Company, business and employment law update

Overview 

A comprehensive review of the key legal developments over the past year relevant to SMEs and the accountants advising them.

We will examine the main issues in employment law, including the provisions of the Employment Rights Act coming into force in 2026/27, together with the most significant employment case law from the past year. In addition, we will cover important developments relating to discrimination — particularly disability and neurodiversity — as well as employment status and payroll matters.

In company law, we will explore key issues surrounding succession planning, company management, and the sale of a business. We will also examine the principal provisions of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA 2023) and its implications for companies, alongside a review of notable cases from the last 12 months.

Employment Law

• The 2026/7 numbers
• Recruitment – some basic principles and ‘subject to satisfactory references’
• Employment Status, including
  • Illegal workers and umbrella companies
  • IR35 – new cases
• Payroll developments
  • Minimum wage - recent cases
  • Recording holidays – getting it right
  • SSP changes and implications
• Employment Rights Act 2025 – all the provisions and implications, including
  • October changes – the details
  • Unfair dismissal reform and implications
  • Family friendly measures
  • Zero hour workers – what is to come
• Sexual harassment – preparing for an expanded proactive duty – a warning to all employers
• Third party harassment – what do I need to do?
• Disability - how not to do it – Blewitt v Mach Recruitment 2025
• Neurodiversity – the challenge for employers

Company Law

• What is a director? A new case reminds us..
• Directors’ duties – developments
• Incapacity and Succession – things to consider for SMEs
• ECCTA 2023 latest and new offences and planned implementation dates
• Shares and shareholders – classes of shares and their uses
• Articles of Association and Shareholder agreements
• Shareholder disputes and new cases
• Share Purchase Agreements and recent case law

Other business law

• Late payment reform
• TUPE developments

Louise Dunford

Louise has been continuously involved in training and consultancy since 1987 and am a qualified barrister. Louise provides advice and assistance to employers through a consultancy company, CompleteHR Ltd, and have also engaged in CPD training for most of the national accountancy training bodies and district societies in the UK for many years. Louise is involved in management training, particularly in employment and HR, for many large multinational and national commercial companies. Louise has also worked as an occasional associate senior lecturer at the University of Portsmouth, mainly on the MBA, MA Personnel Management and MA Business Law. Louise has published academic papers in refereed journals, chiefly on employment status and corporate manslaughter.

6 CPD units

ACCA members can use this learning to meet their CPD requirements provided it is relevant to their career. If the event contributes to general knowledge and skills, it should be recorded as non-verifiable CPD. If the learning can be applied in the workplace, it will contribute to verifiable CPD.

1 hour of learning = 1 unit of CPD.

Fee: 136 GBP + VAT (163.2) per delegate

Please note: If you're unable to attend the live webinar, a recording will be available on demand within 24 hours. You'll have access to the sessions for a full 12 months.

The webinar handout material will be available on the webinar platform when you log in to view, 15 minutes before the live webinar start.

If you wish to view or download handout materials, before the day of the webinar, they will also be available through your document library on https://events.accaglobal.com.

This event is organised by ACCA Continuous Learning.

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