From Day One to Month Six: Labour weakens dismissal rights for employees

The Labour Party’s manifesto had pledged to introduce day one protection against unfair dismissal, under their flagship Employment Rights Bill, meaning employees could challenge dismissal from the very outset of their employment.

However, following consultation with businesses and trade unions and amid constant pushback from the House of Lords, the Government has now conceded on this pledge, and the qualifying period will be reduced to six months from the current two years.

From an employer’s perspective, this six-month period still represents a significant reduction in flexibility in comparison to the current two-year rule, but now avoids the immediate exposure that the “day one” rights would have created. The shorter qualifying period may still increase the volume of claims, especially in sectors and businesses with higher turnover of staff, and so businesses should ensure they allocate resources and budgets for this accordingly (especially in light of recent ACAS changes, where the early conciliation period is being extended from six weeks to 12).

Employers should further note that rules concerning discrimination and automatically unfair dismissal remain unchanged, and employees will continue to benefit from day-one protection in this regard, so employers must continue to exercise caution from the outset of employment.

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