Reducing the qualifying period for unfair dismissal protection is a sensible move, says the Resolution Foundation.
The government is amending the Employment Rights Bill to reduce the qualifying period for unfair dismissal protection from two years to six months, rather than scrapping it altogether for a ‘day one’ right.
This is a sensible move that will speed up the delivery of improvements to working conditions and reduce the risk of firms being put off hiring, said the think tank.
The UK currently has a two-year qualifying period for unfair dismissal protection – meaning workers can be well established in their job but still lack this protection.
According to the Foundation, other rich countries which have unfair dismissal protection typically have much shorter qualifying periods, reflecting the fact that it does not take employers more than a few months to judge whether a new hire is a good fit.
But getting rid of qualifying periods altogether would have been a step too far in the other direction, risking putting employers off hiring, it adds.
Nye Cominetti, Principal Economist at the Resolution Foundation, said:
‘The UK currently has one of the longest qualifying periods for protection which needs to come down. But scrapping it entirely would have meant lurching from one extreme to the other and putting firms off hiring new workers.
This sensible move to a six-month qualifying period will bring the UK into line with other countries, deliver tangible improvements to working conditions, and help the government move forward with other key aspects of the Employment Rights Bill.’
Internet link: Resolution Foundation
