Initial Period of Employment

Introduce a Statutory Initial Period of Employment

When the length of service requirement unfair dismissal is removed, a statutory initial period of employment will be introduced. During the initial period of employment a ‘lighter touch’ dismissal process will be allowed. So assessing and dismissing new recruits who are underperforming or unsuitable without going through the full disciplinary or capability procedure will still be allowed.

Updates
This page was first published on 21 August 2024, the latest update was made on 29 October 2024.

Initial Period of Employment

A statutory initial period of employment will be introduced. The timeframe for the initial period of employment is not yet defined but is likely to be nine months. This would mean you could have a 6 month probation with a 3 month extension before having to go through the full disciplinary or capability procedure to dismiss an employee. Nine months would also allow an employer to dismiss an underperforming employee at the end of the six month period, provide them notice of dismissal and for the termination date to take affect within the nine month period. Thus preventing the employee from claiming unfair dismissal.

The term ‘Initial Period of Employment’ has been chosen as an alternative to probationary period so the legislation doesn’t have to define what is and is not a probationary period. There will therefore be no requirement to include a probationary period in your contracts of employment as the initial nine month period of employment will be defined in law.

Consultation

There will be a consultation on the maximum length of ‘Initial Period of Employment’, I will update this page once that has been launched.

Fair Dismissal During The Initial Period of Employment

What a fair dismissal will look like is yet to be determined. A minimum statutory procedure may be introduced that must be followed to make the dismissal fair. (Remember those Statutory Dismissal and Disciplinary Procedures we all loved!!!). There will be a consultation about a lighter touch dismissal process and I will update this page once that has been launched.

The legislation states that the lighter touch dismissal process, once agreed, will apply to dismissals that relate to:

  • Conduct
  • Capability
  • Breach of a statutory restriction
  • Some other substantial reason

Any other reason for dismissal during the statutory initial period of employment must follow Section 98 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. So the lighter touch dismissal process cannot be used for any redundancy dismissals during the statutory initial period of employment.

Lighter Touch Dismissal Process

The actual process is not described in the Employment Rights Bill but is likely to include:

  • written invitation to a meeting, with reasons for the meeting
  • meeting with the right to be accompanied
  • written confirmation of the outcome of the meeting (to comply with the right to provide written reasons for dismissal).

Appeals

It is not clear whether an appeal process will be included, during the reign of the Statutory Dismissal and Disciplinary Procedures an appeal after termination of employment was a written process.

Compensation

Unfair dismissal claims are capped at the lower of 52 weeks of wages or £115,707. The rates are increased in April of each year. The proposal is that individuals who successfully claim unfair dismissal during the initial period of employment will receive lower level of compensation.

Employees V Workers

Unfair dismissal continues to apply to Employees only (not workers). There is an intention to create a single status of worker but that will require extensive consultation so that process is unlikely to complete before 2026-27.

Top Tips

In the short-term I recommend that you review your recruitment processes to ensure that you have a robust process in place and ensure that probationary periods are managed effectively. Contracts of Employment should also be reviewed to ensure probationary periods are clear and flexible.

Consider each individual job within your business and formulate a set of clear objectives that can be given to any new recruit a the start of their employment. Once agreed these can be added to offer letters so their is no confusion further down the line. Considering these now will allow you to implement them and have a trial run before the law changes.

Review your Probation Policy to ensure the process includes regular review meetings and that the process around extensions and dismissal involves a meeting with the employee.

If you employee staff on fixed-term contracts, ending the contract still counts as a dismissal so the dismissal process would need reviewing to ensure compliance.

Probation Period Policy and Process
If you don’t have a probationary policy in place and are a member of the Kea HR Manager service please get in touch and I will work with you to create an effective process for your business.

If you aren’t a member of the Kea HR Manager service check out the Kea Ready To Go HR Deparmtment. The Probation Folder contains guidance and resources to help you manage employees during their probationary period. I provide a model framework for monitoring an employee through their probation period and a series of letters to help you confirm the probationer as a permanent employee, extend the probationary period or terminate the probationer’s employment because they have failed to reach satisfactory standards of performance or behaviour.

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Initial Period of Employment

Kathryn

Kathryn is a highly experienced HR Manager with a wealth of skills and knowledge acquired across a variety of industries including manufacturing, health and social care and financial services. She has worked in small localised business and larger multi sited organisations and is comfortable liaising with senior managers and union officials as well as answering queries from team members. Connect with Kathryn on:

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