As we head towards Christmas, our senior HR consultant Denise been taking time to reflect on what 2025 has brought in the world of HR and what she believes 2026 will have in store for employers.
From rising sickness absence and ongoing performance challenges, to increasing pressure on managers and AI generated grievances this year has presented real challenges for businesses across every sector.
Key HR Trends in 2025
Rising Sickness Absence
Sickness absence has continued to climb throughout 2025, driven by a combination of short-term illness, long-term conditions and mental health challenges. to the CIPD The average number of absence days per employee is now the highest it’s ever been in 15 years at 9.4 days. Stress and mental health issues were the top reason for employee absence, whether short or long term, with 64% of respondents noting stress-related absences in the last year. For many employers, absence levels are now significantly higher than pre-pandemic norms.
This has created added pressure on:
- Productivity and service delivery
- Small teams already operating at full capacity
- Managers who may lack formal training in absence management
More businesses are realising that reactive approaches simply don’t work anymore. Clear absence policies, consistent procedures and early intervention are now essential.
Alongside this, employers are being encouraged to take a more proactive and supportive approach to mental health by promoting open conversations, providing access to wellbeing support, training managers to spot early warning signs of stress, and creating a culture where employees feel safe to seek help before issues escalate.
Rise in AI-Generated grievances
AI-Generated Grievances and Complaints have emerged as a new and growing challenge in 2025. As tools like ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot become part of everyday working life, more employees are using AI to draft harassment and grievance complaints. While this can help individuals articulate difficult issues, it also creates risks around lack of context, overly polished or template-driven language, and data protection compliance.
Ailie Murray of Travers Smith told CityAM ChatGPT is fuelling problematic claims, often hindering resolution and driving up employer costs through lengthy submissions.
AI-written submissions can strip out important emotional and situational detail that’s often critical to fair investigations, while also raising GDPR concerns if sensitive information is entered into third-party platforms.
Employers need to proactively update policies, provide safe human reporting channels, train managers to handle modern complaints effectively, and reinforce secure data-handling practices to stay compliant and protect both employees and the organisation.
Increasing Pressure on Line Managers
Line managers continue to sit under immense pressure. They are now expected to manage performance, handle difficult absence conversations, support employee wellbeing, navigate legal risk and maintain productivity.
According to LinkedIn’s Workforce Confidence survey, nearly 30% of employees say their manager is too overwhelmed to properly support them at work. At the same time, LinkedIn’s 2025 Workplace Learning Report reveals that two-thirds of managers are battling excessive workloads and report poorer work–life balance than both executives and individual contributors.
Many managers have been promoted without formal people-management training, which has led to inconsistent handling of performance, discipline and absence, increasing both commercial and legal risk.
Talent Shortages
New research from HR Magazine shows that 67% of UK employers are struggling to secure quality candidates, with hiring taking longer than ever. Skills shortages, intense competition for talent and lengthy recruitment processes are leaving roles unfilled, placing pressure on existing teams, reducing productivity and delaying growth.
In this market, slow or ineffective hiring isn’t just an inconvenience, it directly impacts performance, wellbeing and long-term business success.
The Employment Rights Bill: What Employers Need to Know
The UK Government’s Employment Rights Bill represents one of the biggest overhauls of employment law in decades. While some proposed changes have been softened following business feedback, significant reform is still on the way from 2026.
Key Changes Still Planned
Unfair dismissal reform – Protection is expected to reduce from two years to six months, with proposals for a short probationary period allowing simplified dismissal still under review.
Guaranteed hours / zero-hours reform – Employers may be required to offer predictable working hours after a set reference period where staff consistently work beyond their contracted hours.
Harassment and third-party liability – Employers will have a stronger legal duty to prevent harassment, including by customers, clients and contractors.
Collective redundancies – Consultation rules may be extended across multiple sites, with the protective award for non-compliance increasing from 90 to 180 days’ pay.
New Fair Work Agency – A new enforcement body will oversee holiday pay, minimum wage and sick pay, with enhanced inspection and enforcement powers.
Trade union and industrial action reform – Proposals include lower thresholds for union recognition and simplified strike ballot procedures.
Family-friendly rights – Day-one parental leave, plus the introduction of paid bereavement leave, including for pregnancy loss before 24 weeks.
Day-one Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) – SSP to apply from the first day of absence, with the lower earnings limit removed.
What This Means for Employers in Practice
These changes will significantly reshape employer risk from 2026 onwards. In particular:
- Probation periods will become legally critical
- Poor documentation will carry far greater legal risk
- Informal management will no longer be sufficient
- Delaying performance action could prove costly
- Day-one SSP demands proactive attendance, health support, monitoring, prevention strategies.
- For dismissals, with protection starting at six months instead of two years, businesses will need robust, legally sound processes in place far earlier.
Predictions for 2026
- Employment tribunals: Rising claims due to AI and staff becoming more informed and backlogs will drive higher legal risk and settlement costs.
- Manager capability: Poor people management will increasingly drive absence, turnover and tribunal exposure.
- AI risks: Uncontrolled AI use will trigger grievances, discrimination claims and GDPR investigations.
- Finding talent: Skills shortages will persist in technical, leadership and minimum wage roles despite easing vacancy levels.
- Absence pressure: Stress-related and long-term sickness absence will remain a major operational and cost challenge.
Proactive businesses that invest in strong HR foundations now will be far better positioned to manage these changes confidently.
How You Can Prepare with Confidence
Here are three practical steps every employer should take now:
- Review Your Absence & Wellbeing Policies
Ensure your sickness absence procedures, return-to-work processes and wellbeing support are clear, consistent and compliant. - Strengthen Probation & Performance Management
Formalise probation reviews, performance management processes and documentation standards across your business. - Get Proactive HR Support
If you’re unsure whether your current systems will stand up under the new legislation, now is the time to seek expert support, before the changes arrive.
Final Thoughts
2025 has been a year of change, pressure and growing expectation for employers. With major employment law reform on the horizon, preparation is no longer optional, it’s essential. At BeyondHR, we support businesses across Northern Ireland and Scotland to navigate change, stay compliant and build strong, confident workplaces.
If you’d like help getting your HR processes ready for 2026, we’re here to support you. Call a member of our team today on 0800 111 4461 today.