If you hired a developer, a service desk analyst or an office coordinator this summer, there is a date you should put in the diary now. On 1 January 2027 the unfair dismissal qualifying period drops from two years to six months. Anyone who started with you on or before 1 July 2026 will already be past six months on that day, so they gain the right to claim the moment the change lands. Most small IT firms have run probation on the old assumption that a new starter can be let go fairly freely in the first year or so. That assumption has about ten weeks left.
What the unfair dismissal qualifying period change says
The Employment Rights Act 2025 cuts the qualifying period for ordinary unfair dismissal claims to six months. The date was fixed by the Employment Rights Act 2025 (Commencement No. 4 and Transitional and Saving Provisions) Regulations 2026, SI 2026/559, made on 26 May 2026. The new period applies where the effective date of termination is on or after 1 January 2027. The dismissal date is what counts, whenever the person was hired.
The Act also removes the power for ministers to change the qualifying period by regulations, so a future government would need new primary legislation to move it again. Plan on six months being the rule for a long time.
Automatic unfair dismissal claims, such as dismissal for whistleblowing or for asserting a statutory right, still need no qualifying service at all. That has not changed.
The week of notice that catches people out
When counting service for unfair dismissal, section 97(2) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 adds on the statutory minimum notice the employee should have received, even if you paid them in lieu. After one month in the job that minimum is one week. So someone dismissed with pay in lieu at five months and three weeks can be treated as having six months. Citation’s worked example is a team leader who started on 7 July 2026, was dismissed on 5 January 2027 with pay in lieu, and still qualified because the extra week took her over the line.
For decisions you take in December 2026 the same rule cuts the other way. A dismissal with no notice given late in December can be pushed into January by the statutory notice, which brings it under the new period. Do not try to time a dismissal around the change. Treat everyone who will reach six months by early January as protected.
The compensation cap goes too
Today the compensatory award for ordinary unfair dismissal is capped at the lower of £123,543 or 52 weeks’ gross pay (the figure from 6 April 2026). From 1 January 2027 both limits are removed for dismissals with an effective date of termination on or after that day, according to Browne Jacobson’s reading of the commencement regulations. The statutory notice extension does not help a claimant here; the actual termination date has to fall in 2027.
For a senior developer on £60,000 who takes nine months to find similar work, the loss of earnings alone is around £45,000 gross, before any uplift. A tribunal can raise an award by up to 25 percent where the Acas Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures was not followed. In a small company, one badly handled exit can now cost more than a year’s salary for the role.
Probation now has to mean something
Many IT contracts of employment carry a six month probation with an option to extend. Under the new rule that probation ends the same week full protection starts, so an extension past six months no longer buys you anything legally. What it does do is show a tribunal you had doubts and kept the person on.
Look again at the length. A three month probation with a written review at the end gives you time to act, and to act properly, before six months. Set clear standards for the role at the start. For a service desk analyst that might be ticket resolution times and call quality; for a developer, code review feedback and delivery against sprint commitments. Then record each check in. A short note after a one to one, sent to the employee, is worth more than a full appraisal written from memory in month five.
If someone is not working out, follow the Acas Code even in the first months. Put the concern to them in writing and meet them, with a companion if they want one. Give them a fair chance to improve, then confirm the outcome in writing with a right of appeal. It costs a few hours. It is also the habit you will need for everyone after 1 January anyway.
Where temporary staff fit
The change is about employees. A contractor or temp supplied through an agency is usually not your employee, and time spent with you on an agency assignment does not normally count towards their six months if you later take them on directly, because their continuous employment with you starts when your own contract does. Check the facts in each case, since some arrangements are not what their paperwork says.
This is one reason some firms are using a temp period to see how a new IT support hire works out before offering a permanent contract. If you do, read our guide to temporary IT support staff first, and bear in mind any transfer fee terms in your agency agreement.
What to do before Christmas
List everyone who started between January 2025 and the end of July 2026. From 1 January 2027 every one of them who has six months’ service can bring an unfair dismissal claim. If any are already in a performance process, finish it fairly, without rushing. Rewrite your probation clause and your probation review form, and brief anyone who manages people on what a fair process looks like. The time limit for bringing most tribunal claims has changed as well, which we covered in our guide to the employment tribunal time limit.
If you would rather bring in IT, technical or office staff on a temporary basis while you sort your hiring process out, tell us what you need and we will come back to you.