The New Six-Month Unfair Dismissal Rule: What Employers need to do now

In January 2027 the reduction of the 2 year qualifying period for an employee to be able to claim unfair dismissal to 6 months will be in place.

This means new staff you have taken on in July 2026, who you decide are no longer a fit for your company, will potentially be able to claim that they have been unfairly dismissed in January 2027.

As a result, you will need to take a more proactive approach in assessing and recording the competence of your new hire on recruitment and every month during the first 4 months of their employment, if you are to protect yourself.

Hiring staff can be an exciting time for your business. It gives you the opportunity to change dynamics, bring fresh ideas, create more diversity, and grow. With the right hire your business will flourish and your revenue increase. With the wrong hire, you will waste time and money training and eventually replacing.

Thus, behind the headline, the reality is that the new 6 month deadline will change how you recruit. It will change how you assess competence and should nudge you to review every hire as a pivotal moment in your development, rather than just finding a person to fill a vacancy. In addition, getting the recruitment right at the beginning and how you manage the early stages of the employment relationship, will make a huge difference to both your litigation risk and your future growth.

Practical steps to take when hiring staff:

• Review your recruitment strategy regarding advertising. Do you need to advertise externally? Is there a perfect home grown candidate? Although there are several advantages to this course as it could save time and money, and reward an excellent well entrenched performer, the disadvantage is that an internal placement may not bring you the fresh perspective your business needs.

• Be accurate and realistic. Do not promise terms that do not, in reality, exist. This will only result in disaffected new hires, who will leave, and after 6 months, you have an active claim.

• Once hired, provide clear and achievable performance objectives, monitor and record the early performance carefully. Act promptly if concerns arise and call out any concerns as early as possible.

Employers who invest time in getting these stages right will build stronger, more productive teams for the future.

For further information, please contact our Employment Team at Ware & Kay on York 01904 716000, Wetherby 01937 583210 or Malton 01653 692247 or email law@warekay.co.uk.