Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Baroness Smith of Malvern on 16 October (HL Deb col 355) that “a statutory probation period will be introduced with light-touch standards for fair dismissal based on performance and stability”, what is the length of that statutory probation period and what are the grounds for dismissal during that period.

Next Steps to Make Work Pay, published in 2024, set out the Government’s preference for the statutory probation period to be nine months long.

Under the Employment Rights Bill, the normal grounds for fair dismissal (under the Employment Rights Act 1996) will apply in this period, and light-touch standards will apply to dismissals for reasons of the employee’s conduct, capability, illegality, or some other substantial reason relating to the employee. The Government believes this will allow businesses to remain confident in hiring.