Expectations of the Year and How it Will Impact Businesses .

​With the Employment Rights Bill announced last year, a poll by WorkNest found seven in ten companies have raised concerns that the day-one rights of protection from unfair dismissal, right to receive parental leave and sick pay, will negatively impact their business and more than a third of businesses are expected to revise their probationary periods in line with the day-one right to claim unfair dismissal.

​The poll by WorkNest also discovered only 20% of organisations will keep their current probationary procedure unchanged. 56% of the businesses surveyed shared they are uncertain about revising their recruitment strategy, and one in five (19%) already plan to adapt their hiring methods to align with the day-one rights. Now is the time to consider the steps you need to take to protect your business and team for the future.

​Coupled with the Equality (Race and Disability) Bill which is soon to be published, we are expecting a plethora of reforms to worker rights and protections and now is the time to review, redefine your processes and policies and train your people managers. Don’t wait until the changes come into effect.

​Here are our top tips on how you can protect your business. For more help and support please get in touch with us.

​1. Talk to a Recruitment Expert

​They will help you identify how your recruitment process can improve to ensure you are attracting and retaining top talent.

​Businesses need to consider the short and long-term needs of the business. There are multiple different options when it comes to employment types including; Permanent, Fixed Term Contracts (FTC), and Contractors. Your recruitment expert will be able to understand the current and future needs of your business, and share with you recruitment and market insights, current trends and salary guides. By considering the different types of employment you can identify what type of employment will be the best fit in the first few months and longer term.

​The information your recruitment expert will provide you with, from the market insights and recruitment trends, will help you build a robust recruitment and interview process. This will make sure you are not losing out on the best candidate for your role due to long or arduous interview experiences compared to your competitors. They’ll also be able to advise you on how to deliver an inclusive and equitable process.

​To provide valuable insights, I spoke with Meg Rayner, recently featured in Global Recruiter magazine for their appointment to a leadership role.

​“2025 is going to be a transformative year for employment,” says Meg,  “Businesses need to consider all employment options, from permanent roles to temporary or contract work, as well as freelance and contracting opportunities. Flexibility is key, especially in a market where both employers and employees value adaptability.” Meg goes on to explain “Your recruitment process is not just a mechanism for filling roles; it’s a reflection of your company’s values, culture, and adaptability. Employers need to ensure their process is inclusive, efficient, and tailored to attract the right talent in a competitive market.”

2. Review your contract of employment

​Understand if you can extend the probation period. When it comes to probation periods there are a lot of misconceptions about failing and extending probations, and the best practice you should follow to avoid potential claims of automatic unfair dismissal, breach of contract and discrimination.

​The first step is to review what your current contract states. Do you reserve the right to extend probationary periods? You can’t extend probationary periods if you don’t have this written in the signed employment contract.

​Probation reviews must be held on or before the given time frame, if you hold the probationary review after this date the employee can be viewed as successfully passed their probationary period.

​Addressing concerns early and giving the employees clear direction on what they need to do to meet expectations and the time they have to make the improvements is essential to avoid potential tribunal claims in the future. Another key point is ensuring the employee has the right to be accompanied and is given 2 days notice of the meeting.

3. Train your managers

​Make sure your managers are trained on recruitment, onboarding, probationary periods, having difficult conversations and the pitfalls to avoid. Ensuring consistency in decisions and processes across the business is essential. That’s not to say that there will not be business rational or reasonable adjustments that mean you need to step outside of these occasionally, but understanding how, why and documenting these reasons is essential to avoid problems in the future.

​Following the same processes you’ve always had may lead to problems in the future. Getting the best practice and training completed now will put your business in a strong position for the future.

​Don’t fall into the pitfall of assuming an experienced manager has never had any problems from the way they hold and review probationary periods so they don’t need best practice and process training. We can always learn how to be more effective as people managers.

​Don’t be afraid to get an expert to help and support you with the training and processes you put in place now to ensure they are future-proof.

4. Make data-informed decisions

​Use the data you collect throughout the year to help you assess and decide if your current probation period length is going to be effective in the future.

​When you review your probation pass rate, consider the length of the probation period and the percentage of those who have passed within that time frame and those who have passed after an extension. Also, look at those who have passed and then left shortly after either for performance-related reasons or resignation. Reviewing your probation feedback and exit interviews to understand if the onboarding and training is effective will help to guide you in the changes to consider making.

​To help you consider the recruitment process look at your pass probation rate, if your pass probation rate is less than 70% you need to consider if your recruitment process is effective and actually reflects the expectations you hold the employee to within the probation period.

​Making the right decisions and following a consistent best practice process in recruitment and the probationary period will help your manager move away from a reliance on short-service provisions which won’t be available in 2026.

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Preparing for employment changes in 2025 is not just about reacting to trends but anticipating and adapting to them. As Meg puts it, “This is the time for businesses to think strategically about how they recruit, retain, and engage talent. Working with recruitment experts can provide the clarity and market insights needed to make informed decisions.” If you would like further, more in-depth information or support please get in contact.