ISBA BURSARCAST // Employment Reform, Payroll Changes & Inspection Prep: This Week in ISBA (23rd January 2026)

About this episode

This episode covers key updates on employment law, payroll changes, and inspection readiness for bursars and senior leaders.

This week’s ISBA Bursarcast brings you a focused newsbeat on employment law timelines, payroll changes, smartphone policy research, inspection readiness and key sector deadlines—centred on what bursars and senior leaders need to know now. We cover the delay to ‘fire and rehire’ reform under the Employment Rights Act 2025, the postponement of mandatory payrolling of benefits in kind, new research into the operational cost of smartphone policies, and the launch of ISBA’s new Bursar’s Guide to ISI Inspections. This episode is designed for time-poor professionals who want clarity, context and practical next steps—without wading through technical notes and legislative updates. What You’ll Learn What the delayed implementation of the Employment Rights Act 2025 means for contract variations and restructuring timelines How the postponement of mandatory payrolling for benefits in kind from HM Revenue & Customs affects payroll planning What new research from the University of Birmingham suggests about the time and cost of restrictive vs permissive smartphone policies How to use ISBA’s new Bursar’s Guide to ISI Inspections as a practical compliance tool What the forthcoming statutory…

People in this episode

Host: ISBA

Topics covered

• employment law
• payroll changes
• smartphone policy
• inspection readiness
• bursar guidance

Keywords

• employment reform
• payroll
• smartphone policy
• ISI Inspections
• bursar guidance
• HMRC
• contract variations
• nursery sustainability

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: University of Birmingham, HM Revenue & Customs

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