Main News Feed Archives - Page 16 of 231

Government Confirms Changes to Unfair Dismissal Qualifying Period

by Oscar Venus | 5 Dec, 2025 | Main News Feed

The Government has announced an amendment to the upcoming Employment Rights Bill, confirming that the qualifying period for claiming unfair dismissal will be reduced from two years to six months. This change replaces the earlier proposal to make unfair dismissal a day-one right.

Under the revised plan, existing day-one protections, including automatically unfair dismissal provisions and discrimination safeguards, will remain unchanged.

In addition, the Government has reaffirmed that new day-one rights to Statutory Sick Pay and paternity leave will come into effect from April 2026, supporting wider reforms to improve workplace protections.

Open Doors 2026: Booking Opens Soon

by Oscar Venus | 5 Dec, 2025 | Main News Feed

With just over a month to go until visitor bookings open on Monday 12 January, excitement is already building for Open Doors 2025. More than 100 events have been registered across the UK so far, offering the public a rare chance to step behind the scenes of some of the nation’s most iconic construction projects; including Buckingham Palace, Natural History Museum – Unlocked, Edgbaston Cricket Ground, and Aintree Hospital.

A huge thank you to all FIS members who are opening their sites, offices, manufacturing facilities and training centres from 23–28 March, helping to showcase the opportunities and diversity within the construction industry.

Delivered by Build UK, Open Doors continues to be one of the most effective initiatives for attracting new talent into construction. Interest from schools, colleges and universities is already strong, and a new report from Open Doors partner Prospects highlights just how vital workplace experiences are in helping young people transition successfully into employment.

With this in mind, we are encouraging members to upload all planned events to the Open Doors website before the Christmas break. The more opportunities available, the more young people we can inspire to take their first step into the industry.

Upload your events and get ready for visitor bookings from 12 January.

CBAM Primary legislation set before Parliament

by Oscar Venus | 5 Dec, 2025 | Main News Feed, Sustainability

Draft primary legislation for Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) was published in April 2025 for technical consultation. At Budget 2025 government announced that indirect emissions associated with the production of CBAM goods will not be included in scope of CBAM at its implementation on 1 January 2027. Their inclusion in CBAM scope will be delayed until 2029 at the earliest. This is to reflect continued support for the Energy Intensive Industries (EII) Compensation Scheme

CBAM is effectively a new tax aimed at reducing carbon emissions. It will impact companies importing (and potentially exporting to the EU) and specifying products made with aluminium, cement, iron and steel (it is likely to be extended to cover other products such as glass in the future).

CBAM imposes a carbon cost to ensure imports face a comparable carbon price to goods produced domestically. This mechanism is designed to prevent “carbon leakage,” where companies might relocate production to countries with less stringent emissions regulations. .

The UK CBAM will come into force on 1 January 2027 and will apply to businesses importing £50,000 or more of CBAM goods over a 12-month period.

The UK government has published Finance (No.2) Bill 2025-26 on the UK Parliament Bills website. This includes the primary legislation for CBAM which you can find here. To download a copy of the Bill, click ‘Get file’ in ‘Bill 342 2024-25 (as introduced)’.

CBAM primary legislation can be found at Part 5:

Clauses 139-155 (pages 147-159)

Schedules 15 – 18 (pages 471-506)

Further changes may arise as a result of Parliamentary scrutiny, but the deadlines are likely to stand and it is vital that companies start understanding the potential costs and how this may impact upon estimates for future projects. Companies importing directly are recommended to look at any requirements that may be imposed on them. Contractors who may be preparing tenders for projects that run past 1^st January 2027 should be speaking to their suppliers about any potential additional costs that CBAM might place on their project

You can find more information on CBAM in the Factsheet here.

FIS Sustainability Hub

We look at some of the key actions that you can take and also some of the wider sector initiatives that can support your business in setting a sustainability strategy.

Visit our Sustainability Hub

Timely Payment Reminder in Scotland

by Clair Mooney | 4 Dec, 2025 | Main News Feed

The Scottish Government have issued a reminder to all in the construction sector:

“Construction sector cashflow is important all year round and imperative at the festive shutdown.

We strongly encourage all contracting authorities and businesses in every public works contract supply chain to fully comply with relevant provisions of SPPN 2/2022 and CPN 9/2020.

✅ SPPN 2/2022: https://lnkd.in/ehxA6Cbb

✅CPN 9/2020: https://lnkd.in/eMxzhpBy“

The announcement is welcome, but as well as being a helpful and thoughtful intervention, it is a reminder that often the industry doesn’t shower itself in payment glory and particularly at this time of year. See a similar reminder issued by FIS CEO Iain McIlwee in Construction News in December 2022.

2026 we will see the response to the Government’s Late Payment and Retention consultation issued earlier this year. The sheer weight of evidence supplied will, we hope, support the Government in their intention to tighten payment regulation and radical reform to retention.

In the meantime, FIS Members are reminded if they have payment issues over the festive period that they can access advice and support from the FIS team and our specialist advisors. To support the process we also issued new guidance on credit control that includes template resources and guidance on chasing payment and escalating to dispute status. This guide is included in the Business Management Section of our Contractual and Business Toolkit.

Collective lobby leads to pause of Apprentice reforms

by Oscar Venus | 28 Nov, 2025 | Main News Feed

A Construction Coalition led by the British Woodworking Federation and supported by Finishes and Interiors Sector wrote to the Prime Minister last month expressing concerns related to proposed reform of Apprenticeships. In response to this letter and subsequent meetings, Skills England announced at a meeting this week (attended by FIS) that implementation had been paused to allow time to understand and address concerns raised.

The letter expresses serious concern over plans by Skills England to shorten apprenticeship durations to as little as eight months and introduce new assessment methods that could weaken quality assurance and consistency. The stark warning is that these reforms could dismantle established routes to competence, erode employer confidence, and threaten the delivery of safe, high-quality construction at a time when the UK faces an ambitious target of building 1.5 million new homes.

The changes were set to apply to all apprenticeships in England, with site carpentry and joinery at the forefront one of five pilot areas this summer.

FIS Head of Skills Beena Nana reflected:
“The positive to draw is that they are listening and that changes are not going to be railroaded through. The last round of Apprentice reforms were all about putting employers at the heart of decisions – this is critical. The direction of travel was a worry, but at least we have been heard and as we develop apprenticeships we can ensure that the duration and assessment methodology are commensurate with the competence standard that must be reached to support the emphasis on competence in the latest iterations of the Building Regulations”.

The initial letter can be seen here: FIS Supports Industry Call to Halt Damaging Apprenticeship Reforms – FIS

Avoiding late payments with good credit control

by Clair Mooney | 27 Nov, 2025 | Main News Feed

You’ve done the work, and the client’s happy, but the money still hasn’t arrived. Does this sound familiar?

For many in the finishes and interiors sector, late payments are more common than they should be. But with good credit control, it doesn’t have to be that way.

This guide, developed in partnership with FIS Associate Member BABR, provides clear, practical advice for managing payments in your business. Whether you work in fit-out, flooring, ceilings, partitions or specialist finishes, this guide will help you:

Protect your cash flow
Reduce stress and admin
Get paid on time, more often

This guide focusses on business-to-business relationships, support is available if you should have a dispute with a homeowner, however, whilst many of the principles set down in here hold true, the laws covering dispute with consumers are different.

Download your copy of the Guide to Getting Paid on Time here