Recruitment Ready Roundtable: Recruiting well during the 2026–27 employment and immigration transition period

This joint FinTech Wales, Capital Law and Sadler Recruitment panel session will focus on how fintech and high-growth businesses can navigate current recruitment anxiety and set themselves up for success when hiring, as employment and immigration reforms continue to roll out through 2026 and into 2027.

While the Employment Rights Act 2025 has not taken effect all at once, its key provisions are being implemented in stages. As a result, 2026 is a crucial transition year, with employers already responding to current market trends and adjusting recruitment decisions, onboarding processes and probation arrangements in anticipation of expanded employee protections.

The session will examine how these changes are already influencing recruitment strategy and risk, particularly for senior and skilled hires, alongside the continued importance of right to work and immigration compliance.

What the session will cover

Using practical examples and recent experience, the panel will explore:

Current trends in fintech recruitment and retention

– What the market currently looks like
– Areas of vulnerability for employers
– Key issues employers are facing
– How AI is compounding these challenges
– How employers should adjust their recruitment and retention strategies

Recruitment risk during staged employment law reform

– What is changing in April and October 2026, and what is scheduled for January 2027
– Why the extension of unfair dismissal protection — including shorter qualifying periods and the removal of compensation caps — is already affecting recruitment strategy
– The implications for how probation periods are structured, managed and documented

Immigration and right to work compliance

– Building immigration compliance into your recruitment strategy, including key considerations when recruiting talent from outside the UK
– Current right to work requirements and future changes
– Illegal working risk, including increased exposure in subcontracting arrangements

Moving beyond compliance

– Joining up recruitment, onboarding and probation management
– How businesses can set people up for success while still protecting themselves from dispute and compliance risk
– Warning signs from recent cases where early issues were mishandled and later escalated

The emphasis throughout will be on practical risk management, rather than abstract legal theory.

Who should attend

This session will be particularly relevant for:

– Founders, CEOs and COOs of fintech and scaling tech businesses
– HR and People leaders responsible for recruitment and probation processes
– Operations and compliance leads supporting rapid growth or international hiring
– In-house teams managing senior or specialist hires

What attendees will gain

Attendees will leave with:

– Thoughts from experts and peers on the current recruitment landscape in fintech
– A clear understanding of how staged employment law reforms are already changing recruitment risk
– Practical insight into managing probation periods in a more legally exposed environment
– Up-to-date guidance on immigration considerations and illegal working exposure
– Confidence in making early employment decisions without increasing the risk of claims or regulatory action
– Confidence to push recruitment strategy up the agenda at Board level

The session is designed to be interactive and accessible, with opportunities for discussion and questions, and a focus on real-world decision-making for growing businesses.