Equal pay reform is coming – and it will create an enforcement unit with real teeth
On 14 July 2026, the UK Office for Equality and Opportunity launched a consultation on comprehensive reforms to the equal pay and pay discrimination framework. Phase 1 proposals include targeted pay transparency measures, the creation of an Equal Pay Regulatory and Enforcement Unit, updates to the Equal Pay Code of Practice, enhanced enforcement mechanisms, and reforms to Employment Tribunal procedures and expert panel operations. The consultation also outlines future reforms for ethnic minority, disabled, and outsourced workers, and closes on 27 October 2026.
The creation of a dedicated Equal Pay Regulatory and Enforcement Unit is the detail most boardrooms are missing. This is not a policy aspiration — it is a concrete proposal to stand up an enforcement body specifically focused on equal pay. Once in place, it will have powers to investigate, enforce, and potentially prosecute pay discrimination in ways that the current regime does not allow. CEOs of organisations with complex pay structures, high reliance on outsourced labour, or historic pay gap data that does not reflect well need to be engaging with this consultation and reviewing their pay governance frameworks now.
AI monitoring of workers is about to become a regulated activity
On 8 July 2026, the UK Department for Business and Trade launched a consultation on the use of workplace monitoring technologies, including AI-enabled monitoring, algorithmic management, and automated decision-making systems. The consultation explores options including a statutory code of practice, a legal requirement for employers to consult workers or their representatives before introducing monitoring technologies, and the development of non-statutory guidance. The consultation closes on 30 September 2026.
Most organisations using AI-driven workforce management tools — from productivity monitoring to algorithmic shift scheduling — are doing so in a regulatory vacuum that is about to close. The consultation's proposed options include a legal obligation to consult workers before deploying monitoring technologies. For businesses that have rolled out these tools without worker engagement, the implication is that existing deployments may need to be reviewed and potentially restructured once the framework is finalised. The September 2026 consultation deadline is the window to influence what that framework looks like.
Trade unions are being expanded, with new procedure obligations
On 6 July 2026, the UK Official Gazette published a Statutory Instrument establishing information and procedural requirements for trade unions seeking workplace access under the Employment Rights Act 2025. The Regulations require qualifying trade unions to submit detailed access requests and employers to provide formal written responses with supporting information. The Regulations will come into force on 30 October 2026. Separately, on 28 July 2026, the UK Department for Business and Trade published a Code of Practice on electronic and workplace balloting for statutory trade union ballots, confirming that the Code and the related legislative provisions enabling electronic and workplace balloting will come into force on 25 August 2026.
Two separate pieces of employment legislation affecting trade union rights are coming into force within weeks of each other — in August and October 2026. For businesses with unionised workforces or those in sectors where union activity is increasing, the combined effect of expanded workplace access rights and the introduction of electronic balloting for industrial action is significant. Electronic balloting lowers the administrative barrier to calling industrial action. CEOs need to be aware that the conditions under which industrial disputes can escalate are changing, and that HR and legal teams need to be briefed on the new procedural framework before it takes effect.
The EU's Quality Jobs Act is reshaping the future of work across seven fronts simultaneously
On 20 July 2026, the European Commission launched the second-phase consultation of EU social partners on a proposed Quality Jobs Act. The consultation seeks views on: potential EU measures relating to algorithmic management and AI at work; the right to disconnect and telework; occupational health and safety risks including psychosocial, ergonomic, heat and weather-related risks and sexual harassment; protection of workers' rights in subcontracting chains; just transitions; restructuring; and the enforcement of labour rights. Responses are invited until 28 September 2026.
The Quality Jobs Act is not a single regulatory change — it is a legislative programme that will reshape employment law across the EU on multiple fronts at once. Algorithmic management, the right to disconnect, subcontracting liability, and psychosocial risk obligations are all simultaneously in scope. For multinationals with EU operations, this represents the most significant potential reshaping of the employment relationship since the Working Time Directive. The second-phase consultation is the last meaningful opportunity to influence the shape of this legislation before it moves to formal proposal.
Electric vehicles excise duty is confirmed – fleet and leasing models must be remodelled
On 13 July 2026, UK HM Treasury published its response to the consultation on the introduction of Electric Vehicle Excise Duty, confirming plans to introduce a new mileage-based charge for battery electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles from 1 April 2028. Under the proposed framework, eligible vehicles will be subject to charges based on mileage travelled, with motorists required to provide mileage information as part of the annual vehicle taxation process. The response also outlines proposals relating to mileage verification, payments, refunds, compliance, and enforcement.
For businesses with large EV fleets, company car schemes, or leasing operations built on the assumption of favourable EV tax treatment, this confirmation is a material financial planning event. The mileage-based charge changes the total cost of ownership calculation for electric vehicles. Fleet strategies, company car policies, salary sacrifice schemes, and vehicle financing arrangements all need to be remodelled against the new framework before April 2028 — which is closer than many fleet managers currently appreciate.
This content has been prepared based on regulatory and legislative updates identified across UK and EU jurisdictions as of July 2026. It is intended for awareness purposes and does not constitute legal advice.
