November 2026

November at Aubrey International

The real test is what happens after the policy is written.

October brought a series of changes for employers, from the extension of many Employment Tribunal time limits to stronger duties around harassment. November is when businesses should stop treating those changes as future dates in a diary and ask what their managers will actually do when an incident occurs.

A report of misconduct by a customer, a difficult probation review or an agency worker arriving on site may look like an ordinary operational problem. Each can now have a wider legal and evidential dimension. What happened, who knew, what was recorded and what decision followed will matter more than whether a policy document exists somewhere on the shared drive.

This month's Briefing focuses on three practical areas: complaints involving third parties, right-to-work assurance in changing workforces, and probation and dismissal processes ahead of January 2027.

Lead feature · Workplace harassment

The customer is not always right. The employer still has to act.

From 30 October 2026, employers face a strengthened requirement to take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment. The law also introduces liability for harassment by third parties, subject to the all-reasonable-steps defence. Third parties can include customers, clients, contractors, patients and service users. The protection extends beyond sexual harassment to other harassment covered by the legislation.

In pubs and restaurants, an allegation might involve a regular customer who has made repeated sexual comments to staff. In care settings, the reported behaviour might come from a service user who also has substantial support needs. A business cannot safely respond to either case by assuming the complaint can be ignored because the person responsible is not an employee. Equally, a blanket response may create separate safeguarding, contractual or operational problems.

The immediate priorities are usually to establish whether anyone remains at risk; support the employee; retain relevant messages, CCTV or incident notes; identify who can make decisions about customer access or service delivery; and choose a fair, proportionate next step. Employers should record both the measures taken and why they were considered reasonable in that setting.

Aubrey's urgent third-party harassment triage is designed for employers who have a live complaint and need help establishing an action plan before the situation escalates. Preventative policy and process reviews are available separately.

Further guidance: ACAS — third-party harassment and ACAS — sexual harassment.

The monthly check · Agency and contractor labour

Who is actually turning up for work?

The expansion of right-to-work obligations from 1 October 2026 makes contractual arrangements and evidence handling particularly important for some businesses using agency labour or individual subcontractors. A familiar process is not necessarily a compliant one simply because an agency says it has checked the worker.

Construction, engineering, facilities management and hospitality businesses should identify which entity engages each worker, what checks and protections are legally required under the particular arrangement, who can substitute staff and how identities are matched to the people who arrive. The business should also make sure that relevant records can be located if they are later challenged.

Not every contractor arrangement produces the same obligations. The contractual chain and the applicable statutory provisions need to be checked rather than assuming a single rule applies to every supplier.

Read our separate right-to-work Insight for construction and agency labour.

Business focus · Managing employees before January

Probation is not a substitute for a fair process.

From 1 January 2027, the qualifying period for ordinary unfair dismissal protection is expected to reduce from two years to six months under the Employment Rights Act 2025 implementation timetable. That makes the first few months of employment a more significant management period, not an invitation to make quick and unsupported decisions.

Businesses should review how probation objectives are set, whether concerns are communicated promptly, who makes decisions about extending probation or dismissing an employee, and how those decisions are recorded. Where discrimination, whistleblowing or another automatically unfair reason is alleged, the ordinary qualifying period may not protect an employer in any event.

One useful exercise is to take a recent probation decision and ask whether another manager, reading the papers six months later, could understand what the employee was told, the concerns identified and the opportunity provided to address them.

Read our guide to the January 2027 probation changes.

Worth knowing

A longer limitation period means a longer evidence horizon.

Since 1 October 2026, the time limit for bringing many Employment Tribunal claims has increased to six months, subject to the rules for the particular claim and ACAS Early Conciliation. The extra time does not mean the employer should postpone action. It increases the importance of records that can explain a decision well after the original meeting.

If you have not already done so, check that investigation notes, meeting invitations, employee responses, relevant messages, appeal correspondence and management reasons are stored consistently and retained according to a proportionate policy.

Read the full time-limit Insight.

From Aubrey

Help with a live case, not another generic handbook.

The businesses most exposed to these changes are not always the largest or least sophisticated. They are often businesses where one manager handles staffing issues alongside customers, payroll, stock and everything else. That person may need a clear, experienced second view more than another long policy.

Aubrey International supports employers through one-off case assessments, urgent harassment triage, disciplinary and grievance processes, contract and policy reviews, and ongoing external HR support. We agree what is needed and the cost before work begins.

A final note

Make the next decision easier to defend.

The useful question for November is quite simple: if an employee raised a complaint tomorrow, would the right person know what to do first? That question applies just as much to workplace harassment as to probation, safeguarding and right-to-work concerns.

Good records and sensible processes will not remove every disagreement. They do make it easier to address an issue promptly, explain a decision and show that the business took its responsibilities seriously.

Best wishes,
Ann

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