New Age Finally Dawns!
Client Alert | 1 min read | 10.04.06
The second instalment of UK employment-related legislation for 2006 came into effect on 1 October. You will know most of the key features from previous alerts, but we thought it helpful to have brief summary!
The new issues covered include:
- Discrimination - The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 outlaw unjustified age discrimination in employment and vocational training.
- Work and Families - Changes to Maternity Regulations remove the six months' service requirement for additional maternity leave, and increase the notice employees must give an employer of changes to their maternity leave plans. They also introduce 'keeping in touch days'. Statutory maternity and adoption paid leave is extended from six to nine months for employees where the expected week of childbirth is on or after 1 April 2007.
- Minimum Wage - The national minimum wage is increased to £5.35 for workers aged 22 and over and £4.45 for workers aged 18-21.
- Consultation - TULR(C)A 1992 is amended to provide that where required, notice of redundancy must be given to the DTI at least 30 days before giving notice to terminate an employee's contract of employment (rather than before the actual dismissal date) to bring the legislation in line with recent case law.
Insights
Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.21.25
On November 7, 2025, in Thornton v. National Academy of Sciences, No. 25-cv-2155, 2025 WL 3123732 (D.D.C. Nov. 7, 2025), the District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed a False Claims Act (FCA) retaliation complaint on the basis that the plaintiff’s allegations that he was fired after blowing the whistle on purported illegally discriminatory use of federal funding was not sufficient to support his FCA claim. This case appears to be one of the first filed, and subsequently dismissed, following Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s announcement of the creation of the Civil Rights Fraud Initiative on May 19, 2025, which “strongly encourages” private individuals to file lawsuits under the FCA relating to purportedly discriminatory and illegal use of federal funding for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in violation of Executive Order 14173, Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity (Jan. 21, 2025). In this case, the court dismissed the FCA retaliation claim and rejected the argument that an organization could violate the FCA merely by “engaging in discriminatory conduct while conducting a federally funded study.” The analysis in Thornton could be a sign of how forthcoming arguments of retaliation based on reporting allegedly fraudulent DEI activity will be analyzed in the future.
Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.20.25
Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.20.25
Client Alert | 6 min read | 11.19.25
