Getting Selection and Probation Right Before the Unfair Dismissal Rules Change
What You Will Learn in This Post
- What changes on 1 January 2027, and why some of your current team are already covered
- Why six months gives you less time to assess a new starter than it first appears
- Where early problems in a new appointment tend to show up, and why managers often hold back
- The practical steps well-prepared employers in manufacturing, food production, transport, warehousing, and professional services are taking now to get selection and probation right
For more than a decade, employers in Great Britain have had two years to decide whether a new appointment was working before the unfair dismissal rules came into play. That buffer is about to shrink to six months.
From 1 January 2027, anyone who joined you on or before 1 July 2026 will be protected from the day the change takes effect. Everyone who joins after that will be covered once they reach six months’ service.
In practice, that means the decisions you make at shortlist, interview, and offer stage are much harder to undo later, and the first few months of every appointment matter more than they ever did.
This post provides general information, not legal advice, so please talk to an employment law specialist about your own contracts and policies.
What Changes, and When
Two changes arrive together on 1 January 2027. The qualifying period for ordinary unfair dismissal falls from two years to six months, and the cap on the compensatory award is removed altogether.
That cap is currently the lower of £123,543 or 52 weeks’ gross pay. Removing it matters most when a senior or well-paid appointment goes wrong, because there will be no ceiling on what a tribunal can award.
There is an earlier step too, which has already taken effect. Since 1 October 2026, most employment tribunal claims can be brought within six months rather than three, so a dispute can stay live for twice as long.
The government estimates that around 6.3 million employees, or 22% of everyone employed aged 16 and over, have between six months’ and two years’ service with their current employer.
Employers know this is coming, but that does not make it straightforward. In a YouGov survey of 1,050 senior decision-makers for Acas, 23% placed the six-month rule among the changes they expect to be hardest to adopt.
Six Months Is Shorter Than It Looks
On paper, six months sounds like plenty of time to know whether someone is right for the job. In practice, the usable window is shorter, because the first few weeks are spent settling in and learning the role.
By the time a new starter in a warehouse, on a production floor, or in a professional services team has had a fair chance to show what they can do, you may have a couple of months left to raise concerns, offer support, review progress, and reach a sound decision.
Some employers are thinking about shortening probation so it ends well before the six-month point. Acas cautions that this does not remove legal risk, since protections such as those covering discrimination and whistleblowing apply throughout probation.
Acas also says probation should fit the job, and that technical or specialist roles may need longer for training and assessment. That is a real tension in manufacturing, logistics, and professional services, where the most valuable appointments often take longest to prove themselves.
The answer is not to rush the decision, but to start each appointment with a clearer picture of the person and a plan for judging their progress. Both begin before the offer, and a specialist recruiter can help with each.
Where Early Problems Tend to Show Up
When a new appointment is not working, the reason rarely stays hidden for long, and it is usually about how the job is being done rather than anything more dramatic.
Acas research published in November 2025 found that capability and performance were the most common topic of workplace conflict in Great Britain, cited by 38% of people who had experienced conflict at work in the previous year. Among the 252 managers in the survey who had been in conflict with someone reporting to them, 94% said capability and performance were involved. Yet around a third of those managers took no action.
That hesitation was easier to absorb when there were two years to resolve things. With six months, a concern left unaddressed for a few weeks can take up a large share of your remaining time. Acas’s own guidance points the same way: giving managers the confidence to step in early matters, because unaddressed issues tend to resurface later with more weight behind them.
What a Wrong Appointment Costs Now
The cost of an appointment that does not work out has always been more than the recruitment fee or the advert. There is the time your team spends covering the gap, the management hours spent on a struggling starter, and the lost output during the period.
Training adds to the bill too. The Employer Skills Survey 2024 found UK employers invested around £2,710 for every person they trained over the previous 12 months. When a new starter leaves or is let go within months, most of that investment goes with them, along with the time spent recruiting and the momentum of the team they joined.
From January, a poorly handled exit adds another layer of risk. An employee with six months’ service can bring an unfair dismissal claim, and for a senior or specialist appointment in manufacturing, logistics, or professional services, the potential award will no longer be capped.
Against those costs, investing in a thorough search through a specialist recruiter who understands your sector and your market looks very different.
A Tribunal System Under Pressure
Employment tribunals are already receiving more claims than they can clear. Ministry of Justice figures for April to June 2026 show single claims received rose by 28% year on year, while claims disposed of fell by 6%. As a result, 70,000 single claims were waiting to be resolved at the end of June, the highest level in the published series and 51% higher than a year before.
With the six-month claim window now in place, a decision you make this autumn or winter could be examined long after the event, when memories have faded and the manager involved may have moved on.
That is why the paper trail matters. Clear expectations set at the start, regular reviews, and notes of what was discussed and agreed give you a fair process and a record you can rely on.
What Well-Prepared Employers Are Doing Now
The businesses that will handle this well are not the ones rewriting probation clauses in late December. They treat every appointment as a decision that needs to be right from the start.
They start with a sharper brief.
Before a role goes out, they agree what good looks like at 30, 60, and 90 days, not just what the job description says. This is also the conversation to have with your recruiter first, because it shapes who you meet and how you assess them.
They test for fit before the offer.
Instead of relying on probation to reveal problems, they put more weight on selection itself, using realistic job previews, work-based exercises, and references that ask about performance rather than dates of employment.
A specialist recruiter adds a great deal here. We learn how candidates talk about their work, handle feedback, and think about what comes next, often across several conversations before a shortlist is formed. Ask us how we assess candidates before we present them to you.
They plan probation properly.
Probation reviews are booked in advance at set points, with written objectives and notes of each meeting. Where a concern appears, it is raised early, support is offered, and the outcome is recorded, rather than being left until the final week of the probation period.
They support the managers doing the work.
Much of this falls to line managers, who are often already stretched. In the CIPD’s Good Work Index 2025, only six in ten managers said they had the training and information or the time to manage people well. The same survey found that employees who feel respected by their manager are more likely to achieve their job objectives, which is a strong reason to give managers the space to do this properly.
They think carefully about start dates.
Starting someone in your busiest period, or while their manager is away, eats into the time you have to assess them fairly. A start date with proper support in place is a small change that protects the whole six months.
Getting the Decision Right Before Day One
The move to a six-month qualifying period does not make hiring riskier on its own. It shortens the time you have to put things right, which puts far more weight on the decisions made before anyone starts.
That is where working with a specialist recruitment partner who understands manufacturing, food production, transport, warehousing, and professional services in Norfolk and Suffolk makes a difference. We understand the roles, know the candidates, and can help you build a brief, a selection process, and a probation plan that stand up.
If you have appointments planned for the months ahead and would like to talk through how to get each one right the first time, get in touch.
Best regards,
Neil Scarborough, Managing Director
About The Recruiting Office
At The Recruiting Office, we have been helping warehousing, logistics, manufacturing, food processing, and professional services businesses across Norfolk and Suffolk find the right people for over 13 years. With 37 years of personal experience in the sector, Neil Scarborough specialises in finding candidates that last, including those hard-to-find individuals that other agencies and direct campaigns simply do not reach.
We guarantee an ideal candidate within 7 days, backed by a 96% placement success rate and a full money-back guarantee within the first 100 days (Gold and Platinum services).
Call us: 01603 964816
Email: neil@therecruitingoffice.co.uk or info@therecruitingoffice.co.uk
Visit: www.therecruitingoffice.co.uk
Further Reading
Skills Can Be Taught. Attitude Can’t. Here Is How to Hire Accordingly.