THERE is a significant – and overlooked – problem with the biggest employment law shake-up in 30 years, according to an HR expert, who says “the system is broken”.
From January 2027, Britain will undergo the biggest overhaul of employment rights in a generation with workers gaining stronger protections against unfair dismissal, controversial practices such as fire and rehire becoming much harder for employers to use and compensation limits significantly expanded.
On paper, it looks like a major victory for workers.
But according to HR expert Kate Underwood, there is one enormous problem that nobody seems to be talking about. The employment tribunal system is already so overwhelmed that it may be impossible to properly judge whether the reforms have actually worked.
Kate Underwood, Founder of Southampton-based Kate Underwood HR and Training, said: “Everyone has focused on the tribunal backlog, and rightly so.
“There are more than 68,000 open cases and some hearings are already being listed as far away as 2029 and 2030. The system is broken.”
The system is broken
The issue, she argues, goes much deeper than delays.
Employment law does not operate solely through legislation, she says. It evolves through tribunal decisions that establish how new rights and rules should be interpreted in practice and without those decisions, uncertainty remains.
Underwood said: “The law may change in 2027, but employment law lives through case law.
“The cases that will define these new rights may not actually be decided until well into the next decade. Until then, everyone is effectively guessing.”
That uncertainty creates difficulties for both employers and employees.
She added: “I regularly get asked where somebody stands under the new rules.
“The honest answer is that nobody really knows yet. Not HR professionals, not lawyers and not even the government.”
Even once landmark rulings eventually emerge, Underwood believes the tribunal system could face another wave of pressure.
For many small businesses, settling is often the only sane commercial decision
She said: “What tends to happen is that once a major decision finally clarifies the law, you suddenly see a wave of late claims.
“We saw it with holiday pay disputes and there is every possibility we see it again here.”
The government is also extending the deadline for most employment claims from three months to six months from October this year.
While that will provide workers with more time to bring cases, Underwood warns it could place further strain on a system that is already struggling to cope.
She said: “Giving people more time to make claims is good news for workers, on the face of it.
“But with precedents taking years to emerge, people still won’t know they had a valid claim until long after the window has shut.”
The growing reliance on settlement agreements is another concern.
Faced with years of legal uncertainty and mounting costs, many employers are choosing to settle disputes privately rather than wait for tribunal hearings.
Rights without a functioning tribunal system are promises, not protections
Underwood said: “For many small businesses, settling is often the only sane commercial decision.
“The problem is that settlements leave no public record and generate no legal precedent. The evidence simply disappears.”
Importantly, she stresses that the delays affect everyone involved, not just claimants.
She added: “I have seen employees abandon genuine claims because the wait is wrecking their mental health.
“And the small business owner with a claim hanging over them until 2029 can’t move on, can’t sleep, can’t plan, while the legal bills tick up.”
Underwood believes additional funding and more judges are essential, but says the system also needs smarter case management and early-stage triage.
She continued: “I’m not arguing against the Employment Rights Act. Plenty of it is long overdue. I’m arguing that rights without a functioning tribunal are promises, not protections.
“Parliament passed the biggest reform in a generation, then broke the only instrument that could measure it.”
Source: The problem with the biggest employment law shake-up in 30 years
