Member News
Many businesses feel that the Employment Rights Bill is something they can deal with closer to the time. After all, most changes won’t come into effect until 2026/2027. However, the decisions businesses make right now will determine how they can continue to grow, hire and mitigate risk in the years to come. This change does not make hiring impossible, it makes bad hiring expensive.
By implementing day-one rights to statutory sick pay eligibility, paternity leave and unpaid parental leave, alongside reducing the qualifying period for unfair dismissal, the legislation pushes employers to confront informal recruitment approaches and “we’ll trial it” processes that are no longer good enough. Currently, employees must have two years’ service to bring an ordinary unfair dismissal claim. Under the new framework, this will reduce to six months for new hires from 2026, with day-one rights expanded across other areas.
In practice, this dramatically shortens the window employers have to identify poor fit, performance issues or cultural mismatch, while increasing the potential cost of getting it wrong. When hiring is rushed, strategically poor or driven by short-term pressure, the cost doesn’t always show up immediately. It often appears months later in cultural misalignment, capability gaps, performance management and, in some instances, more complex and costly matters.
Royal Assent for the Employment Rights Bill has now been granted. With most changes coming into effect in phases between 2026 and 2027, employers do have time to plan and adjust. However, waiting until the legislation is fully implemented will be too late.
Evolving recruitment strategies, probation processes and internal capability is essential before the legal landscape changes. Recruitment must become a long-term decision. Hiring for a short-term fix has always carried risk, but now more than ever, recruitment strategies need to be structured around retention and long-term growth. The cost of a bad hire will increase, while the value of hiring the right person with the right recruitment strategy in place will become more significant than ever. This legislation is not just an employment law update; it is a clear alert that the margin for error in hiring is reducing.
Now is the time to invest in better recruitment, implement clearer expectations and enhance training for those in senior and management positions. Hiring with confidence is fundamental to hiring well and with clarity. A lack of confidence leads to cautious and risk-averse hiring, which can result in fewer opportunities and constrained growth.
Now is the time to move from awareness to action. Businesses that will continue to hire with confidence in 2026 are those reviewing their recruitment strategy today, not after the law changes. This means clearer recruitment strategies, more rigorous hiring decisions, structured probation periods and managers who know how to assess fit early and fairly.
At Talentheads, this is exactly where we support employers. Working in partnership with businesses to develop recruitment strategies to strengthen recruitment at the front end, ensuring the right people are hired, expectations are clear from day one and hiring decisions are made with long-term retention in mind. In a time where the margin for error is reducing, getting recruitment right isn’t a maybe, it’s a commercial safeguard.
The Employment Rights Bill doesn’t remove the ability to hire. It removes the safety net for getting it wrong. Businesses that adapt now, with the right recruitment strategy and support in place, will continue to grow, hire and compete. Those that don’t may find the biggest risk isn’t legal exposure, it’s hesitation.
Want to talk more about Recruitment and Talent strategy with your outsourced internal recruitment team then reach out to Talentheads.
