The Bounda Blog

Practical HR compliance advice. No jargon. No fluff.

Anti-harassment policy binder with the year 2024 crossed out and replaced by 2026 all reasonable steps, beside a laptop showing a Bounda compliance dashboard and a checklist covering risk assessment, third-party harassment, refresher training and a reporting route

You Already Sorted Harassment in 2024. The Bar Just Moved Again.

Most employers treated the harassment duty as a 2024 job and ticked the box. From October 2026 the standard rises from 'reasonable steps' to 'all reasonable steps', and harassment of your staff by customers and clients becomes a tribunal claim. Here's what changes — and what your handbook needs before October.

2 June 2026Read more

Five labelled HR binders on a desk — employee handbook, contract, sickness absence, disciplinary, and data protection — with a Christmas HR checklist for UK small businesses

Compliance10 min

The Five HR Documents Your Business Doesn't Have (And Needs by Christmas)

The HR documents UK SMEs most often miss in 2026 — even with a £600 template pack. Five specific gaps, why they create liability, and what to do before the end of the year.

14 May 2026

Employee and manager discussing a flexible working request with a UK 2026 compliance checklist covering day-one rights, consultation, and decision deadlines

ERA 20258 min

The Flexible Working Request You Can't Legally Refuse Anymore

Flexible working is a day-one right, two requests a year, a two-month decision window — and refusal without documented consultation loses claims. Here's what a flexible working request UK process and flexible working policy need in 2026.

9 Apr 2026

Desk scene showing probation periods crossed out on a calendar, replaced by wooden blocks listing clear expectations, ongoing feedback, regular check-ins, support and development, and fair performance management

ERA 20257 min

Probation Periods Are Dead. Here's What Replaces Them.

The muscle memory SMEs have built around six-month probation — low-risk months before the "real" process kicks in — is colliding with new unfair dismissal rules and statutory probation frameworks. Here's what a probation period UK 2026 actually needs.

12 Mar 2026

Sickness absence policy document stamped illegal on a desk, with checklist for review, update, communicate and support, and a mug reading fair, legal, supportive

Compliance9 min

Why Your Sickness Absence Policy Is Probably Illegal (And You Don't Know It)

A handbook from 2019 and a Bradford Factor trigger cost one employer £4,200 at ACAS — because disability-related absence wasn't carved out and reasonable adjustments barely featured. Here's what a 2026 sickness absence policy UK actually needs.

10 Feb 2026

Laptop showing Bounda ERA 2025 readiness dashboard on a desk with employee handbook, listing flexible working, probation, family leave, absence policy and day-one rights to update

ERA 20256 min

ERA 2025: What You Actually Need to Change

The Employment Rights Act 2025 has been passed, and many changes are being phased in from 2026 onwards. Here's what actually matters for your handbook — and what doesn't.

8 Jan 2026

Laptop showing Bounda disciplinary policy compliance dashboard on a desk with clipboard listing investigate, hearing, accompaniment, written decision and appeal steps

Guides14 min

Writing a Disciplinary Policy That Actually Works

Most UK disciplinary policies fail at tribunal for the same three reasons. ERA 2025, the ACAS Code, real award figures, and a working template.

3 Jan 2026

Bounda laptop dashboard on a desk with branded mug and notebook, headline why we built Bounda with real HR support for small businesses

Opinion10 min

Why I Built Bounda: A Founder's Take on UK HR Compliance

After thirty years running and advising UK businesses, I kept seeing the same compliance pattern repeat. This is why I built Bounda, and what I believe HR tech should actually do.

15 Dec 2025

Five numbered Bounda policy binders on a desk for employment rights, disciplinary, sickness absence, flexible working and data protection that every UK business must have

Compliance6 min

The 5 Policies Every UK Business Must Have (By Law)

Not 'should have' or 'recommended' — actually legally required. Here's what the law says, with no padding.

8 Dec 2025

Laptop showing Bounda flexible working request workflow on a desk with checklist for acknowledge, discuss, decide and confirm in writing

ERA 202512 min

How to Handle a Flexible Working Request: The Step-by-Step Process

The step-by-step operational walkthrough: receipt, consultation, decision, response, appeal — with templates and the eight statutory refusal grounds.

5 Jan 2026

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