. All we do is make a few minimal tweaks, then it’s good to go. Our clients value the bulletin, and so do the prospects who are on our email list. The bulletin helps with conversion further down the sales process.

Anonymous Client

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Dates/Venues

22 Sept 2026

Newcastle

Venue tbc

23 Sept 2026

Leeds

Royal Armouries Museum

25 Sept 2026

Manchester

The Lowry Hotel

28 Sept 2026

London 1

Cavendish Conference Centre

29 Sept 2026

Southampton

Voco Southampton

1 Oct 2026

Nottingham

Crowne Plaza

5 Oct 2026

Cardiff

St Davids Hotel

6 Oct 2026

Bristol

The Bristol

7 Oct 2026

Birmingham

The Studio

12 Oct 2026

London 2

Cavendish Conference Centre

15 Oct 2026

Edinburgh

Dynamic Earth

If you can’t make a physical session, you can register for the all day live virtual MasterClass on 13 October 2026, presented over Zoom.

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Daniel only presents a Masterclass tour once or twice a decade - and this is the only one planned for the 2020s (the last was 2019)

Everything You Walk Away With

When you book your place on the Employment Law Masterclass 2026, here’s exactly what you get:

A full day of intensive, practitioner-led training: six hours of practical, tribunal-tested guidance on every major Employment Rights Act 2025 change, delivered by a barrister who has spent 30 years in the room where it happens
A concrete, implementable action plan: not notes to file away and forget, but a step-by-step framework you can put to work the week you return to your desk
The ‘Ask Daniel’ session: your chance to put your specific, real-world scenarios directly to a leading employment barrister. The kind of advice that costs hundreds of pounds an hour, included in your ticket price
A comprehensive written workbook: a professionally produced reference document covering every topic from the day, yours to keep and use as an ongoing resource (PDF included; hard copy available for £10 or as a reasonable adjustment)
Lunch and refreshments throughout the day: so you can focus entirely on the content without worrying about anything else

Total value: a day’s advisory input from a leading employment barrister runs to £500 - £600 per hour. You’re getting six hours of that expertise, plus every resource listed above, for £550+VAT.

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Book your place now for £550+VAT

Exclusive discounts are available for HR Inner Circle members and those enrolled on the Employment Rights Act Update Service - check your email or contact meg.mcdonald@emplawservices.co.uk

Your Speaker

Daniel Barnett is a leading employment law barrister practising from Outer Temple Chambers.

With 30 years’ experience defending public and private sector employers against employment claims, he has represented a Royal Family, several international airlines, FTSE-100 companies, various NHS Trusts and local authorities, and one of TV’s Dragons from Dragon’s Den. Employee clients include a former Chancellor of the Exchequer and many senior executives.

Daniel is a past chair of the Employment Lawyers’ Association’s publishing committee and electronic services working party, and a past member of the BAILII advisory board. 

He is the author or co-author of over 30 books, including the leading title Handbook on Employment Law (currently in its 9th edition), two of which have been ranked as Amazon #1 for HR. He is the creator of the Employment Law (UK) mailing list, an email alerter bulletin service sending details of breaking news in employment law three times a week to 30,000 recipients.Daniel is a past chair of the Employment Lawyers’ Association’s publishing committee and electronic services working party, and a past member of the BAILII advisory board. He is the author or co-author of over 30 books, including the leading title Handbook on Employment Law (currently in its 9th edition), two of which have been ranked as Amazon #1 for HR. He is the creator of the Employment Law (UK) mailing list, an email alerter bulletin service sending details of breaking news in employment law three times a week to 30,000 recipients.

He is one of the leading speakers and trainers on the employment law and HR circuit. He has presented seminars for the House of Commons, the BBC, Oxford University, HSBC, Barclays Bank, Ocado, and dozens of other organisations in-house, and keynoted at national and international conferences. He produces the Employment Law Matters podcast, ranked #1 on the Apple Podcast Store for business podcasts in the UK with over 1 million downloads.

Daniel has presented the legal hour, a weekly phone-in radio show, on LBC Radio since 2010.

We’re completely confident that you’ll get huge value out of the Employment Law Masterclass. So:

Refund Policy: if you tell us at least one week before the Masterclass that you want to cancel your place, we’ll give you a 100% refund; and
Guarantee Policy: if, at the Masterclass, you tell one of our team that you’d like a refund, we’ll give you your money back plus up to £250 for your travel and accommodation expenses. Just ask and we’ll give it to you – with no further questions.
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Bonus VIP Package

Upgrade to VIP for Just £75+VAT

Lifetime video recording of the entire Masterclass: rewatch any session as many times as you need, whenever a relevant issue comes up. Revisit the fire and rehire module before a difficult conversation. Recheck the harassment duty section before updating your policies. Yours to keep forever.
Fully searchable transcript: find the exact answer to a specific question in seconds, without scrubbing through video. An instantly accessible reference tool you’ll return to repeatedly throughout 2026 and beyond.
Downloadable slide deck: every slide from the day, formatted for you to save, share with colleagues, or use as the basis for internal briefings and training sessions.
A copy of Daniel’s flagship book, the Handbook on Employment Law (10th edition): the leading practitioner reference on UK employment law, fully updated to cover every Employment Rights Act 2025 change, running to 400 pages. Published autumn 2026; your copy will be sent to you automatically on release. Retail value: £95.
VIP-only follow-up webinar: exclusive post-event access to Daniel to work through questions that arise once you’re back at your desk and implementing the changes. The questions you didn’t think to ask on the day, answered.

Everything above for £75+VAT — added to your basket at checkout.

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For further information, please contact Meg McDonald or call her on 0333 090 9282

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