By Jessie Raby, Founder of new UK-built placement intelligence platform, Prodicta.
If a hiring decision or dismissal in your organisation was challenged tomorrow, would you be confident in your ability to defend it?
I’s a simple question, but for many employers, the answer is far from clear. Yet the changes being introduced under the Employment Rights Act 2025 have raised this to the top of the agenda.
It requires employers to demonstrate that hiring decisions are fair, objective, and documented. From January 2027, employees will have unfair dismissal protection from their first day of employment. The two-year qualifying period is being replaced with a six-month initial period and the statutory compensation cap is being removed entirely.
And while it may feel distant, the hiring decisions being made today will be the ones tested under the new legislation. A candidate hired in June 2026 will reach their six-month mark in December 2026, just weeks before the new rules take effect. An employer who discovers a problem at that point will have limited options and insufficient documentation.
Recent research from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) indicates that concern is growing. More than a third of employers said they are planning to reduce permanent hiring as a result of the Employment Rights Act 2025. Three quarters expect employment costs to increase, and more than half anticipate greater workplace conflict.
This suggests the response from some organisations is to slow down hiring or raise thresholds.
But the real issue lies elsewhere.
The Employment Rights Act 2025 does not prescribe how employers should hire. It does not mandate specific tools or processes. But it does raise the standard of evidence required to demonstrate that a decision – whether to hire or to dismiss – was fair, objective, and based on job-relevant criteria. Which is where many organisations may find themselves exposed.
Most hiring processes still rely on a combination of CVs, interviews, and informal discussion. Decisions are influenced by experience and judgement. Documentation is often limited. Different managers apply different standards.
These approaches may produce reasonable outcomes. But they do not produce strong evidence.
If a decision is challenged, employers will need to show:
- What criteria were used to assess candidates
- How those criteria relate to the role
- How each candidate was evaluated against them
- Why the final decision was made
In many cases, that level of detail does not exist. The same applies to probation and early-stage employment.
Expectations are not always clearly defined, feedback may be given verbally but not recorded and check-ins are inconsistent. When performance issues arise, they are often addressed reactively rather than through a structured process.
Under the new framework, dismissing an employee, even early in their tenure, requires evidence of a fair process. Employers must be able to demonstrate that expectations were clear, that feedback was provided, support was offered, and decisions were based on documented evidence rather than assumption.
This requires a shift in mindset, where hiring can no longer be treated as a single decision. Instead it must be viewed as the start of a process that needs to be consistent, structured, and defensible from beginning to end.
For many organisations, this means rethinking how hiring and probation are approached.
A useful starting point is a simple audit.
Before making your next hire, ask:
- Have we clearly defined the criteria for this role, in measurable terms?
- Are all candidates assessed against the same criteria, using the same method?
- Do we have documented evidence of how each candidate performed?
- Is our decision clearly supported by that evidence?
- Do we have a structured probation plan with defined objectives and check-ins?
- Are we consistently documenting feedback and performance from day one?
If the answer to any of these questions is no, there is a gap, which presents a risk under the Employment Rights Act 2025.
The good news is that it’s not an unsolvable problem.
The solution lies in moving towards more structured, evidence-based approaches. This includes using scenario-based assessments that test candidates against real job situations, with documented, role-specific evidence of capability.
It also includes building structured probation frameworks, with defined objectives, regular check-ins, and a record of performance and support.
PRODICTA brings these elements together, combining assessment, documentation, and probation tracking into a single, consistent process. The result is not just better hiring outcomes, but a clearer, more defensible position if decisions are challenged.
But the principle applies regardless of the tools used. Employers need to move from subjective judgement to objective evidence.
Because the question is no longer simply whether you made the right decision – it’s whether you can prove it.
And in a changing employment landscape, that is what will determine where the real risk sits.
PRODICTA is now available to UK employers and recruitment agencies, with flexible pricing designed to support organisations of all sizes.
For more information, visit https://prodicta.co.uk/