Jobs & Business
Minimum wage, employment rights, incorporating a company, hiring a first employee and liability insurance.
Access to Work: a grant for equipment, support workers and travel, with no means test
The scheme pays for equipment, a BSL interpreter, a job coach, travel and vehicle adaptations. No diagnosis needed, nothing to repay, no effect on other benefits. Self-employed need £6,500 turnover.
Self-employed on paper only?
The UK government is consulting on how to protect people labelled self-employed when a business effectively controls their work. An estimated 900,000 people may be at risk of missing employment rights. Here is what applies now, what is proposed, and how to respond.
New Style JSA in 2026: £95.55 a week, 182 days and the Jobcentre interview
The unemployment benefit paid on your National Insurance record, not on need — savings are ignored entirely. Rates, who qualifies, what to bring to the interview and what triggers a sanction.
Flexible working requests in the UK: the rules, the deadline and the eight reasons to refuse
Every employee can ask for different hours, different days or home working from day one. Here is what the request must contain, how long the employer has to answer, and the only eight business reasons that allow a refusal.
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Paternity leave in the UK: two weeks, £194.32 and two notice deadlines
Paternity Leave lasts no more than two weeks and cannot start before the birth. Here is who qualifies, what it pays in 2026 and how much notice an employer needs before the pay is lost.
Minimum wage 2026: the rates, who is covered and how to get arrears back
From 1 April 2026 it is £12.71 an hour at 21 and over, £10.85 at 18 to 20 and £8 for apprentices. Deductions for uniform or tools can put you below the minimum even on £13 an hour.
DBS checks in England: the four levels, the £20 fee and the deadlines people miss
Almost every job asks for a criminal record check. What separates a basic check from an enhanced one, what it costs and how long it takes, which addresses you will have to dig up, and why you get 30 days to join the Update Service.
150,000 jobs for London: what the Growth Plan promises and what is verified
City Hall wants more than 150,000 good jobs by 2028 and a London economy £107 billion larger by 2035. These are targets, not cash already allocated or vacancies already created. Here is what is verified and what businesses can do now.
Free London business support: consultations, 1,148 resources and a trading pitch
City Hall has brought support for entrepreneurs together on one platform: a free one-to-one consultation, business diagnostics, local programmes and training. There is also an urgent opportunity: two microbusinesses will receive a free pitch at Diwali on the Square with the trader's licence covered.
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A £0 workspace: publicly backed support for London entrepreneurs
New entrepreneurs do not always need to pay for coworking. ONLYWAY.NEWS checked City of London, Camden, Wandsworth and BIPC programmes to identify where a desk and Wi-Fi are genuinely free, for how long and who qualifies.
A ‘free office’ in London? Where you are welcome, with Wi-Fi and tea
London’s Loved and Wanted network is open to every Londoner, but not every venue is a free coworking office. We checked the current 29-address directory to find free Wi-Fi, study desks, tea and paid alternatives from £8.50.
Trading from a table on UK streets: who can do it, where and how much it costs
You cannot simply put a table on any pavement. We explain when a street trading licence is needed, how a pedlar’s certificate differs and what lawful pitches cost in London, Cardiff, Scotland and Belfast.
AI at work in the UK: ONS names the jobs it has hit first
One in three UK businesses now uses artificial intelligence, and the roles it affects most are administrative and clerical. The latest Office for National Statistics figures, published 8 October.
Free careers advice moves into Jobcentres from 6 October 2026
From 6 October 2026 the National Careers Service has been merged into DWP, with around 500 careers advisers now working through Jobcentres. The advice is free and does not depend on benefits: it is available online and on 0800 072 0288, with face-to-face appointments starting later in October.
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Four-day week in London: Lambeth prepares the capital’s first council trial
Lambeth council, run by the Greens since May, is preparing a trial four-day working week for its own staff — the first London borough to do so. Pay is to stay the same. No start date has been named. A year ago the government told English councils to drop such schemes, and the Conservative candidate for mayor has already asked why Londoners who work five days should pay for a council day off.
£2,000 for hiring a young apprentice: new payment for small employers starts 1 October
From 1 October 2026 an employer in England that does not pay the apprenticeship levy gets £2,000 for every new apprentice aged 16 to 24: £1,000 after 90 days of training and another £1,000 after a year. There is no application — the money comes through the training provider. Stacked with other support, one apprentice can be worth up to £8,000.
Maternity leave and pay in the UK: 52 weeks off, £194.32 a week and what to do if your employer says no
Up to 52 weeks of leave but only 39 weeks of pay, most of it a flat £194.32 a week before tax. Who qualifies for SMP, what Maternity Allowance is, the one date that decides everything (15 weeks before the birth), what fathers get, and how to claim £500 and free prescriptions.
Employment tribunal deadline doubles: six months to claim against your employer from 1 October
From 1 October 2026 the time limit for an employment tribunal claim has doubled: six months less one day instead of three. It covers dismissal, unpaid wages, holiday pay and discrimination. In Scotland, breach of contract claims keep the old limit until 9 November.
How much paid holiday you are entitled to in the UK: 28 days, bank holidays and what you are owed when you leave
Paid holiday here is counted in weeks, not days: 5.6 weeks a year. On a five-day week that is 28 days — and unless your contract says otherwise, all eight bank holidays come out of them. Here is what the law gives you: the figures for part-time and zero-hours work, how holiday pay is calculated, what applies in your first year, and why untaken leave must be paid even if you are dismissed for gross misconduct.
Guaranteed jobs for young people on health benefits: the state will pay six months of wages
The Department for Work and Pensions announced on 27 September a major expansion of the Jobs Guarantee: from April 2027, young people on health benefits will be offered a guaranteed paid job 13 weeks after their Work Capability Assessment. Participation is voluntary, and the government will cover 100% of wages for up to 25 hours a week for six months. Here is who qualifies and what to do now.
England is recruiting magistrates: no law degree, 13 days a year — who can apply
The MOJ has launched a magistrate recruitment campaign: 21,000 wanted by 2028/29. Volunteer judges decide 95% of criminal cases, no legal training is needed, and employers must give time off by law. The requirements, the allowances and how to apply.
The government built a free CV tool: 20,000 CVs through Work Hub — and how to use it
On 25 September the DWP published the first results from Work Hub, the free job-search platform it calls a “jobcentre in your pocket”. The CV builder is open to everyone, not only people on benefits. Here is what is inside, where to find it and what not to expect.
Long-term sick leave in the UK: after a year off, fewer than half return to work
On 23 September the government published the plan for Britain's first Workplace Health System. Around 300,000 people a year leave work because of ill health, at a cost of £212 billion a year. What it means if you are an employee.
First convictions for missing Companies House ID checks: what it costs now, and how long is left
On 16 September a City court fined three directors — one of them for failing to stop an unverified colleague from acting. The Companies House transition year ends on 18 November 2026; after that come penalties of £250 to £2,000, a note on the public register and a block on filing for your company.
ONLYWAY NEWSLIVEHousing · 15.10Short on rent: what replaced Discretionary Housing Payments in England on 1 April 2026Money · 15.10Gaps in your National Insurance record: £18.40 a week and only six years backLife · 15.10Free UK GHIC: state healthcare in Europe and 15 working days for deliveryLife · 15.10Great British Railways HQ confirmed for Derby with 600 apprenticeship placesLaw · 15.10Subject access requests: getting your records, emails and CCTVHousing · 15.10Noise from neighbours: what the council must do and what the fines areLaw · 15.10Freedom of information requests: how to get data from a public bodyLaw · 14.10Bailiffs at the door: what they cannot do and cannot takeLife · 14.10Brain cancer: government speeds up the route from lab to patientLife · 14.10SORN explained: taking a car off the road and getting your tax backONLYWAY NEWS · appInstall the ONLYWAY NEWS appFresh UK news, classifieds, key dates and exchange rates on your home screen, one tap away. Free.NewsClassifiedsCalendarRates
Sick pay in the UK in 2026: paid from day one, up to £123.25 a week
Since 6 April 2026 the three unpaid waiting days are gone and the earnings threshold has been scrapped: SSP is available to every eligible employee. The rate is 80% of average weekly earnings or £123.25 a week, whichever is lower, for up to 28 weeks. Who qualifies, when you need a fit note, what the self-employed can claim and where to complain if an employer refuses.
Made redundant in the UK: how much you are owed and what to do if you are on a work visa
The statutory maximum is £22,530: £751 per week of service, up to 20 years, and only after two years in the job. The first £30,000 is tax free. And if you are on a Skilled Worker visa, redundancy leaves you 60 days or the remainder of your visa, whichever is shorter. Here is what you are owed, by when, and where to get free advice.
UK job vacancies are lower than in any year since 2014: what the ONS figures of 15 September mean if you are looking for work
The ONS published its labour market data at 7am on Tuesday. Vacancies stand at 702,000 for June to August, down 8,000 on the quarter; outside the pandemic slump the last comparable level was in 2014. Unemployment is 4.9%, but 145,000 fewer people are on a payroll than a year ago. Private sector pay is rising 2.9% a year — more than twice as slowly as public sector pay.
The National Insurance number: how to get one, how long it takes, and working without it
An NI number is not permission to work and not a tax number in the usual sense. It is the key the state files your contributions under, and your State Pension and some benefits depend on it. It is free, it takes up to four weeks, and you can work while you wait.
From 1 October, right to work checks reach couriers, subcontractors and platform workers
The illegal working regime expands: employers must verify the status not only of employees but of anyone on a worker’s contract, through an agency, a subcontracting chain or an online matching platform. The penalty is up to £60,000 per worker.
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Working in England 2026: what jobs pay, what you keep, and how the work visa actually starts
The minimum wage in England is £12.71 an hour by law; median full-time pay is £39,039 a year, worth about £2,630 a month after tax. You can start work before your National Insurance number arrives, but never without the right to work. And the Skilled Worker visa starts with a sponsoring employer: £41,700 or your occupation’s going rate, whichever is higher.
Directors have ten weeks left to verify their identity
The Companies House transition year ends on 18 November. Every director and every person with significant control must verify by their own due date. Miss it and you commit an offence, face a financial penalty, and cannot file anything for your company.
October: employers start answering for how customers behave
From 30 October part of the Employment Rights Act 2025 takes effect: employers must take “all reasonable steps” against sexual harassment and become liable for harassment by third parties — customers, visitors, contractors. And from 1 October the tribunal time limit rises from three months to six.
£450m a year of reporting to be stripped from companies
The government has announced an overhaul of corporate reporting: the directors’ report goes, and exemptions from the strategic report and from audit are widened. The consultation runs to 30 November and anyone may respond.
Director identity checks: the transition year ends in November
Identity verification at Companies House has been a legal requirement since 18 November 2025. The twelve-month transition period runs out this autumn.