Millions of people have stronger protections from sexual harassment at work after part of the Employment Rights Act came into force last week.

The Government says that with nearly a quarter of adults who experience sexual harassment reporting it takes place in the workplace, these changes will ensure employers think seriously about the risks their staff face.

Employers must now take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their staff before it occurs. This could include practical measures like having a clear reporting policy or training staff on handling difficult situations.

“No one should have to put up with sexual harassment,” said Minister for the Future of Work, Kate Dearden last week. “Employers must start taking stronger action to protect their staff, listening when people speak up and acting before problems emerge.”

Protections have also been strengthened for workers facing all forms of harassment from third parties. Going beyond protections for harassment between colleagues, this will now apply to clients and customers too.

Whether that is a passenger harassing a bus driver, a waiter being intimidated by diners, or a shop worker dealing with abuse from customers, reforms will ensure that unacceptable behaviour is not treated as part of the job.

New measures to support workplace dialogue have also come into force, with trade unions gaining strengthened rights for their representatives, as well as stronger rights to access workplaces and secure recognition.

Further details can be found here.

This feed was drawn from the Society of Solicitor Advocates website

New rules have come into force allowing families of workers who have died from asbestos-related diseases before claiming compensation to receive the full award.

In 2025, workers who developed asbestos-related or dust-related diseases, such as mesothelioma and pneumoconiosis, received average payments of around £17,700 through the Government’s compensation schemes where compensation had not otherwise been secured from an employer.

Before the new change, where an eligible person died before making a claim, their loved ones received average payments of around £10,700 in 2025, around £7,000 less than the average payment made to sufferers. For a 60-year-old claimant, a dependant could now receive £56,656 instead of £24,526.

The Government says that while no amount of money can make up for their loss, this additional compensation can help families with day-to-day expenses and provide support as they navigate life without their loved one.

The new law applies to new dependant claims made from 31^st October 2026; it is not eligible for retrospective claims.

Further details can be found here.

This feed was drawn from the Society of Solicitor Advocates website

Scotland’s Chief Statistician has published information on crimes of homicide recorded by the police in Scotland in 2025-26.

The main findings of Homicide in Scotland, 2025-26 are:

• In 2025-26, 56 victims of homicide were recorded, 19% (or nine victims) more than the 47 victims recorded in 2024-25. This is the fourth lowest number of recorded homicide victims since comparable records began in 1976.
• Over the latest 10 year period from 2016-17 to 2025-26, the number of victims fell by 14% (nine victims) from 65 to 56.
• Over the latest 20 year period from 2006-07 to 2025-26, the number of homicide victims in Scotland fell by 54% (or 65 victims) from 121 to 56.
• The greatest reduction in homicide victims over the last 20 years has been amongst young people aged 16-24. In the five years between 2006-07 to 2010-11 there were 113 victims in this age range. This dropped to 28 across the latest five years between 2021-22 to 2025-26.
• Of the 56 victims recorded in 2025-26, 73% (41) were male and 27% (15) were female.
• In 2025-26, 81 persons were accused of homicide, of which 93% (75) were male and 7% (six) were female. For all the 56 homicide victims recorded in 2025-26, the associated case was solved.
• For the latest year of 2025-26, the majority (66%) of male victims were killed by an acquaintance (27 of 41 male victims). The majority of female victims were killed by a partner or ex-partner (67%, or 10 of 15 female victims).

Further details can be found here.

The full statistics can be found here.

This feed was drawn from the Society of Solicitor Advocates website

Pregnant women and new parents will have stronger protections against being fired, in a new crackdown on unfair workplace practices announced by the Government last week.

Pregnancy and maternity discrimination remain widespread in the workplace, having a devastating impact on what is meant to be an exciting time for new families.

The Government says the new safeguards will change that. From 2027, tribunals will use a new, stricter, approach for dismissal cases involving pregnant women and new parents. By doing this, it will require employers to have considered all reasonable alternatives to dismissal before pursuing it.

Protections will also be extended to employees taking adoption leave, shared parental leave, neonatal care leave and bereaved partner’s paternity leave.

By raising the bar for all companies, these reforms will ease pressure on working families, making them feel more secure in their jobs.

Further information can be found here.

This feed was drawn from the Society of Solicitor Advocates website

Communities will have more opportunities to have their say in shaping how Scotland's largest landholdings are managed under proposals now open for public consultation.

The Community Engagement Obligations and draft large land holdings guidance under the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2025 consultation paper is the next step in ensuring communities have more information about large land holdings of more than 1,000 hectares.

It is seeking views on what information should be included in new Land Management Plans, required by the Act, and what landowners should do to involve the communities in the creation of these plans.

The consultation also gives consideration to introducing new processes for community groups to request to lease land or establish a croft, providing more opportunities for communities to use land for their benefit, and what enforcement should be available if these requirements are not met.

There is also an opportunity to comment on guidance that will help landowners understand if they own land that will be covered by these requirements.

The consultation does not cover measures in Part 2 of The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2025 already considered during the Bill process, which relate to:

• small landholdings,
• agricultural holdings
• a model lease for environmental purposes and for hutting

A separate consultation will cover pre-notification or the requirement for Scottish Ministers to decide whether a land holding should be lotted before it can be sold.

The consultation will run until 26^th January 2027 and can be found here.

This feed was drawn from the Society of Solicitor Advocates website

Over 900,000 people could benefit from new plans which include measures to crack down on bogus self-employment, says the Government.

Bogus self-employment is a practice whereby some businesses mislabel staff as self-employed to avoid statutory obligations.

However, the day-to-day reality is that many of these people are treated as workers, not self-employed. External estimates suggest that as many as 900,000 people may currently be affected by this and could be missing out on core employment rights.

The Government is consulting on proposals that it says could provide greater clarity to businesses and workers, levelling the playing field for those businesses who are already doing the right thing and clamping down on abuses. This could help workers such as parcel couriers, delivery drivers, hairdressers and gig economy workers.

As part of the same measures, the consultation will propose targeted new protections for people who are genuinely self-employed, including a right to a written statement about individual contracts they enter and extended protections against the practice of blacklisting.

The consultation can be found here. It will run until 8^th January 2027.

This feed was drawn from the Society of Solicitor Advocates website

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has strengthened its guidance for corporates on self-reporting suspected fraud, bribery and corruption, introducing a new route for legal representatives to communicate directly with the organisation’s Director of Legal Services.

The update, announced by Director of Legal Services and General Counsel Matthew Wagstaff at the International White Collar Institute in London, follows feedback from legal practitioners since the guidance was first revised in April 2025.

Under the change, corporate’s legal representatives will be able to discuss a potential self-report directly with Mr Wagstaff via a new dedicated email address, GeneralCounsel@sfo.gov.uk, before committing to a formal report.

The SFO’s Corporate Cooperation Guidance, first launched in April 2025, commits that corporates who report promptly and cooperate fully will, barring exceptional circumstances, be invited to enter negotiations for a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA). The guidance sets out that the SFO will make contact within 48 business hours of a self-report, provide regular updates throughout the process, decide whether to open an investigation within six months, and aim to conclude investigations within a prompt timeframe.

Alongside the new route to the Director of Legal Services, the updated guidance also clarifies that corporates are expected to take a proportionate, risk-based approach to identifying the full extent of any criminal offending and confirms that the six-month period for concluding DPA negotiations runs from the point at which an invitation to negotiate is accepted.

Further details can be found here.

This feed was drawn from the Society of Solicitor Advocates website

Landlords must act fast on damp and mould under a new law that came into force on 6^th October.

The Investigation and Commencement of Repair (Scotland) Regulations 2026 – also known as Awaab’s Law – gives landlords strict timescales to investigate any report of damp or mould, provide written findings, and carry out necessary repairs.

Guidance for landlords and tenants was published by the Scottish Government ahead of the legislation going live. This outlines:

• landlords must ensure reports of damp or mould are investigated promptly - this includes reports made by tenants or issues landlords discover during unrelated visits such as inspections
• investigations and repairs must be carried out by someone with relevant skills and experience
• necessary repairs must tackle the root cause of the damp or mould, not just treat the symptoms.

"The vast majority of homes in Scotland are already free from damp and mould, but we're determined to protect everyone, which is why we're extending these safeguards to social and private tenants,” said Housing Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville. “Shaped through close work with tenant and landlord representatives, we have published guidance giving landlords the clarity they need to comply confidently, while ensuring tenants are clear on their rights.”

Two other measures in the Housing (Scotland) Act 2025 also came into force on 6^th October. These are:

• The time that a qualifying person needs to have lived in a residential tenancy to inherit the tenancy on the death of a tenant will reduce from 12 months to six months.
• The amount that can be awarded by the First-tier Tribunal to a tenant where a tenant’s private residential tenancy has been wrongfully terminated will be increased to between three and 36 months’ rent.

Further details can be found here.

This feed was drawn from the Society of Solicitor Advocates website

First Minister John Swinney has announced an independent review into the roles of the Lord Advocate and Solicitor General, chaired by Lord Boyd of Duncansby.

The review of the two Law Officer posts will consider:

• Whether the roles of the Lord Advocate and Solicitor General are still the most appropriate and effective arrangements for Scotland
• The advantages and disadvantages of the Lord Advocate holding both roles as head of criminal prosecutions in Scotland and the principal legal advisor to the Scottish Government
• Alternative Law Officer models, including those used in other parts of the UK.

Lord Boyd will appoint a reference group to support his work, bringing a range of expertise to the review. It will begin in the new year and present its findings and recommendations to Ministers later in 2027.

“Over the centuries, the roles of the Law Officers have not remained static. They have changed alongside Scotland’s society, institutions and constitutional framework to meet the needs of the people that they serve,” said the First Minister. “The current system has ensured that Government policy is informed by expert legal advice and guided by the rule of law, while the Lord Advocate remains directly accountable to Parliament for the exercise of her prosecutorial functions.”

“However, no system, however long standing, should be beyond examination,” he said. “It is right that we consider whether the current arrangements continue to serve modern Scotland as effectively as they can.”

Further details can be found here.

This feed was drawn from the Society of Solicitor Advocates website

The Lord President, Lord Pentland, has launched a consultation on the ten objectives for regulators contained in the Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Act 2025.

The Act creates a modern framework for the regulation of legal services in Scotland. Among other things, it introduces ten new regulatory objectives for regulators which protect consumers, give clarity to legal professionals about how they will be regulated and ensure that the regulators are accountable.

As the ultimate regulator, the Lord President wishes to reflect on what these new regulatory objectives mean, and how they should be applied by the regulators.

The Lord President is seeking views on his draft regulatory statement before it is finalised. Anyone who has an interest in the regulation of legal services is encouraged to respond to this consultation, especially consumers, legal professionals and regulators. Responses should be emailed to LordPresidentConsult@scotcourts.gov.uk by 5pm on 2^nd December 2026.

“The regulatory objectives require all the regulatory authorities, including me, to carry out our functions in a way which protects and promotes the interests of consumers and the wider public interest. We must also communicate effectively with bodies who represent the interests of consumers,“ said the Lord President. “The enactment of the new objectives gives everyone the opportunity to consider their scope and help to shape how they should be applied. It allows me to consider how the regulatory authorities can work more effectively together. It is important that we look collectively at what continuous improvements can be made across the whole system.”

“I would encourage all who have an interest in the regulation of legal services to respond to this consultation, especially legal professionals, consumers of legal services, bodies which represent consumer interests and the regulatory authorities. All responses will be carefully considered,” he said.

Further details can be found here.

This feed was drawn from the Society of Solicitor Advocates website