The Uncapped Era: Senior Executive Dismissals After the Cap
The key battlegrounds ahead - and how to prepare for them

IFSEA evening event: Tuesday 29 September 2026
6.00 pm - 7.15 pm, followed by drinks and networking (Registration from 5.30 pm)
Location: Irwin Mitchell LLP, The Northcliffe, 28 Tudor Street, Temple, London EC4Y 0AY

From 1 January 2027, the planned repeal of the statutory cap on unfair dismissal compensation - combined with a reduction in the qualifying period to six months - will transform the economics of senior executive exits.

Awards will remain loss-based, but for senior executives, “loss” means salary, bonus, LTIPs, equity and carried interest. The sums at stake and the leverage on both sides of the negotiating table are about to change fundamentally. Boards, founders, executives and their advisers have a narrow window to prepare - whether the aim is to reduce future exposure or to maximise a future exit (depending, of course, on which side of the table you sit).

Our panel will examine the practical implications of the reforms and the key battlegrounds likely to emerge, including:

• The race to January 2027 — are employers already accelerating executive exits ahead of the new regime?
  

• Contracts under redesign — will probationary periods, specific job descriptions and explicit performance expectations become standard features of executive contracts?
  

• The new remedy battleground — the sharpened importance of fair process, mitigation, Polkey, contributory fault and Devis v Atkins reductions for after-discovered misconduct in limiting exposure
  

• Valuing the exit — preparing for disputes over bonuses, LTIPs, equity and carried interest
  

• Structural planning on both sides — how employers will redesign contracts, incentive and equity schemes to reduce exposure on exit, and how executive advisers can protect their clients in response
  

• The hard cases — exits following transactions, organisational change and ill-health
  

• Tribunal backlogs and behavioural change — will uncapped compensation reduce reliance on discrimination and whistleblowing claims? Will employment tribunal delays, reputational concerns and executives’ desire to move on quickly limit any increase in unfair dismissal claims in practice?

Who should attend: executive and employer advisers, in-house counsel, HR directors, boards, founders and senior executives.

Speakers: to be announced shortly.

REGISTRATION

This event is open to both IFSEA members and non-members. Places are limited, so early registration is encouraged.
👉 Register your place here →