Performance Management Starts From Day One

From January 1st 2027, the qualifying period for ordinary unfair dismissal reduces from two years to six months this means employers need to rethink how they manage new starters and performance.

This makes effective onboarding more important than ever.

A new employee shouldn’t reach the end of their probation only to be told they’re not meeting expectations. This is no good for them and, from 1st January 2027, it’s certainly no good for you. The old short service dismissal rules will no longer apply, and your employee who ‘hasn’t quite worked out’ has full employment rights if they have been with you for longer than six months. 

This isn’t about creating a more rigid or intimidating onboarding process, but rather making sure that employees know what good performance looks like. As a start, you should: 

• Set clear expectations and objectives

• Have regular one-to-ones and review points

• Provide early, constructive feedback

• Offer appropriate training and support

• Keep clear documentation of performance concerns

• Create and document a defined process for addressing underperformance

If concerns do arise, they should be identified and addressed early, rather than being left until the end of probation.

With less time to assess suitability before the new unfair dismissal protections apply, businesses should be asking themselves now:

“Do we have a robust performance management process that starts from day one?”

If the answer is no, now is the time to put one in place.

Need support? We can help review your onboarding, probation and performance management processes ahead of January 1st changes.