Recruiting and keeping good people employed is hard enough in care settings without legislation changing. The Employment Rights Act 2025 (the ERA) is bringing the biggest set of changes to UK employment law in a generation, and one of the areas that matters most for care providers is how you handle probation periods.
The good news is that none of this needs to be complicated once you know what's coming and start planning now. Citation’s employment law experts are here to update you on what's changing, and what you can do about it.
A quick timeline of what's changing
The ERA rolls out in stages rather than all at once. For care providers, the headline dates are:
- 6 April 2026 – Statutory Sick Pay is now payable from day one of sickness absence, with the Lower Earnings Limit removed so all staff qualify, no matter how many hours they work.
- October 2026 – Employers get a strengthened duty to take "all reasonable steps" to prevent sexual harassment, including harassment by third parties such as service users, families or visitors. Tribunal time limits also extend from three months to six.
- 1 January 2027 – The qualifying period for unfair dismissal drops from two years to six months, and the compensation cap is removed. This is the change with the biggest knock-on effect for how you run probation.
- Later in 2027 – New rights for zero-hours and low-hours workers, including a right to guaranteed hours and reasonable notice of shifts.
We’re going to focus on the January 2027 change to unfair dismissals and what it means for your probation processes. Because it's the one that you need to plan now, not later.
What's actually changing with unfair dismissal
Right now, an employee needs two years' service before they can bring an ordinary unfair dismissal claim. From 1 January 2027, that drops to six months. The compensation cap – currently the lower of £118,223 or 12 months' salary – is being scrapped too.
This doesn't touch the law on probation periods directly. There's no rule saying probation has to be a certain length, and you're still free to use one. But it does change the risk with having probation periods that run at or close to six months, which is what we see many care providers currently use.
Why a six-month probation period carries more risk from January 2027
If a probation period is set at exactly six months, a dismissal at the end of it can still give the employee unfair dismissal rights – because statutory notice gets added on to their length of service.
Take a support worker who starts on 7 July 2026, on a six-month probation. They reach six months' service on 6 January 2027. If they're dismissed and paid in lieu of notice on 2 January, it looks like they're still within probation and under the threshold. But add their one week's statutory notice, and their service crosses into unfair dismissal territory. That means they can bring a claim.
It gets trickier with delays. Imagine a registered manager schedules a probation review for early January, but the employee calls in sick the week before and comes back with a fit note. The review gets pushed back, probation gets extended a few weeks, and the eventual dismissal happens after the employee has already reached six months' service. Even though the extension felt reasonable at the time, the employee has unfair dismissal rights by the point the decision is actually made.
None of this means six-month probation periods are now off the table. It means the timing needs much closer attention than it used to.
Should you shorten your probation period?
Not necessarily, but it's worth reviewing. A shorter probation of three or four months is an option, because it puts the review and decision point further away from the six-month threshold, giving you breathing room if a meeting gets delayed.
In care, though, the starting question should always be practical: does the length of your probation give you enough time to properly assess someone? Shadow shifts, competency sign-off, medication training, safeguarding inductions – these take real time to complete and observe. A probation period that's too short to properly assess someone is its own risk, quite apart from unfair dismissal law.
If four months genuinely isn't enough to assess a role safely, keep the longer period – just build in earlier, more frequent review points, and make sure any decision to dismiss (or extend probation) happens well before the six-month mark, not on it.
What to do now
You've got time before January 2027, but it's worth using it. A few practical steps:
- Review your contracts. Check what probation length is written into your templates, and whether it needs adjusting.
- Set review meetings early. Don't leave the only formal check-in to the final week of probation – by then, there's little room to fix problems or reschedule around sickness.
- Document as you go. Regular, written check-ins during probation give you a clear record of concerns raised and support offered, which matters whatever the length of service.
- Train your managers. Whoever runs probation reviews needs to understand the new timing risk, and feel confident having early, honest conversations rather than waiting for the final meeting to give thorough feedback.
- Look at onboarding, not just probation. Strong inductions and a clear training plan in the first weeks reduce the chance you need a difficult probation conversation at all.
It's also worth remembering that probation length isn't the only safeguard. Employees can already bring claims from day one for reasons like discrimination, whistleblowing or raising a health and safety concern – so a fair, documented process during probation is good practice no matter the qualifying period.
A chance to strengthen recruitment, not just manage risk
It's easy to see the ERA purely as a compliance exercise, especially in a sector already stretched by recruitment and retention pressure. But tightening up your probation and induction process has a second benefit and that’s to help new starters succeed, rather than just protecting you if they don't.
Care providers who invest in clear onboarding, early feedback and proper training during those first months tend to see people settle in faster and stay longer – which matters more than ever with unfair dismissal rights kicking in sooner. Getting recruitment and induction right at the start is the best way to make sure you rarely need to think about dismissal at all.
Where to go for more support
Citation has a range of free resources for care providers to get ready for the ERA changes, including guidance on probation periods, sick pay and the wider changes coming into force [on the Employment Rights Act Hub]. And you can find more information on how Citation support the care sector here.
Citation will also be exhibiting at the Care Roadshow, Epsom Downs, on 13 October – come and speak to the team if you'd like to talk through any of these changes in person.