As we await further detail of the new Labour Government's hotly-anticipated changes to employment law, the Financial Times has reported on one of the most eye-catching pillars of its planned reforms: the idea of ‘day one’ protections from unfair dismissal.
Under the current law, the Employment Rights Act 1996, employees are not eligible for protection from most forms of unfair dismissal until they have accrued two years' continuous service. Labour's proposal to remove that service requirement entirely would potentially represent a sea change in employee relations.
As speculated, however, the Financial Times' reporting suggests that employers will be able to fairly dismiss employees for failing to meet expectations within a probationary period of up to six months.
Nevertheless, even in this form, the proposed legislation is likely to require employers to exercise a higher degree of care in recruiting and then managing new hires. In particular, we are yet to receive detail of what will constitute a fair probationary process. That may well be considerably more involved, and require more active performance management, than many are currently familiar with.
At present, there remains a considerable degree of uncertainty, despite these latest reports; we will be keeping a keen eye on further news and the draft legislation, and providing additional updates as Labour's proposals progress.
Companies will be able to keep new hires on probation for up to six months under a compromise Labour plan despite an election pledge to give employees “day one rights”.