The Act reduces the qualifying period for ordinary unfair dismissal protection from two years’ continuous service to six months. This means employees with six months’ service as at 1 January 2027 will gain unfair dismissal rights, so colleges will need to begin preparing for this change well in advance.
Another significant reform is the removal of the unfair dismissal compensation cap, which currently limits awards to the lower of 52 weeks’ pay or 118,223. Removing the cap could lead to substantially higher tribunal awards, particularly for senior or higher-paid employees, and may affect both dismissal decisions and settlement negotiations through ACAS early conciliation or otherwise.
Taken together, these reforms are likely to increase tribunal risk and place greater scrutiny on how colleges manage early-stage employment. This highlights the importance of having robust recruitment, onboarding and probation processes in place.
Recruitment and onboarding
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