Safe Exits Post Jan 2027: For the New Hires Who Don't Cut it!
First published on LinkedIn on June 4, 2026
It will be harder to exit new hires from January 2027 and the risks will be higher from those who choose to leave within 2 years.
It will be harder and riskier because the organisation will need to fully demonstrate why an exit is necessary.
If they make a quick decision to exit the new hire within 6 months; they will have wasted the costs of hiring them and they will also now have the costs of replacing them.
If they want to exit them after the 6 month point, they will need strong evidence of the reasons for that decision, to run a fair and transparent process which includes outlining the support and mitigations put in place to avoid the dismissal.
And…those who might have voluntarily left before gaining 2 years service (according to the CIPD 30% leave in the first 2 years) will be able to make a complaint, when before (unless for discrimination) it had no value to them.
Without the organisation having really effective onboarding and performance processes to support justifying the exit, the exit or early departure will be risky.
And without leaders and managers who can quickly and effectively set goals, provide support and feedback, then the exit or early departure cannot be mitigated by a process.
This means the moment where a resignation drops from a new hire who isn’t working out no longer brings a sigh of relief, or when your team gets the “can I have a quick word” call from a leader about their new hire who they have now decided isn’t working out on the eve of their 6 months service, these moments are harder and riskier than they were.
The clock is already ticking, these changes apply to anyone who has accrued 6 months service by January 2027, so those starting from July 2026 have the lowest waiting time for this to become an issue.
If you don’t feel your organisation is ready to manage these challenges or risks then contact me via my email me at anwen@purpleskyconsulting.co.uk and we can arrange for us to have a call to explore how I can support you to take action, quickly.
And what do the risks really look like?
For a successful unfair dismissal by a 52 year old on £110k with 1 years service, the basic award would be around £1.1k.
However, the compensation award will in future be uncapped, though linked to the time they remain out of work. For the person in the example shared already, that would be around £6k per month, for each month they are out of work.
Add the costs of defending the case and losing it and the financial costs add up very quickly!
If the organisation decided to reach a settlement with this same person to avoid a claim, using a payment worth 3 months pay (which is often a starting point for this level of leader and salary), that’s a cost of £27k. Plus the costs lost from hiring and the new costs expected to replace them.
Beyond the financial risks, there’s also:
The organisation’s employee brand being at risk from increased claims and becoming known for poorly handling onboarding and performance.
The organisation will find it harder to attract and retain talent because of this reputation, externally and internally.
The cultural impacts are high. When the employee brand is poorly perceived internally, this increases “quiet quitting” and overall engagement and performance is negatively impacted.
The leaders and managers begin to feel out of their depth and fearful of making a wrong move which means an overall increase in poor results, performance and behaviours.
If you’d like to explore practical responses to these risks to reduce your organisation’s exposure to unfair dismissal claims and increase the likelihood of new hires succeeding then then contact me by email anwen@purpleskyconsulting.co.uk and I’ll arrange for us to have a call. I’ll help you figure out a plan of action.
As a leadership specialist I help organisations turn their onboarding into a strategic advantage.
It means we reduce the time it takes for new hires to reach optimal performance and helps newly appointed leaders successfully navigate their new leadership role. This improves retention, engagement and team performance.
And, with all of the changes coming it’ll help your organisation to have a more structured approach to onboarding. This will reduce the risk of unfair dismissal and the need to consider an early exit, meaning your new hires are successful and will feel the value of the organisation's commitment to their success.
If your organisation needs an approach to onboarding that is not only for risk management but creates a strategic advantage which sets up new hires, their team and your organisation for success, then email me at anwen@purpleskyconsulting.co.uk. I’ll help you create an action plan for the key risk factors and I can help you implement it quickly.
Best wishes,