What the UK Salmonella Egg Outbreak Means for Food Businesses
September 8, 2026
UKHSA is investigating 528 Salmonella cases, with imported eggs a potential link. Here’s what food businesses should be checking now.
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Since our July round-up of this autumn’s employment law changes, some of the changes are now law and others have been pushed back to January. January is only three months away, and it brings the biggest change of all.
Our Head of HR, James Carman, has pulled together where things stand, what’s coming next and what to do about it. The dates come from the government’s latest timeline, updated on 25 September 2026, and anything after October can still move, so we’ll keep you posted as the detail lands.
A few dates have shifted since July.
Longer time limits for tribunal claims
Staff now have six months, instead of three, to bring most employment tribunal claims about anything that happened on or after 1 October 2026. Once Acas early conciliation is added on, a claim could be lodged up to around 10 months after the event.
What this means for you. Keep disciplinary, grievance and dismissal records for longer, and make sure they’re properly filed where you can find them.
Right to work checks cover more people
Checks now cover casual workers, individual sub-contractors and people engaged through online platforms as well as employees, for anyone taken on from 1 October 2026. Fines are up to £60,000 per illegal worker.
What this means for you. Check everyone who starts working for you, however they’re engaged. The Home Office employer’s guide sets out how.
A stronger duty to prevent sexual harassment
The duty on employers moves from taking “reasonable steps” to taking “all reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment. You’ll also be liable for harassment of your staff by customers, clients and other third parties if you haven’t taken all reasonable steps to prevent it. That covers harassment related to other characteristics too, such as race, age or disability.
The government has the power to set out exactly which steps employers must take, but those rules haven’t been published yet and no date has been set. In the meantime, research from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) highlights hospitality as one of the sectors where reported harassment is high. It also found that policies on their own don’t reduce harassment unless they’re applied consistently and reviewed regularly.
What this means for you. Review your harassment risk assessment and policy, make sure staff know how to report concerns, and train both staff and managers. Training should be repeated regularly. Where staff deal with the public, think about clear messaging in customer-facing areas.
Trade union access to your workplace
Any independent trade union will be able to request access to your workplace, in person or digitally, to meet, recruit or represent workers. This applies whether or not you recognise a union, and whether or not any of your staff are members.
Businesses with fewer than 21 workers are exempt, but that count includes workers in any associated or group companies. You’ll have 15 working days to respond to a request.
What this means for you. Decide now how you’d respond if a request arrived, and who in the business would deal with it. If you receive a written request, call us straight away.
Tipping and tronc consultation requirements
These were due in October but have been pushed back. The government reissued a draft revised Code of Practice, and the consultation on it closed on 29 September. The changes are now expected by the end of 2026.
Once they’re in place, you’ll need to consult staff, or their union where one is recognised, when writing or changing your tips policy, and review it at least once every three years. You’ll also need to share an anonymised summary of the views raised.
What this means for you. Nothing has changed in what you should be doing. Dust off your tips policy, and if you’re planning changes to your tronc or know staff are unhappy with it, start talking to them now. If you use an external troncmaster, ask them for guidance.
Unfair dismissal rights after six months
The length of service needed to claim unfair dismissal falls from two years to six months, and the cap on the compensatory award is removed. This applies to dismissals from 1 January 2027, and it applies straight away to anyone who already has six months’ service on that date.
That means anyone who joined you on or before 1 July 2026 will have unfair dismissal rights from 1 January 2027. Anyone you hire today will have them six months after they start.
What this means for you. Your probation period becomes the window where you need to get things right. The review, and any decision about whether someone stays, should happen well within six months of their start date. There’s more on this in the induction and probation section below.
Fire and rehire
Dismissing someone for refusing changes to their pay, pension, hours, shifts or time off will be automatically unfair, unless the business is in financial difficulties that threaten its ability to keep going and the change couldn’t reasonably be avoided. Dismissing someone so you can replace them with another employee, agency worker or contractor doing substantially the same job on the changed terms will be treated the same way. No length of service is needed.
What this means for you. Talk to us before changing anyone’s terms. Changes made before January will be far easier than after.
The right to join a union statement
The government will provide standard wording. New starters must receive it with their contract from 1 January 2027, and existing staff by 5 April 2027. We’ll share the wording once it’s published.
These changes are all due in 2027, with dates still to be confirmed.
Now is a good time to review your contracts, handbook, induction pack and probation process. Mercury365, our HR team led by James, can review what you have and fill the gaps.
If you’d like to talk through what any of this means for your business, call us on 01925 396936 or get in touch through our contact page.
This article is a general summary of the law as of October 2026, and dates after October may still change. For a specific situation, please get advice on your own circumstances.
UKHSA is investigating 528 Salmonella cases, with imported eggs a potential link. Here’s what food businesses should be checking now.
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On Saturday 23rd May, Rachel and John Stigwood set off at 4am and walked 35 miles from Oldham Athletic Football Ground to Whiston Hospital, all in memory of baby Maddie. Every pound raised is going to the Bereavement Midwifery Team at Whiston Hospital and The Christie at Oldham, two teams who were there for the family when they needed them most.