Dismissing During Probation: Why “They’ve Only Been Here Five Months” Isn’t a Defence

Short service removes one risk. It does not remove the expensive ones.

Ordinary unfair dismissal requires qualifying service. Discrimination, whistleblowing and certain automatically unfair dismissal claims do not — available from day one, and without a compensation ceiling.

The threshold is not the same across the UK. Northern Ireland retains one year under the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996, against two years in Great Britain. Employ in Belfast and Birmingham and you are running two clocks.gov+2

Manage probation; don’t let it expire. Hold the review meetings you promised. Record concerns contemporaneously rather than reconstructing them later. Extend properly and in writing. Confirm successful completion explicitly — silence usually means they passed.

Before you terminate, check the contract for notice and any enhanced probationary procedure you have accidentally made contractual. Check whether the employee recently raised a complaint, requested an adjustment, or disclosed a health condition. That timing is what turns a straightforward exit into a claim.

Probation review going badly? Get it checked before the meeting. 0121 256 8043.