Guide
The unfair dismissal 2 year rule, and when it is changing
Updated
The two-year qualifying period decides more employment disputes than any other rule, and it gets much shorter on 1 January 2027. Here is the law in force now, and what replaces it.
The rule as it stands
An employee needs 2 years' continuous service to claim ordinary unfair dismissal (Employment Rights Act 1996, s108). Below that threshold an employer can usually dismiss without a fair reason or full process, subject to notice and to the exceptions below. This is why 'under 2 years employment rights' is one of the most searched employment questions in the UK: the answer changes your negotiating position entirely.
Exceptions that apply from day one
- Automatically unfair reasons: dismissal for whistleblowing, pregnancy or maternity/paternity leave, health and safety activity, trade union membership, or asserting a statutory right needs no qualifying service (ERA 1996 s108(3)).
- Discrimination: a dismissal because of a protected characteristic (age, disability, race, sex, and the other Equality Act 2010 characteristics) can be claimed from day one, and compensation is uncapped.
- Wrongful dismissal: being dismissed without contractual or statutory notice is a breach of contract claim with no service requirement.
What changes on 1 January 2027
Section 25 of the Employment Rights Act 2025 substitutes “six months” for “two years” in section 108 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, and omits section 124, the cap on the compensatory award (Employment Rights Act 2025, s25). It is not a day-one right, and no statutory probationary period regime has been brought into force. Section 25 was commenced on 1 January 2027 by S.I. 2026/559. Regulation 4 of those Regulations is the part to read: the amendments have effect where an employee is dismissed before 1 January 2027 but the effective date of termination falls on or after that date, and do not have effect where the effective date of termination falls before it. So notice given in December 2026 that expires in February 2027 is caught by the new six-month rule, while a termination that completes in December 2026 keeps the 2-year threshold. Until 1 January 2027 the 2-year rule in section 108 continues to apply, as the text of section 108 on legislation.gov.uk still shows.
Dismissed with under 2 years' service? Do not assume you have no claim: the day-one exceptions above are exactly where early advice pays. Acas offers free conciliation before any tribunal claim (acas.org.uk).