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Documents win tribunals!
If you’re running HR in a scale-up (especially as a standalone HR Manager), upcoming UK employment law changes should be treated as an urgent implementation challenge, and not something to revisit once the deadline arrives.
If you haven’t realised already, one of the most important changes to note is that everyone who joined since July 2026 will now be covered by a shorter unfair dismissal qualifying period, which makes probation and performance management more high-stakes than ever.
Even if you currently “do probation properly”, the real question now is: can you evidence it?
What this shift means in practice
A shorter unfair dismissal qualifying period effectively reduces the time window in which an employee may bring a claim. That doesn’t automatically mean claims will rise - but it does mean that decisions need to be defensible earlier, and faster.
For HR, that changes what “good enough” looks like. It’s no longer only about what you intended to do, it’s about what you can show you did:
what outcomes were expected
what support was provided
how progress was assessed
what feedback was given
how decisions were made and documented
Why probation documentation matters NOW
Probation is often treated as a “check-in period”. But in a legal context, probation is a structured mechanism used to:
assess capability
clarify expectations
identify gaps
give fair opportunities to improve
If probation records are light, informal, or missing, the business is exposed. In a high-growth scale-up, common documentation gaps include:
performance expectations not being clearly set
meeting notes not being captured consistently
unclear or undocumented improvement plans
outcomes not documented in a timely way
feedback being verbal only (or too late to demonstrate progress)
Under a shorter qualifying period, those gaps become harder to resolve after the fact and left undocumented, they become harder to defend in a tribunal.
Why performance processes need to be working today
Similarly, performance management can’t rely on ad hoc conversations. Decisions about capability need to be supported by evidence, including:
clear performance standards
objective criteria (and consistency)
documented review meetings
examples and metrics where possible
the support and training offered
whether the employee was given a genuine opportunity to improve
If performance warnings, action plans or meeting outcomes aren’t documented, it becomes much harder to explain the rationale behind an eventual decision.
The immediate actions HR should take now
You don’t need perfect paperwork overnight - but you do need to close the evidence gap. Practical next steps include:
1. Review your probation framework and templates
Are probation expectations communicated clearly?
Are review meetings scheduled and recorded?
Do you have consistent documentation of outcomes?
2. Check probation and performance documentation for people hired since July 2026
Where are there missing records?
Where are expectations unclear?
Are improvement plans evidenced properly?
3. Reinforce the manager process
Managers need a simple “what good looks like” checklist.
Escalation routes must be defined (and used).
The standard for documentation should be non-negotiable.
4. Ensure documentation is timely and proportionate
Documentation isn’t about slowing down the speed of growth. It’s about creating an accurate record of a fair, consistent process, that is easy to defend if challenged.
A scale-up reality: speed doesn’t remove legal responsibility
In fast-growing businesses, it’s easy for the HR infrastructure to fall behind: new hires, new teams, quick decisions, changing roles. But law changes don’t slow down for scale-ups. The way to manage the risk is not to avoid decisions, it’s to make sure the process behind those decisions is documented properly from the start.
The upcoming employment law changes make probation and performance management more urgent because evidencing fairness becomes critical earlier. The message is simple: document NOW so when decisions are challenged, you can demonstrate a fair process grounded in clear expectations, consistent support, and properly recorded outcomes.
Not sure whether your probation and performance processes are ready for what's changing?
Morrigan Talent can help you review what's already in place, identify where the gaps are and build a practical roadmap to get things working as they should, without creating unnecessary layers of process.
