It’s time to review your recruitment and probation processes and make sure managers are ready as day one rights for unfair dismissal move closer.

The current position

At the moment, most employees can only bring a claim for ordinary unfair dismissal once they have completed two years of continuous service.

There are, however, certain dismissals that are automatically unfair from the outset, such as those linked to discrimination, whistleblowing, or health and safety matters. If an employee is dismissed for one of these reasons, they are protected from day one.

If a tribunal finds an employee has been unfairly dismissed, it can award compensation made up of:

• a basic award (based on the employee’s age, length of service, and a week’s pay), and
• a compensatory award (currently capped at the lower of £118,223 or 52 weeks’ pay).

What’s changing and when

The two year service requirement is set to be scrapped. Once this happens, employees will be entitled to claim ordinary unfair dismissal from their first day of employment.

This means employers will need to be able to show that any dismissal, regardless of how soon it happens after hiring, was for a potentially fair reason, and that a reasonable and fair process was followed.

Alongside this, the Bill introduces a proposed “light touch” process that can be used in most cases where dismissal takes place in the early months of employment. This will coincide with a statutory probationary period which is expected to be nine months, although not yet confirmed.

The “light touch” process will not apply to redundancy situations or certain other dismissals unrelated to the individual, such as some reorganisations. A specific compensation regime will also apply where someone is unfairly dismissed during the statutory probationary period and the light touch process is used.

The Government plans to consult employers on how the statutory probationary period and light touch process should operate in Autumn 2025, with the reforms likely to take effect in 2027

Actions to take now

• Tighten up your recruitment practices – ensure job applications, interviews, and pre employment checks are thorough so you bring in the right people from the start.
• Evaluate your probationary periods – think about their length, the roles they apply to, and how they are managed. Are managers actively addressing performance, conduct, or attendance issues within them?
• Refresh performance and conduct processes – even with a light touch process, dismissals will be harder to manage early in employment. Managers may need additional training.
• Review contract templates – once the statutory probationary period is confirmed, update contracts to reflect it. You may also need a dedicated probationary policy