The Labour Government has proposed a new right for employees to claim unfair dismissal from their first day of employment, eliminating the current two-year qualifying period. However, this proposal is still under consultation.
The government is also discussing the introduction of a statutory probation period of nine months. This aims to help employers properly assess an employee’s suitability for a role while providing workers with strengthened rights from their first day of employment.
The Bill includes proposals to ban the use of exploitative zero-hours contracts. Instead, employees who work regular hours over a defined period will have the right to guaranteed hours.
To combat this, recruitment and hiring processes will need to be tightened. Since it will be much harder to dismiss employees within their first 12 months of employment, small businesses must invest in effective candidate management tools to ensure that new hires possess the skills needed for long-term success in their roles.
Nottingham College have a free recruitment service to provide support and advice around apprenticeships that will help businesses adapt to these changes.
