Probationary Periods To Be Limited To 6 Months

The new Labour Government has confirmed that employers will be permitted to place new recruits onto probationary periods of up to 6 months. What this means is that whilst the Government will still be making the right to bring a claim for unfair dismissal a day 1 right once the new Employment Rights Bill comes into force, the new legislation will include provisions that will apply to dismissals during probation periods. The Secretary of State for Business and Trade, Jonathan Reynolds, stated in a recent interview with The Times that: "we recognise there needs to be a period after which someone has started work where you’re assessing effectively, ‘Is this working’, are they living up to the promise they had."