UK Day-1 Unfair Dismissal 2026 — Employment Rights Bill, Statutory Probation, What Changes

Reviewed by Alex Morgan · Updated April 2026 · Commencement expected autumn 2026

What's actually changing

Until commencement, an employee can only claim ordinary unfair dismissal at an employment tribunal after 2 years' continuous service with the same employer. Below 2 years, the only routes are "automatically unfair" reasons — whistleblowing, asserting statutory rights, pregnancy/maternity, trade-union membership and around 30 other narrow grounds. This 2-year bar has stood since April 2012, when it was raised from 1 year by the Coalition government.

The Employment Rights Bill 2024 abolishes the qualifying period entirely. From commencement, unfair dismissal is a day-1 statutory right. To balance this, the Bill creates a parallel concept: a statutory probation period of up to 9 months during which a "modified" or "lighter touch" dismissal process applies — fewer procedural hoops, but still requiring fair reason and fair process. The exact lighter-touch procedure is being consulted on by the Department for Business and Trade through 2025-2026 and is expected to be confirmed in secondary legislation before commencement.

Before vs after — the practical comparison

Scenario	Before autumn 2026	After commencement
Dismissed in week 6 (no probation)	No tribunal claim available unless automatically unfair	Can claim unfair dismissal using lighter-touch test
Dismissed at month 4 of 6-month probation	No tribunal claim (under 2 years)	Can claim — lighter-touch procedure must be followed
Dismissed at month 10 (post-probation, under 2 years)	No tribunal claim	Can claim — full unfair-dismissal procedure must be followed
Dismissed after 18 months	No tribunal claim	Can claim — full procedure
Dismissed after 3 years	Can claim — full procedure	Unchanged — can claim, full procedure

The new statutory probation period

Probation is being given statutory backing for the first time in UK employment law. Key features under consultation:

Maximum 9 months — employer can set a shorter probation in the contract; cannot exceed 9 months.
"Lighter touch" dismissal process — likely to require: written warning identifying the issue, reasonable opportunity to improve, fair dismissal meeting, right of appeal. Less procedural rigour than post-probation full procedure.
Must be in contract — probation length and procedure must be set out in the written employment particulars.
Capability + conduct only — lighter-touch procedure expected to apply to performance and conduct dismissals only, not redundancy or discriminatory dismissal (which need full process even during probation).
Compensation cap may apply — government has signalled that successful tribunal claims arising from probation dismissals may attract a cap on compensation, lower than the standard unfair-dismissal cap.

Existing probations of 3-6 months remain common in 2026. After commencement, employers using less than 9 months effectively waive part of the lighter-touch protection — most are expected to extend to the full 9 months for new starters in regulated, customer-facing or safety-critical roles, while keeping shorter probations for low-risk roles.

What employers need to do before commencement

For HR and employment-rights compliance teams, the to-do list is concrete:

Audit and update employment contracts — probation language, dismissal-procedure references, statement of particulars under s.1 ERA 1996.
Re-write the company dismissal procedure — split into "during probation (lighter-touch)" and "post-probation (full)" sections.
Train line managers — most managers have spent careers operating in a "no claim under 2 years" environment and need to learn the new procedural standards.
Update HR systems — accurate tracking of probation start/end dates becomes critical evidence in any tribunal.
Review settlement-agreement templates — settlement payments for departing probation-period employees will become more common; templates need updating.
Insurance review — employer's liability and ELI excess for tribunal claims should be reviewed at next renewal.
Retain documentation — every probation review, written warning and improvement plan now matters legally.

What employees gain

The headline gain: any UK employee dismissed without fair reason and fair process can bring a tribunal claim from their first day of work after commencement. Tribunal awards in successful unfair-dismissal claims include a basic award (similar to redundancy pay calculation, capped at £700/week from April 2026) and a compensatory award (loss of earnings up to £109,683 cap from April 2026, often less in practice).

The practical effect for short-tenure employees: settlements rather than full tribunal claims. Employers historically dismissed within 2 years with little legal risk; settlements of 1-3 months' salary in "without prejudice" conversations are likely to become standard for probation-period exits where the lighter-touch procedure was not perfectly followed. Employees gain real bargaining leverage that did not exist before.

Other Employment Rights Bill commencements 2026

April 2026: Day-1 SSP and Lower Earnings Limit removal
April 2026: Statutory bereavement leave (1 week, day 1, paid)
April 2026: Day-1 paternity leave (no qualifying period)
April 2026: Day-1 unpaid parental leave
Autumn 2026: Day-1 unfair dismissal protection (this article)
Autumn 2026: Ban on most "fire and rehire" / dismissal-and-re-engagement practices
April 2027: Right to predictable hours for zero-hours workers
April 2027: New protections for pregnant returners (extended dismissal protection)
April 2027: Third-party harassment protections
April 2027: Lower auto-enrolment age trigger to 18 + LEL removed