HR Forum: Day one rights and update on unfair dismissal

Our HR forums with Rubicon Recruitment are free to attend and take place online for one hour once per month. Each month we cover a topical HR/employment law subject and provide education, and helpful tips and resources.

This month, in January 2026, we covered day one employment rights and an update to unfair dismissal under the Employment Rights Act 2025.

What are day one employment rights?

Clients often ask us what the minimum day one rights are, so it was a great opportunity to run through these along with providing real life practical examples and steps to take to ensure compliance and avoid risk.

What are the minimum day one rights?

• Employment contract: No later than the first day of employment all employees and workers are entitled to written terms and conditions. The law requires the employer to provide a written statement which sets out various written particulars to include for example names of parties, start date, job title, place of work, hours, holiday and sickness entitlement, pension, detail of contractual and non-contractual benefits, notice, information about training, whether there is a requirement to work outside of the UK for over one month, information about discipline and grievance.
• Policies: Employers must also have some minimum policies in place to include: Disciplinary procedure [recommend rules], grievance, information about pensions [if not in contract], health and safety, equal opportunities, anti-harassment [inc. sexual harassment] and bullying, privacy notice/data protection, and over 250 employees: menopause.

Recommended terms

In addition to the above minimum policies and terms, there are other commercial terms that we recommend to include obligations post-employment to protect the employer. We are always very happy to carry out a free health check of any employment documents to provide a free no obligation quote if updates are required.

• National minimum wage for work carried out; holiday pay, notice and sick pay.
• Limits to working time and entitlement to rest breaks.
• Right not to be automatically and unfairly dismissed. All employees have a day one right not to be dismissed if the sole or principal reason is that they have for example exercised a statutory right to family leave, raised health and safety concerns, made a protected and qualifying disclosure (whistle blowing), or been involved in trade union activities.
• Discrimination: protection from unlawful discrimination is a pre day one right and obligations arise right from the time an employer places an advert for a role through to end of employment.

Update on the Employment Rights Act 2025

During the HR forum we also provided an update in relation to the qualifying period for unfair dismissal under the Employment Rights Act 2025. From 1st January 2027, the qualifying period to bring a claim for ordinary unfair dismissal will be reduced from 2 years to 6 months.

As of 1st January 2027, any employee that has or will have 6 months continuous service after this date will have the right not to be unfairly dismissed. Currently the qualifying period is 2 years.

For example:

• If you employ a new starter from 1st July 2026, as of 1st January 2027 they will have 6 months service and have the right to bring an unfair dismissal claim if dismissed after 1st January 2027.
• If an employee starts on 2nd February 2026, they will have 6 months service on 2nd August 2026. They will not obtain protection for unfair dismissal until 1st January 2027.
• If an employee starts on 1st February 2027, they will obtain protection for unfair dismissal on 1st August 2027.

In practical terms the change means that for employees who have 6 months service on or after 1st January 2027, employers will be required to:

• Have a fair reason for dismissal: capability (performance or sickness), conduct, or redundancy; and
• Follow a fair process relevant to the fair reason.

This represents a change from the original proposals set out in the Employment Rights Bill which previously referred to a day one right to unfair dismissal and shortened dismissal processes to be followed within an initial period of employment. We no longer need to worry about the initial period of employment or introduction of reduced dismissal processes.

What practical steps should HR professionals follow?

We recommend that you follow the below steps, which our Employment Law/HR experts can assist with:

• • • Review and update contractual terms, in particular notice and probation;
    • Recruitment – review and train on policies;
    • Probation processes: recommend regular reviews up to 6 months;
    • Update and train on capability (sickness and performance) policies.

If you have any responsibility for HR or people in your business, please do not hesitate to contact events@rubiconpeople.co.uk to be able to attend our regular and free HR forums.

Our Employment Law experts

If you need help updating or preparing employee HR contracts, policies, and training, we can help. Please get in touch with one of our employment law/HR experts on 01202 525333 or by email at employment@ellisjones.co.uk, one of our team would be very happy to assist you.