Template documents
Tailored to the needs of the UK recruitment industry, these template contracts and policies can be used when engaging clients, jobseekers and your own staff.
12-month legal timeline
Staying ahead of legal change is essential for every recruitment business. Our timeline brings together the key legal updates that will shape the world of recruitment in the year ahead.
Alongside each update, you’ll find links to key REC tools that can support your planning and compliance. Whether you want to get ahead of new rules, brief your teams, or speak confidently with clients, this page is your go‑to place for staying informed and ready.
Explore the previous months page for earlier activity.
March 2026
Key updates:
| Extension of the right to paternity leave. |
|
From 10 March 2026 the right to paternity leave is extended to the adopter’s partner in overseas adoption cases where the adopter dies and the child also dies or, having been placed for adoption, is returned. |
Key resources:
Key REC events:
-
Talking Recruitment Webinar, with Neil Carberry - a Legal Special: 3 March
Join Neil Carberry OBE, REC Chief Executive, and Lorraine Laryea, Chief Standards Officer, for a Talking Recruitment legal special focused on the Employment Rights Act and what recruitment businesses need to do to prepare now. -
Legal & Compliance Seminar: 5 March
A comprehensive legal update on what recruiters and clients need to know on Employment Rights Act, including changes to statutory sick pay and guaranteed hours, as well as the new risk regime for recruiters working with umbrella companies. -
PAYE Attention: 11 and 12 March
Expert-led sessions on tax and legal changes, including umbrella company compliance and PAYE obligations tailored specifically to recruitment businesses. You’ll tackle real compliance challenges with experts, ask questions, and leave with actionable resources tailored to your business. -
SSP check-up: What April’s changes mean for your business: 14 April
This expert-led webinar is your opportunity to get clarity beyond a general briefing. Delivered by the REC’s Chief Standards Officer, Lorraine Laryea, in partnership with REC Legal Business Partner, Brabners LLP, this session goes beyond the headlines to give you confidence and practical guidance on what the changes mean for your business. -
New umbrella rules: what recruiters need to know: 30 April and 12 May
Practical, interactive online sessions designed to breakdown the key tax and compliance changes affecting recruitment, giving busy leaders and consultants the essential information needed to understand the new levels of risk, best-practices around due-diligence and how to protect your business.
Key consultations:
- 17 March 2026: The ACAS Consultation on updates to its Code of Practice on time off for trade union duties and activities to reflect new statutory rights introduced by Employment Rights Act closes at 5pm.
April 2026
Key updates:
| Employment Rights Act |
|
Introduction of Joint and Several Liability for PAYE payments in relation to agency workers supplied by umbrella companies. |
|
From 10 March 2026 the right to paternity leave is extended to the adopter’s partner in overseas adoption cases where the adopter dies and the child also dies or, having been placed for adoption, is returned. |
| Doubling of the maximum protective award for failure to consult during redundancy and TUPE scenarios. |
| Doubling of maximum compensation from 90 to 180 days’ pay. |
| Changes to Statutory Sick Pay. |
| Introduction of entitlement to SSP on day 1 of employment (removal of the 3 waiting day requirement, as well as removal of minimum earnings requirement for eligibility (applies to GB: please note the changes are also expected to apply to Northern Ireland in the future however a date is yet to be provided). |
| Whistleblowing protection extended to sexual harassment. |
| Disclosures of incidents of sexual harassment will be included within the definition of a relevant disclosure for the purpose of whistleblowing (applies to GB). |
| Introduction of the Fair Work Agency (FWA). |
|
Merging of EAS, GLAA and HMRC’s National Minimum Wage Unit as one single enforcement body. The FWA will have the following additional powers:
|
| Day 1 Paternity Leave and Unpaid Parental Leave. |
| Removal of the 26-week qualifying period for paternity and parental leave so that they become a day 1 right (applies to GB). |
| Power to comply with international maritime conventions. |
| Gives the Secretary of State the power to create secondary legislation to implement international maritime labour laws subject to confirmation by Parliament (applies to the UK). |
| Other key updates |
| Mandatory registration for tax advisers. |
| From 1 April, tax advisers who interact with HMRC on behalf of clients must register with HMRC and meet minimum standards. The changes will improve HMRC's ability to monitor and exclude tax advisers who are objectively unable to meet HMRC's Standards for Agents or cannot lawfully act as a tax adviser. Mandatory registration starts 1 April 2026, with at least a three-month transition period. Further information can be found here. |
| Real-time reporting of benefits in kind (BiKs). |
| The reporting process for most Benefits in Kind and expenses will be through the Full Payment Submission (FPS) through Real Time Information. Employers can choose to voluntarily payroll benefits in kind (except for employment related loans and accommodation) for the 2026-2027 tax year, as a way of testing payroll systems and internal processes ahead of the mandatory change. The deadline to register for voluntary payrolling is 5 April 2026. Further information can be found here. |
| Social Security Benefits changes. |
|
Under the Social Security Benefits Up-rating Order 2026 the following rates are due to change:
|
| Revoking of the Code of Practice on Reasonable Steps to be taken by a Trade Union. |
| The Employment Rights Act 2025 (Minimum Service Levels) (Consequential Revocation) Regulations 2026 comes into force on 6th April 2026, which revokes the Code of Practice on Reasonable Steps to be taken by a Trade Union (Minimum Service Levels), following the repeal of the Strikes (Minimum Strikes Levels) Act 2023 and the related amendments made by the Employment Rights Act 2025 to the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (TULR(C)A 1992). |
Key resources:
- Umbrella Companies and HMRC PAYE Risk: Essential Due Diligence Checks for Recruiters.
- Bitesize video: Legal Developments in 2026.
- Bitesize video: PAYE liability, competition law and non-compete clauses.
- Bitesize video: benefits in kind, Employment Agency Standards and Report Fraud.
- Bitesize video: whistleblowing protection, unfair dismissal, DBS and data.
- Get April Ready: What HMRC’s April Reforms mean for the Recruitment Sector.
- REC Employment Rights Act Planner.
- Checklist: Intermediaries checklist for umbrellas.
- REC legal guide on umbrella companies.
- REC legal guide on statutory sick pay.
- REC legal guide on whistleblowing.
- REC legal guide on statutory paternity leave.
- REC contract template: Terms with an umbrella company.
- REC contract template: Terms of business with a hirer for the supply of agency workers.
- REC contract template: Combined terms with a client which must comply with the off-payroll rules.
- REC contract template: Terms of engagement for agency workers (contract for services).
- REC contract template: Agency worker contract of employment annualised hours.
- REC model policy: Whistleblowing.
- REC key information document: umbrella company.
- Government timeline for implementing the Employment Rights Act 2025.
Key REC events:
-
SSP check-up: What April’s changes mean for your business: 14 April
This expert-led webinar is your opportunity to get clarity beyond a general briefing. Delivered by the REC’s Chief Standards Officer, Lorraine Laryea, in partnership with REC Legal Business Partner, Brabners LLP, this session goes beyond the headlines to give you confidence and practical guidance on what the changes mean for your business. -
New umbrella rules: what recruiters need to know: 30 April and 12 May
Practical, interactive online sessions designed to breakdown the key tax and compliance changes affecting recruitment, giving busy leaders and consultants the essential information needed to understand the new levels of risk, best-practices around due-diligence and how to protect your business.
May 2026
Key updates:
| Second reading of the Office of the Whistleblower Bill. |
| The Office of the Whistleblower Bill was introduced for its first reading in the House of Commons in December 2024. The second reading of the Bill is scheduled to take place in May 2026. The main objective, as reflected in the long title of the Bill, is to establish an independent office of the whistleblower (OWB), to protect whistleblowers and whistleblowing. The OWB will also be empowered to set, monitor and enforce minimum standards for the management of whistleblowing cases. This will include establishing standards for handling protected disclosures, providing independent disclosure and advice services, conducting whistleblowing investigations, and ordering redress of detriment, which may be suffered by whistleblowers. |
Key resources:
- REC legal guide on whistleblowing guide.
- REC model policy: Whistleblowing.
- Bitesize video: whistleblowing protection, unfair dismissal, DBS and data.
Key REC events:
-
New umbrella rules: what recruiters need to know: 30 April and 12 May
Practical, interactive online sessions designed to breakdown the key tax and compliance changes affecting recruitment, giving busy leaders and consultants the essential information needed to understand the new levels of risk, best-practices around due-diligence and how to protect your business.
June 2026
Key updates:
Currently no activity. We will update this page as soon as this changes.
Key REC events:
-
REC annual conference - #RECLive26: 9 June
The REC’s flagship annual conference and senior leadership summit, where recruitment leaders come to get answers, not noise. Across keynotes, panels and peer level discussion, you’ll get clear, grounded insight on the issues that will define the next year.
July 2026
Key updates:
Currently no activity. We will update this page as soon as this changes.
August 2026
Key updates:
Currently no activity. We will update this page as soon as this changes.
September 2026
Key updates:
Currently no activity. We will update this page as soon as this changes.
October 2026
Key updates:
| Employment Rights Act |
| Automatic unfair dismissal in ‘fire and rehire’ scenarios. |
| Employees who are dismissed for a rejecting change to their contracts (outside of the permitted circumstances) will be able to claim unfair dismissal (applies to GB). |
| Protection against detriment for industrial action. |
| A worker has the right not to be subjected to detriment by any act, or any deliberate failure to act, by their employer, if the act or failure takes place for the sole or main purpose of preventing or deterring the worker from taking protected industrial action, or penalising the worker for doing so (apples to GB). |
| Duty to inform workers of their right to join a trade union. |
|
A worker’s employer must give the worker a written statement that the worker has the right to join a trade union. The statement must be given—at the same time as the employer gives the worker a section 1 ERA 1996 statement of employment particulars i.e. on or before the first day of employment and at other prescribed times (applies to GB). |
| Duty to take “all” reasonable steps to protect workers from harassment. |
| The new section 40B Equality Act 2010, gives the Secretary of State power to make regulations specifying a non-exhaustive list of obligations will be set out that are to be regarded as reasonable steps an employer must take in order to prevent workplace sexual harassment (applies to GB). |
| Employer duty to protect workers from harassment by third parties. |
| Section 40(1A) -(1C) of the Equality Act introduces protections against sexual harassment by third parties (parties who are not employed by the employer) to employees and job applicants (applies to GB). |
| Extension of Employment Tribunal time limits. |
| Extension of Employment Tribunal time limits from three to six months from the date of the alleged act of harassment. |
| Changes in contracts for public sector workers. |
|
Introducing power to implement a code of practice through secondary legislation providing for workers carrying out the same work on the same public sector contracts to be treated the same in respect of their employment terms and conditions at the outset. This power can be used, amongst other things, to set out model contract terms and the circumstances in which they should be applied. The regulations will allow Ministers to, for example, set out model contract clauses, which (unless exempt) contracting authorities must take all reasonable steps to include in their outsourcing contracts (applies to GB). |
| Regulations to establish the Fair Pay Agreement and Adult Social Care Negotiating Body (England). |
|
Regulations will establish the negotiating process and set the parameters for fair pay agreements in England, which once implemented, will apply to all workers who are covered by the agreement. |
Key resources:
- REC legal guide on Equality Act 2010.
- REC model policy: Sexual harassment.
- REC model policy: Equal opportunities and diversity.
- REC checklist: Sexual harassment due diligence.
- REC Employment Rights Act Planner.
- REC equality, diversity and inclusion page.
- Government timeline for implementing the Employment Rights Act 2025.
November 2026
Key updates:
Currently no activity. We will update this page as soon as this changes.
December 2026
Key updates:
| Employment Rights Act |
| Power to implement a mandatory Seafarers Charter setting out minimum employment standards for operators frequently calling at UK ports. |
| The mandatory Seafarers Charter builds on the earlier Seafarers’ Wages Act 2023 extending protections beyond pay to include as fair pay, working conditions, and employment rights – applies to seafarers working on vessels regularly operating in UK waters (applies to the UK). |
January 2027
Key updates:
| Employment Rights Act |
| 6-month qualifying period for ordinary unfair dismissal protections. |
|
Employees will need to have been continuously employed for 6 months to qualify for unfair dismissal protections. This is due to apply to employees who already have six months’ service or more on the 1 January 2027. The cap on unfair dismissal compensation is due to be removed from 1st January 2027. Further guidance on this can be found here. Applies to GB. Further guidance on this can be found here. |
Key resources:
February 2027
Key updates:
Currently no activity. We will update this page as soon as this changes.