How To Navigate Day One Employment Rights

What Is Day One Rights?

In employment law, day-one rights are the protections and entitlements employees benefit from upon starting new employment. Often these come after the employee has spent a set period of time for the company. For example, under the current law, an employee must wait 2 years before they can be protected against unfair dismissal.

What are the Changes to Day One Rights?

In October 2024, the UK government proposed changes to the first day employment rights already in place that would mean new employees will receive the same benefits as those who have been working for the business for longer. For example, from Autumn 2026, new employees are protected from unfair dismissal as soon as they start work for their employer and must no longer for a minimum of 2 years of service within the business. Similarly, employees will have a right to parental leave from their first working day in a new role. It won’t be necessary to justify 26 weeks of continual service before going on paternity leave.

How Will These Employment Law Changes Affect Business?

It is argued that these changes in the employment law will make businesses more resistant to hiring. This is because introducing day-one rights combined with a new probationary period of 9 months is likely to increase the cost of hiring new employees. Moreover, employers will have to put a more rigorous recruitment process in place to mitigate the risk of onboarding a new employee and legal challenges from day one.

Another risk employers will need to mitigate following these employment law changes is employees leaving to find a better job elsewhere or to change careers since the day-one rights law means they have the same rights as their colleagues as soon as they join a new company, therefore, considerably reducing the risk of doing so. Therefore, it becomes essential for businesses to incentivise their staff to remain in their current position.

How Can a Business Prepare for These Changes?

Changes in employment law are often few and far between, however, it remains vital for employers to keep up to speed with them. However, the first-day rights law is a particularly significant change. It means businesses will seek legal advice from an employment solicitor to adapt their existing policies and employment contracts. It is because the bill affects every aspect of the employee’s rights from their probation period to dismissal, Statutory Sick Pay, and parenting rights.

Even though most of these changes won’t take effect until Autumn 2026, businesses should begin reviewing their processes and procedures as well as employment contracts of employees already established within the company. Moreover, as the law is set to offer more protection to employees, it mitigates the risk of finding a better job or retraining. Therefore, businesses might be tempted to look at the benefits they offer.

Why Seek Legal Advice When Adapting to Employment Law Changes?

Changes in the law can be hard to navigate, particularly if they are as big as the changes to the first-day rights, so it can often be daunting for a business owner to navigate those changes on their own, particularly if they don’t have a Human Resources or a Legal department on hand to assist them. In those cases, turning to an experienced employment solicitor is the best way to understand the changes and ensure any legal documents handed to the employees comply with the new requirements.

That is why at Eatons, our team stays on top of changes in the law, so they can assist you when adapting employment contracts, employee handbooks, and company policies to ensure they remain within the realms of the law.