Day one protection from unfair dismissal: What the new Employment Rights Bill could mean for you

Adrian Fryer

Big changes are on the horizon for UK employment law. The new Employment Rights Bill poses a major shift in how unfair dismissal rights are applied. Here’s what you need to know:

What’s the current rule?

Right now, employees must have two years’ continuous service with their employer before they can bring a claim for unfair dismissal — unless the dismissal is for something automatically unfair, like discrimination or whistleblowing. That means employers can usually dismiss someone during their first two years without giving a reason or facing a claim of unfair dismissal (as long as it’s not for a protected reason).

What’s changing?

The Employment Rights Bill proposed to make unfair dismissal a “Day One” right. In other words, employees could be protected from the first day of their employment rather after 2 years.

This proposal caused controversy for employers, and they were left concerned about their ability to recruit new hires and dismiss them if their employment didn’t work out.

To help address those fears, the Bill also introduces something new called an “initial period of employment.”

What’s the initial period of employment?

During this “initial period”, which was proposed at nine months, employers could still fairly dismiss employees by using a simpler process, for reasons such as conduct, capability, or some other substantial reason. Though, please note that redundancy is not included in this list.

This “lighter-touch” dismissal process would apply during the initial period — with fewer steps and a different approach to compensation.

What’s the new proposal?

The House of Lords has now suggested scrapping the nine-month initial period altogether. Instead, they want to simply reduce the qualifying period for unfair dismissal from two years to six months, without adding a new legal structure.

This would make things simpler, giving employees protection after six months, and avoiding confusion for employers.

What happens next?

The Bill is now back in the House of Commons, where the government is expected to use its majority to restore the original proposal of a 9-month initial period.

The final version of the law will determine whether employees receive day-one rights under a nine-month initial period of employment or a simplified six-month framework.

What does this mean for you?

If you’re an employee, you could soon have unfair dismissal protection much earlier than before, possibly from day one. This means more job security and clearer rights from the start of your employment.

If you’re an employer, you may need to revise onboarding and probation processes to account for these new rights and ensure dismissals, even in the early stages, follow the correct procedures.

We’ll be keeping a close eye on the outcome of this Bill and will provide updates as it develops. In the meantime, if you have any questions about how these changes could affect your rights or responsibilities, get in touch with our employment law team today.

Contact Bermans Head of Employment, Adrian Fryer.