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Companies will be able to keep new hires on probation for up to six months under a work compromise plan despite an election pledge to give employees “the first day”.
In the run-up to the July election, Labor promised to introduce basic individual rights from day one for all workers – scrapping the existing two-year qualifying period for protection against some forms of unfair dismissal and a year of waiting for parental leave.
The pledge was one of the most controversial elements of jobs reforms which Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer called “the biggest level of workers’ rights in a generation”.
But several Whitehall figures told the Financial Times that the two ministers leading the legislation had set a trial period of up to six months when employees could be made redundant more easily. “It’s a decent compromise after a lot of back and forth,” said one.
The government declined to comment.
The new administration is walking a tightrope between unions, who are determined to secure promised employment reforms, and business leaders, who are concerned about some of the changes.
He said the review would not prevent “fair dismissal”, including the use of trial periods “with fair and transparent rules and processes” to evaluate new hires.
Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, had favored allowing longer trial periods, while deputy prime minister Angela Rayner – who has strong links with unions – had wanted a much shorter time before workers could get their rights .
Probationary periods, which usually last three to six months, have no part in UK employment law at the moment. Employers argue that the new regime will require them to introduce much more rigorous procedures to ensure that any decision to dismiss a new employee withstands scrutiny in a labor court.
For large companies, this is potentially more expensive but manageable, but trade groups say smaller businesses will struggle and may be more reluctant to hire staff with atypical backgrounds or qualifications.
Matthew Percival, who leads policy on jobs and skills at the CBI business lobby, said small businesses in particular were “already struggling to keep pressure on their bottom lines” and that the higher employment costs “will hinder their ability to invest, hire. and grow.”
Three-quarters of respondents to a CBI survey said the possibility of probation decisions being challenged in court would make them more cautious about taking on new staff, but Percival said this could be avoided if new rules on the probation require “only a light touch approach.”.
Rayner and Reynolds held a series of joint meetings with chief executives, unions and lobby groups aimed at reassuring them and explaining the extent of the reforms and how they would work.
Reynolds this week rejected the idea of a split with Rayner and defended the idea of trial periods: “We recognize that there must be a period after which someone has begun to work where you evaluate effectively,” is this work “, are? living up to the promise they had in the interview? him he told the Times.
The British government has promised to produce the legislation within 100 days of the general election in July and is expected to set out the details of the package in early October. However, many of the individual policies have to go through a lengthy process involving secondary legislation and further consultation.