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 >

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 >

One day. Every major change covered - including changes to probationary periods, AI-generated grievances, and third party harassment liability that nobody knows what to do about.

The Employment Rights Act 2025 is the biggest shake-up in UK employment law in a generation. A reduced qualifying period for unfair dismissal - and the abolition of the compensation cap. A strengthened duty to prevent harassment, including stopping staff harassment by clients, customers and visitors. Expanded trade union access rights.

And then there is the issue that has crept up on almost every HR team in the country: AI-generated grievances. Employees are now submitting legally polished, meticulously researched complaints drafted by AI - running to twenty or thirty pages - raising every conceivable issue, and citing cases that simply do not exist. Most HR professionals and employment lawyers have no framework for dealing with them.

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 before January 2027, when the six-month qualifying period takes effect? What process must you follow when dismissing a new starter in their first six months - and what is the one question every tribunal will ask about a short-service dismissal under the new rules?

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 take you through every major change, tell you precisely what it means in practice, and give you a concrete action plan you can put to work as soon as you get back to your desk.

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Programme

9.30am

Registration and Coffee

10.00am

Probationary Periods, 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.
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 - what 'reasonable steps' means for your organisation and clients

Why "we can't control what our customers or suppliers say" is no longer a defence - and what a tribunal will expect to see your organisation doing before harassment happens, not after it.
The specific environments where third-party harassment exposure is highest - and why hospitality, retail, healthcare, and professional services face challenges that generic policies cannot address.
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.
The hardest scenario: what to do when the harasser is a key client, a major account, or someone with more organisational power than the victim
The EHRC enforcement dimension: why regulatory action can follow even without a tribunal claim - and what the Commission has indicated it will prioritise when deciding where to focus its enforcement activity.

12.45pm

Lunch

1.45pm

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

The recruitment access right: how a union with no existing members and no foothold in your organisation can now demand the right to come in and speak to your employees.
How the simplified recognition procedure changes the risk calculation for employers - including organisations that have never had union interest before and have no reason to assume they are safe from an application now.
The new duty to inform every employee of their right to join a trade union - what you must include, when you must provide it, and why the wording creates a genuine headache for employers who neither want to encourage membership nor be seen to be discouraging it
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

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.
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.
The Fair Work Agency: the new enforcement body that most employers have barely registered - its investigative powers, its likely enforcement priorities, and why it represents a compliance risk that operates entirely outside the employment tribunal system.

3.15pm

Coffee Break

3.45pm

Ask Daniel: The Q&A Session

Your chance to put your specific, real-world scenarios directly to a practising employment barrister - the kind of advice that costs several hundred pounds an hour, included in your ticket price.
No hypotheticals prepared in advance. Bring the situation you are actually dealing with - the dismissal you are nervous about, the grievance that has just landed, the policy you are not sure is fit for purpose - and get a straight answer.
Ask the questions you did not know to ask until you heard the sessions: the final hour of the day, when the pieces have come together and the implications for your own organisation have started to land.
Fire & rehire: the one major Employment Rights Act change Daniel has decided not to cover in the main programme today - and the session where you can ask him why, then get the answers you came for anyway.

4.30pm

Close

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

“It’s very interactive, very informative. Daniel makes difficult topics accessible, easy to understand, and hugely entertaining. You’ll have fun, you’ll learn, and you’ll come away with tools you can apply immediately.”

Dipti Shah
ADN Law

“Book it. It’s the best employment law event you will attend.”

Sue Ward
Iceland Foods

“Daniel is an excellent, engaging and enthusiastic speaker who puts across employment law in an easily understandable form. There are very few people who can actually do that.”

John Stanford
John Stanford and Associates Limited

“The masterclass combines humour, refreshing insight into employment law and hot topics in a fun environment, making the content much more enjoyable and easy to digest.”

Annabelle Carey
HR Services Partnership

“You simply will not regret it. You’ve read the excellent email bulletins for years. Now meet the man. He speaks and presents even better.”

Tim Ogle
Birkett Long

“The masterclass is current, accessible and fun. It’s a shortcut to learning about the law, all in one day, and extremely good value for money.”

Chris Marshall
Meaby & Co Solicitors
“I’m 11 years qualified and I felt really challenged and that I learned a lot, while also seeing how accessible it would be for someone newer to employment law. It was varied and accessible.”
Ayesha Casley-Hayford
Wainwright and Cummins LLP

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Dates/Venues

22 Sept 2026

Newcastle

Maldron Hotel

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: practical, tribunal-tested guidance on major Employment Rights Act 2025 changes, 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 a full day of that expertise, plus every resource listed above, for £475+VAT.

Book Your Place >

Book your place now for £475+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 AI session before responding to a AI generated grievance. 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 an extra £75+VAT - choose 'VIP Ticket' at Checkout

Book Your Place >

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

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