Although employees who have been employed for less than the required qualifying period cannot claim unfair dismissal, where it is a term of the employee's contract of employment that the employer must follow a disciplinary or other procedure prior to dismissal, the employee will have a claim for breach of contract if the employer does not follow the required procedure. The employee may be able to claim damages for lost wages.
Employees do not need to meet the service requirement to claim discrimination, or unfair dismissal if the dismissal is for a specified unlawful reason (for example, a dismissal related to pregnancy, health and safety or payment of the national minimum wage).
The required qualifying period for claiming unfair dismissal is at least two years' service for dismissals before 1 January 2027 and six months for dismissals on or after that date.
