Countdown to October Is Your Insurance Ready for New Rights?

October may feel a long way off. But if you employ people, it is closer than it looks.

Employment rights changes have already started to take effect, with more being phased in across 2026 and 2027. October 2026 is one of the key points employers should have on their radar, but it is part of a wider timetable.

FSB has already produced useful guidance on what the Employment Rights Act means for small businesses. This article looks at a different question:

If your responsibilities as an employer are changing, is your business insurance still keeping up?

This is not only an HR issue. It is a people-risk issue. If you have staff, customers, managers, working conditions, records and complaints procedures, you may also have insurance questions to think about.

Why October matters

The Employment Rights Act is being introduced in stages. Some changes are expected before October, while others will follow later.

The Government’s Business.gov.uk guidance says employment rights changes are being introduced gradually across 2026 and 2027. It also highlights areas employers may need to act on, including employment policies, holiday pay records and workplace procedures.

October 2026 is one of the dates to watch, with further employment law changes expected around workplace duties, trade union rights, tipping and harassment.

The wider reforms include several important areas for employers, such as:

• Changes to unfair dismissal rights
• Restrictions on “fire and rehire” and “fire and replace” practices
• Changes to redundancy consultation rules
• Tighter obligations around zero-hours contracts
• New enforcement powers through a Fair Work Agency
• Changes linked to flexible working, sick pay and bereavement leave

For you, the concern may not just be what the law says. It may be how you manage the extra admin, records and risk in real life.

You may not have a large HR department, in-house legal support or spare management time. The work often lands with you, your directors or your managers, alongside everything else.

That makes October a sensible point to review your staff risks, workplace records and insurance arrangements.

The real worry: process, proof and pressure

You may already be trying to do the right thing.

You speak to staff informally. You deal with issues quickly. You make adjustments where you can. You rely on common sense.

But common sense does not always leave a paper trail.

If a complaint, injury, illness, grievance or tribunal claim arises later, the questions can become difficult:

• What did you know?
• When did you know it?
• What action did you take?
• Was it recorded?
• Were managers trained?
• Was the policy followed?
• Would your insurance respond?

This is where businesses can get caught out.

The issue is not always poor intent. Sometimes it is good intentions, stretched time and weak records.

Where Employers’ Liability fits in

Employers’ Liability insurance is usually a legal requirement if you employ staff.

It is designed to protect your business if an employee claims they were injured or became ill because of their work.

That could involve physical injury, workplace accidents, unsafe systems of work or illness linked to working conditions, depending on the circumstances and policy wording.

But Employers’ Liability is not a catch-all policy for every workplace problem.

It is not the same as HR advice. It is not employment law protection. It is not designed to cover every grievance, dismissal dispute or tribunal claim.

That distinction matters.

Some employment-related issues may sit closer to legal expenses, management liability, directors’ and officers’ cover or employment practices liability-style protection, depending on the policy.

So the question is not only:

“Do I have Employers’ Liability?”

It is also:

“Do I understand what my business is exposed to, and which parts of my insurance would respond?”

Why customer-facing businesses should pay attention

If your staff deal with customers, clients, suppliers, contractors or members of the public, your workplace risk is not limited to what happens between employees.

It can also include what happens while your employees are dealing with other people.

That may apply if you run a:

• Shop
• Salon
• Café
• Pub or restaurant
• Care business
• Trade business
• Events business
• Venue
• Professional services firm
• Delivery or field-based team

If your people are customer-facing, it is worth reviewing how you handle harassment, complaints, abusive behaviour, lone working, incident reporting and manager response.

This is not just about having a policy saved in a folder.

It is about whether your staff know what to do, your managers know how to respond, and your business can show what action was taken.

Employers’ Liability is important, but it may not be the whole answer

October is a good time to review the wider protection around your business.

Employers’ liability

This can help protect your business if an employee suffers injury or illness because of their work and brings a claim. It is a legal requirement, regardless of whether you are employing family, part-time, temporary, or volunteers. It can even apply when you employ certain types of contractors. Failure to comply with this legal requirement can result in fines and sanctions. Make sure you talk to your FSB Insurance Service broker before you take on any help.

Directors’ and officers’ cover

This can help protect directors, officers and senior decision-makers personally if a claim is made against them for certain decisions taken while managing the business. Employment decisions, health and safety responsibilities, governance, finance and workplace procedures can all create personal exposure.

D&O is not compulsory, but it can provide valuable support with defence costs, compensation or investigations, subject to the policy terms.

Check out our blog Why Directors’ and Officers’ Insurance Matters

Six checks to make before October

1. Check who works for you

Has your workforce changed since your last insurance review?

Think about:

• Full-time staff
• Part-time staff
• Temporary workers
• Seasonal staff
• Apprentices
• Casual labour
• Volunteers
• Contractors
• Self-employed workers

Different working arrangements can create different legal and insurance questions.

If you have grown, changed opening hours, added services or taken on extra help, your insurance should reflect that.

2. Review your Employers’ Liability details

Check whether your policy information is still accurate.

Look at:

• Employee numbers
• Business activities
• Premises
• Work locations
• Manual work
• Driving for work
• Lone working
• Higher-risk duties
• Use of tools, equipment or machinery
• Work away from your premises

Small changes can matter. A business that looked simple two years ago may now have a different risk profile.

3. Look at harassment and customer-facing risk

If your staff deal with customers, clients, suppliers or the public, review your procedures.

Ask yourself:

• Do staff know how to report concerns?
• Do managers know how to respond?
• Are incidents recorded?
• Is there a clear conduct policy?
• What happens if a customer behaves badly?
• What support is given to the employee afterwards?

This is especially important if your staff work alone, work late, visit client sites or deal with difficult customer situations.

4. Check your legal expenses cover

Do you have legal expenses cover?

If so, do you know what it includes?

Check whether it offers support for:

• Employment disputes
• Tribunal defence
• Legal helplines
• Contract disputes
• Debt recovery
• Data protection issues
• Commercial tenancy disputes

Also, check the conditions. Some policies may require you to call a legal advice line before taking certain steps.

That detail can make a difference.

5. Consider management liability or D&O

Employment decisions are often made by directors, owners or managers.

That could include hiring, dismissal, redundancy, disciplinary action, performance management, health and safety decisions or how complaints are handled.

If a decision is challenged, it may create pressure not just on the business but on the people running it.

That is why management liability or directors’ and officers’ cover may be worth discussing as part of a wider review.

6. Get your records in order

Good records can make a major difference.

Before October, check whether you have clear records of:

• Contracts
• Probation reviews
• Staff training
• Risk assessments
• Complaints
• Incidents
• Absence
• Return-to-work meetings
• Workplace adjustments
• Harassment reports
• Disciplinary action
• Grievance handling
• Manager decisions

You do not need to turn your business into a legal department. But if something is challenged months later, you need to be able to show what happened.

Free resources to support your insurance review

You do not need to start from scratch. There are free resources that can help you gather the information an insurance broker may ask for when reviewing your cover.

These tools do not replace tailored insurance advice, but they can help you prepare for a more useful conversation.

Business.gov.uk employment changes guidance

The Government’s employment changes hub can help you understand which workplace changes may affect your business in 2026 and 2027.

Link: New employment rights: Guidance for businesses and workers

Useful for spotting whether your employment duties, record keeping or staff procedures have changed since your last insurance review.

HSE Employers’ Liability guide

HSE has guidance on Employers’ Liability compulsory insurance, including when employers may need cover and what the legal requirement means.

Link: Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969 – HSE

Insurance angle: useful for checking the basics before reviewing your Employers’ Liability arrangements.

HSE risk assessment template

The HSE risk assessment template can help you record workplace risks, who may be harmed and what controls are in place.

Link: Risk assessment: Template and examples – HSE

Insurance angle: useful evidence when reviewing employee injury, illness, lone working, manual work, premises or equipment risks.

HSE work-related stress resources

HSE provides tools for managing work-related stress, including stress risk assessment materials.

Link: Tools and templates – HSE

Insurance angle: useful if your business has staff workload, absence, wellbeing or management-pressure risks that could overlap with Employers’ Liability or wider people-risk discussions.

EHRC sexual harassment checklist and action plan

The EHRC has a checklist and action plan for preventing sexual harassment at work.

Link: Employer 8-step guide: Preventing sexual harassment at work | EHRC

Insurance angle: useful for customer-facing businesses reviewing harassment, third-party behaviour, staff reporting routes and management response.

Acas templates

Acas provides free workplace templates, including letters, forms and policy documents.

Link: Templates | Acas

Insurance angle: useful for building a clearer paper trail around employment decisions, absence, complaints and workplace procedures, which may matter if a claim or dispute arises.

Do not wait for renewal!

You may only think about insurance when renewal arrives.

But employment law changes, staff changes and working practice changes do not always wait for renewal dates.

If you have taken on staff, changed premises, added services, extended opening hours, moved into more customer-facing work or changed how managers handle staff issues, now is a sensible time to review your cover.

This is not about creating unnecessary alarm. It is about spotting gaps while there is still time to deal with them.

When a claim, complaint or dispute lands, it may be too late to discover that your records are thin, your policy details are out of date, or the cover you assumed you had does not work the way you thought.

Final thought

October 2026 is not just a date for HR teams.

It is a reminder to check whether your legal duties, workplace records and insurance protection still line up.

FSB Insurance Service can help you review whether your business insurance still fits the way you work.

If you are an FSB member and would like a clear, practical review of your business insurance, call 020 3883 7976.

This content is for general information only and is not intended to provide advice or a personal recommendation. Insurance cover is subject to the terms, conditions, and exclusions of the policy. Always consider your individual circumstances and seek professional advice before arranging insurance. External websites are not under our control and we are not responsible for their content.