Managing Probationary Periods - and other employment law updates

Event Details

You have invested time and resources into recruiting the right person for a role. The new employee has committed to the job and may have left another role to join your organisation. So, it is in everyone’ interests for the new employee to succeed in the role.

Managing the early months of a new employee’s employment becomes even more important from 1st January 2027. From this date, employees will only require 6 months’ service to be eligible to claim unfair dismissal. This is a big step down from the current requirement to have two years’ service.

This means that final decisions regarding a new employee’s suitability for ongoing employment will have to be taken much earlier than currently if the employer wants to minimise the chances of a claim being brought from an employee who feels they have been treated unfairly.

In this webinar Mark Mason, Director of Mark Mason Employment Law (members of the GC Network) will help us consider the following:-

• The change in the law coming into force in January
• Consideration of what this means for probationary periods
• When to make a final decision on the new employee’s suitability for ongoing employment
• Options towards the end of the probationary period - confirm in post, extend the probationary period or dismiss
• How to give a probationary period the best chance of success
• The requirement to make reasonable adjustments if a disability is impacting performance or attendance

We will also consider some tips on performance management generally for employees with more than 6 months’ service. Finally, Mark will highlight for us the other recent updates in employment law and look ahead to what is still to come as the roll-out of the provisions of the Employment Rights Act 2025 continues.

Who is this event for: anyone in your organisation with responsibility for HR. 

Venue: Online

Date & Time: 9^th March 10:00am - 11.30am.

Cost: The session is £20 for GC & MAP members, and £50 for non-members. A group discount of 33% is available if booking three or more places.