What changes are being made to the qualifying period for unfair dismissal

The Act reduces the qualifying period for ordinary unfair dismissal protection from two years' continuous service to six months. 

From 1 January 2027, most employees will gain the right not to be unfairly dismissed after six months' continuous employment, providing greater job security earlier in their employment. The Act does not introduce a statutory probation period or change existing rules around contractual probation periods. 

Existing day-one protections against automatically unfair dismissal remain unchanged. 

What this means for union reps 

• New starters will gain protection from unfair dismissal much earlier than under the previous system. 
• Reps may see an increase in requests for support from members who have been dismissed during their first two years of employment. 
• Once an employee has six months’ service, an employer will normally need a potentially fair reason for dismissal and must act reasonably. Existing day-one protections, including protection against discrimination and most automatically unfair dismissals, continue to apply from the start of employment.