Unfair Dismissal Reforms: Why Manager Readiness Matters More Than the Law Itself

Most of the commentary on the Employment Rights Act 2025 focuses on the legal mechanics — dates, qualifying periods, compensation caps. New research from our partners WorkNest suggests UK employers are actually more worried about something else entirely: whether their managers are capable of handling the fallout.

A quick recap of what’s changing

From 1 January 2027, the unfair dismissal qualifying period — the length of service an employee needs before they can bring a claim to an Employment Tribunal — drops from two years to six months. Because service accrued before the change still counts, anyone hired on or before 1 July 2026 will already have reached that six-month threshold the moment the new rules apply. That makes 1 July 2026 a practical planning deadline, even though the law itself doesn’t formally start until January 2027.

What employers are actually worried about

In a survey of over 800 HR professionals and business owners, WorkNest found that concern about manager capability significantly outweighed concern about the legal changes themselves — well ahead of worries about tribunal claims, managing poor performance during probation, or dismissals linked to sickness and disability.

Emma Jackson, HR Consultant at WorkNest, put it plainly: many employers already understand the legal timeline, but their real concern is whether managers have the confidence and capability to deal with problems as they arise.

That’s a meaningful shift in framing. It’s not just “what does the law say” — it’s “can my managers actually apply it, in the moment, under pressure.”

Why this makes sense

For a lot of small UK employers, this checks out. The reforms place more weight on:

• Effective recruitment and selection, so fewer poor-fit hires reach probation in the first place
• Structured probation reviews, done properly and on time, not skipped when things get busy
• Difficult conversations, handled early rather than avoided until they become bigger problems
• Documentation, so decisions can be defended if challenged

None of that is really about knowing the qualifying period is six months. It’s about whether the person managing a struggling new starter knows how to run that conversation well — and whether there’s a paper trail to back up the outcome.

What forward-looking employers are already doing

Employers who are ahead of this aren’t waiting for January 2027. The research pointed to two consistent priorities: investing in manager training now, and tightening up recruitment and selection processes so fewer hiring mistakes reach the probation stage at all.

Practical steps for small UK employers

1. Audit manager confidence, not just manager knowledge. A manager can know the six-month rule exists and still freeze when it’s time to have the actual conversation. Ask your managers directly how confident they’d feel running a probation-failure conversation this week.
2. Build (or buy) short, practical training. This doesn’t need to be a half-day course. Focused modules on giving feedback, running probation reviews, and documenting concerns properly go a long way.
3. Standardise your documentation. A simple template for probation review notes means managers aren’t starting from a blank page every time — and gives you a consistent, defensible record.
4. Tighten recruitment before you tighten dismissal. Better structured interviews and clearer role expectations reduce how often you need a difficult probation conversation in the first place.
5. Set a review date for every new starter now, not just when they’re already six months in and it’s too late to act.

How the right systems support this

HR software that automatically flags probation review dates and stores documentation in one place removes the “we meant to do the review but got busy” risk that catches a lot of small teams out. Alongside that, short e-learning modules for managers — covering feedback, probation reviews and difficult conversations — build the practical confidence this research says is actually missing, without pulling a manager out for a full day of training.

FAQs

Is 1 July 2026 a legal deadline?

Not formally — the law itself takes effect from 1 January 2027. But because service accrued before then still counts, anyone hired on or before 1 July 2026 will already have six months’ service by January 2027, making it the practical point at which risk starts building.

Do we need to change our probation length?

Not necessarily, but many employers are shortening six-month probation periods, since a full six months no longer leaves a safe window to dismiss before unfair dismissal protection applies.

What’s the single most useful thing to do first?

Based on this research, start with manager confidence rather than manager knowledge — most managers already know the rules are changing; fewer feel ready to act on them.

How can PeopleFirstHR Help?

PeopleFirstHR supports UK SMEs with selecting and implementing Astute eLearning via VinciWorks, and helping teams roll it out in a way that’s actually adopted (with reporting you can rely on).

Contact us if you would like a demonstration/free trial of VinciWorks Astute e-learning.