Probation is not a formality: how to run the first six months of a new hire
In a lot of small businesses, probation runs itself. The contract says six months, nobody looks at it again until a reminder appears in month five, and the review is a ten minute chat that ends with "you've passed". When it goes wrong, it tends to go wrong quietly. A concern gets noticed in month two, nobody says anything because it feels too early, and by month five someone wants the hire to end and there is nothing written down to explain why.
From January, that approach becomes a lot riskier. And even setting the law aside, it wastes the one period where a new starter is most open to being shaped.
What changes on 1 January 2027
Under the Employment Rights Act 2025, the length of service an employee needs before they can claim ordinary unfair dismissal drops from two years to six months. The change applies to dismissals taking effect on or after 1 January 2027, so anyone who already has six months' service on that date is covered straight away. The cap on unfair dismissal compensation is also being removed.
Until now, a six month probation sat well inside the two year window. Employers had plenty of room to decide a hire was not working, and the risk of getting the process wrong was limited. From January, the end of a typical probation and the point where unfair dismissal rights begin are effectively the same date.
Two practical consequences are worth knowing:
- A decision left to the final week may be too late. Statutory notice can count towards the six months, so a dismissal in the last few days of the period can still end up inside it. Plan for decisions to be made with time to spare.
- Some protections were never tied to service at all. Dismissals connected to discrimination, whistleblowing, pregnancy and a number of other reasons are already protected from day one. Probation has never been a free pass, and the new rules make that more visible.
None of this means probation becomes dangerous. It means it has to be run properly, which is something most businesses would benefit from anyway. If you are unsure how the change affects a specific contract or a current hire, that is a conversation for an employment lawyer.
Why it matters beyond the law
On our TikTok, where we talk to candidates, the questions people search for most about probation are variations on one theme: am I failing, and how would I know? Many new starters genuinely cannot tell.
That is not their failing. It is usually a sign that nobody told them what good looks like. A new hire who knows exactly what they are being judged on tends to settle faster, ask better questions and recover from early mistakes, because they can see the gap for themselves. A good probation protects the business from a hire that is not working, but it does just as much to help the ones that are.
Where probation usually goes wrong
Nobody agreed what passing looks like. If the only standard is "settling in well", the outcome comes down to how the manager feels in month five, which is hard to explain and harder to defend.
Concerns are noticed but not raised. It feels unkind to flag something in week six. So the issue grows, and the new starter is the last to hear about it.
The review is the first real conversation. If a final review contains anything the employee did not already know, the process has not worked, whichever way the decision goes.
A probation that works, start to finish
If you wrote a scorecard before the advert went out, most of this is already done. The four or five outcomes you hired against become the probation goals. For an Account Manager, for example, one outcome might be taking the weekly client report off the founder by week eight, which gives you a natural check at month two.
Week one: put the outcomes in writing. Share the scorecard outcomes, what good looks like for each, and the dates of every review. The new starter should know on day one exactly how probation will be decided.
Week four: a short informal check-in. How are they finding it, what is unclear, what do they need. Note anything that came up.
Month two: first proper review against the outcomes. Go through each one. If something is off track, say so plainly, explain what needs to change, agree what support you will give, and put it in writing. Raised this early, most concerns are fixable.
Month three: midpoint review. Each outcome is either on track or at risk. If something is at risk, set a clear, specific target and a date to review it.
Month four: the decision point. If the hire is clearly working, you can confirm early; there is no rule that says probation has to run its full length. If it clearly is not, this is the time to act, with enough notice to stay comfortably inside six months. If it is genuinely unclear, an extension can make sense, but only if the contract allows for one and only if you can say what would be different by the end of it.
Month five: confirm in writing. A short letter confirming they have passed, plus a conversation about the next six months. It costs nothing and it lands well.
Shorter is often better
Since the end of a six month probation now coincides with the start of unfair dismissal rights, many employers are moving to three or four months, with the option to extend written into the contract. That leaves room to make a decision, or extend, without running up against the deadline. For most roles, if a structured process has not given you a clear view by month four, another two months rarely changes the picture.
When it is not working
Say so early, be specific and write it down. Give a fair chance to improve, with real support and a date. If it still is not working, end it respectfully, in line with the contract, and with an honest explanation. Done that way, most people will not be surprised, and many will tell you they had already sensed it.
The honest summary
Probation has been treated as a formality for a long time because, for most small businesses, the cost of treating it that way was low. From January, that changes. The good news is that a well run probation does not take much more effort than a badly run one. It needs clear outcomes on day one, honest conversations at month two and three, and a decision made with time to spare.
If you already have a scorecard for the role, you have most of the probation plan. If you would like a second pair of eyes on your probation process before January, send it over: hello@buildintalent.co.uk.