Expected to be in force in 2027 – although this may change
It was announced in a press release on 27th November 2025 that as a result of conversations held between the government, trade unions and business representatives, the qualifying period for unfair dismissal will be 6 months (currently it is 2 years). Claims of discrimination and automatic unfair dismissal will continue to have no qualifying period of service.
The previous proposal for employees to have ‘day 1 unfair dismissal rights’ has been scrapped.
We are awaiting further information as to whether the proposals for a lighter touch dismissal process, applicable during an “initial period of employment” (also known as the “statutory probation period”), will also be removed. This seems likely.
The government press release also states that ‘the compensation cap will be lifted’. It is unclear at this stage whether the cap will be raised or removed altogether.
We will update this page in due course.
Recent Employment Rights Hub Resources: Unfair Dismissal
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