October 2026: Harassment duties, tribunal time limits and notice periods
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October 2026
Welcome to the first Monthly Sting. Each month, I’ll be sharing employment law and HR updates, what they mean for your business, along with a few useful things that have come over the B Hive desk this month.
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What’s changed?
Harassment at work
From 30th October, employers have greater responsibilities around preventing harassment at work, including harassment by third parties such as customers, clients and contractors.
This isn’t just about having a policy tucked away in a handbook.
The law requires that employers consider where the risks sit in their business and take reasonable steps to prevent harassment happening in the first place.
This has been a big focus at the B Hive throughout October. I’ve been working with all of my regular clients to complete a specific harassment risk assessment for their business and make sure the right preventative measures are in place ahead of the changes.
They really are specific! The risks for an office-based business look very different from those for a late-night venue. We’ve been looking at everything from lone working, opening and closing arrangements and workplace socials, through to customer and third-party interaction, WhatsApp groups, reporting routes, manager training and how evidence would be retained if an incident occurred.
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The point is that simply having a harassment policy isn’t enough. Employers need to consider where the risks actually arise in their own workplace and what they can reasonably do to prevent them.
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Also this month
More time to bring a tribunal claim
From 1st October 2026, the time limit for bringing most Employment Tribunal claims increased from three months to six months.
For employers, there’s a straightforward practical takeaway: keep good records.
Investigation notes, emails, meeting notes, warnings and other evidence need to be properly recorded and retained. Don’t assume that because a few months have passed, an issue has disappeared.
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From the HR Desk
“How much notice do I actually have to give?”
A manager with six years’ service wanted to resign.
How much notice did they need to give?
Six weeks?
No.
Their contract required one week’s notice, so that was all they were required to give.
This is something employers regularly get confused about.
Statutory notice based on length of service determines the minimum notice an employer must give when dismissing an employee. It doesn’t automatically increase the notice an employee has to give when they resign.
In this case, the employer would normally have needed to give six weeks’ notice, but the employee only needed to give the one week required by their contract.
If losing a manager or key employee with one week’s notice would cause a problem, don’t wait until they resign to discover that’s what their contract says.
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Check the notice periods for your managers and key employees.
If one of them resigned tomorrow, would their contractual notice actually give you enough time to recruit and arrange a proper handover?
Not sure? Send it over and I’ll take a look.
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