Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026
Following parliamentary “ping pong”, the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 received Royal Assent on 29 April 2026. While primarily focused on education and social care, it also introduces changes to child employment.
We do not yet have confirmed commencement dates for the provisions below, although some elements of the Act are expected to come into force from September 2026. We will provide further updates as details emerge.
Key changes include:
- Mandatory work permits across all local authorities. All children aged 14–16 will require a local authority work permit to be employed. Previously this depended on local by-laws. Permit regulations will now be set nationally.
- Sunday working aligned with Saturdays. The previous 2-hour Sunday limit has been removed, and children may now work up to 5 hours at age 14 or 8 hours at ages 15–16.
- Latest working time extended. The cut-off time for working shifts moves from 7pm to 8pm. The maximum of 2 hours on a school day remains unchanged.
This is not an exhaustive list of all rules relating to child employment. If you are subscribed to our HR service and would like further guidance, please contact our consultant team.
Case law spotlight: Male employee subject to sexual harassment
In the case Davies v White Dove Garages Ltd, the Employment Tribunal found that a male employee was sexually harassed after being exposed to regular sexualised “banter” and derogatory comments about women in a shared office. Although the remarks were not directed at him, he found them offensive and raised concerns.
The employer argued the comments were harmless banter within a close-knit team and noted that a female colleague was not offended.
The tribunal held the conduct created an offensive environment for the claimant, even without intent to offend. It confirmed that harassment can arise from overheard conversations and that one person’s tolerance does not negate another’s offence.
New national hiring metrics launched
The recent launch of the UK’s National Hiring Metrics introduces nine standardised measures to help employers benchmark and improve hiring performance.
These measures include:
- Vacancy ratio
- Time to offer accepted
- Time to start
- Offer acceptance rate
- Cost per starter
- First-year attrition rate
- Sourcing channel effectiveness
- Interview-to-offer ratio
- Financial impact of new hires.
With shorter service thresholds expected for unfair dismissal, having consistent and effective hiring processes will be increasingly important.
Reminder to have your say – open consultation
The Government has one consultation still open, relating to the Employment Rights Act 2025 and its plan to “Make Work Pay”. Views are invited from employers, workers, trade unions, and members of the public who may be affected by the new framework. If you would like to get involved in the topic below, you can follow the link and submit your views by the closing date shown:
- Misuse of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) - closes: 8th April 2026, link here.
As always, we’ll continue to monitor developments closely and keep you updated.
