This blog provides a brief overview of January’s Legal Updates, which are relevant to Quality, Environmental, Info Sec and Health & Safety to help your organisation stay aligned with the latest legal requirements.
How to use this Update:
- You should review these updates and decide whether they are applicable to your company.
- Add all relevant items to your legal resister and document your compliance.
- Ensure all policy and procedures align with the new governance and compliance requirements.
- Provide information and training to all relevant to ensure you remain compliant
- Please note ISO 14001, ISO 45001, ISO 27001 and other standards require you to conduct a compliance evaluation.
Need assistance with these updates? We are here to help: Contact us
Employment
8th January
UK
The Employment Rights Act 2025 (Commencement No. 1 and Transitional and Saving Provisions) Regulations 2026
These Regulations bring into force certain provisions of the Employment Rights Act 2025 (c. 36) (“the 2025 Act”). These are the first commencement Regulations made under the 2025 Act.
Link to legislation
Employment
12th January
UK
Pending until April 2026
The Employment Rights Act 2025 (Parental and Paternity Leave) (Removal of Qualifying Periods etc.) (Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2026
This instrument makes amendments to secondary legislation in consequence of sections 15 to 17 of the Employment Rights Act 2025 (c. 36) (“the Act”). The Act amended the Employment Rights Act 1996 (c. 18) (“the 1996 Act”) to remove the 26- week continuity of service requirement for Paternity Leave and the year-long continuity of service requirement for Parental Leave (also known as Unpaid Parental Leave or Ordinary Parental Leave), making employees eligible for these entitlements from their first day in a new job. It also amended the 1996 Act and the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 (c. 4) (“the 1992 Act”) to lift restrictions on taking Paternity Leave and Pay after Shared Parental Leave and Pay.
Link to legislation
Health & Safety
12th January
Scotland
The Food Safety Act 1990 Amendment (Scotland) Regulations 2026
These Regulations amend provisions of the Food Safety Act 1990 (c. 16). These Regulations restate secondary assimilated law within the meaning of section 12(2)(b) of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023 (c. 28).
Regulation 2 amends section 17 of the Food Safety Act 1990 to replace references to “EU” obligations and provisions with “assimilated” obligations and provisions and replaces a reference to “directly applicable EU provision” with “provision of assimilated direct legislation”.
Link to legislation
Health & Safety
15th January
UK
The Cosmetic Products Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 (Restriction of Chemical Substances) (Amendment and Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2026
This instrument amends Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 on cosmetic products (“the Cosmetic Regulation”) to prohibit the use of 3-(4′-methylbenzylidene)-camphor (commonly known as “4-MBC”) in cosmetic products and to reduce the threshold for labelling formaldehyde releasing preservatives used in cosmetic products following scientific assessment. The instrument also prohibits a set of substances classified as carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic for reproduction (“CMR substances”) from use in cosmetic products.
Link to legislation
Environment
19th January
Wales
The Environment (Air Quality and Soundscapes) (Wales) Act 2024 (Commencement No. 3) Order 2026
This Order is the third commencement order made by the Welsh Ministers under the Environment (Air Quality and Soundscapes) (Wales) Act 2024 (“the Act”).
This Order brings section 7 (monitoring progress towards meeting targets) of the Act into force on 23 January 2026. Section 7 is the only remaining provision of the Act which is not already in force.
Link to legislation
Finance
20th January
UK
The Customs (Tariff and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2026
The instrument makes amendments to subordinate legislation previously made under the Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Act 2018 (“TCTA”), which provided for the United Kingdom’s (“UK”) Customs, Value Added Tax and Excise regimes to be in place after the end of the Transition Period following the withdrawal of the UK from the European Union (“EU”).
Link to legislation
Information Security
20th January
UK
Pending until 6th February 2026
The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (Commencement No. 5) Regulations 2026
Regulation 2 brings into force section 138 of the Act on 6th February 2026.(a change that is being implemented for clarity of the statute book).
Link to legislation
Employment
21st January
UK
The Employment Rights Act 2025 (Minimum Service Levels) (Consequential Revocation) Regulations 2026
This legislation revokes the Code on Reasonable Steps to be taken by a Trade Union (Minimum Service Levels) following the repeal of the Strikes (Minimum Strikes Levels) Act 2023 and the related amendments made by the Employment Rights Act 2025 (“the 2025 Act”) to the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (“the 1992 Act”).
Link to legislation
Environment
21st January
Northern Ireland
The Waste (Fees and Charges) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2026
The Waste (Fees and Charges) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2026 increase fees and charges in relation to the processing of applications for the registration of brokers, dealers and carriers of waste which are imposed directly via the Controlled Waste (Registration of Carriers and Seizure of Vehicles) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999 and the Waste Management Licensing Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003. The purpose of the fees and charges is to recover the costs incurred by the Department in carrying out its functions in relation to processing applications for these registrations. Through this Statutory Rule, the relevant fees and charges highlighted above will be uplifted by 6.19%.
Link to legislation
Finance
22nd January
UK
Pending until 1st July 2026
The Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 (Commencement No. 12 and Saving Provisions) Regulations 2026
The Treasury make these Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by section 86(3) to (6) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023(a). The first coming into force on 1st July 2026
Link to legislation
Health & Safety
22nd January
Northern Ireland
The Chemicals (Health and Safety) and Genetically Modified Organisms (Contained Use) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2026
The Rule will amend the Biocidal Products and Chemicals (Appointment of Authorities and Enforcement) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2013 (S.R. 2013 No. 206) (“the BPC Regulations”) and the Genetically Modified Organisms (Contained Use) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015 (S.R. 2015 No. 339) (“the GMO (CU) Regulations”).
Link to legislation
Corporate
23rd January
UK
The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (Commencement No. 7) Regulations 2026
These Regulations are the seventh commencement regulations made under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (c. 56). Regulation 2 brings into force provisions of that Act which remove the option for companies to keep member information on the central register, including a transitional provision for companies which keep information on the central register. Regulation 3 replaces references in secondary legislation to the commencement of a provision with a reference to the actual date on which the provision came into force.
Link to legislation
Finance
30th January
UK
The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) (Providing Targeted Support) (Amendment) Order 2026
The instrument amends the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) Order 2001 (S.I. 2001/544) (RAO) to create a new specified activity of providing targeted support within the existing framework of the RAO for the purposes of section 22 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (c. 8). The instrument provides a legislative definition of ‘targeted support’ and distinguishes it from ‘advising on investments’ as defined by Article 53 of the RAO, by providing that recommendations made by way of targeted support are not treated as recommendations made by the way of Article 53.
Link to legislation
ISO 14001, ISO 45001, ISO 27001 and other standards require you to conduct a compliance evaluation. If you haven’t done this, we can help.
Legal Register
Assent Risk Management has made over 250 UK Legal Register entries available to search on Resilify.io’s Legal Register Database.
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