This post by Crystel Robbins Rynne, CEO at HRLocker, is part of our blog series, “The Recruitment Rule I’d Break”.
The general rule in agency recruitment is that you wait until the end of probation to properly review someone. They join, get a desk and a set of targets, but the real conversation about how they’re doing happens months later. I’d break that rule, because from 1 January 2027, it becomes one of the riskiest habits in recruitment.
Unfair dismissal laws are changing. From the start of next year, employees can claim ordinary unfair dismissal after six months’ service instead of two years. The cap on how much compensation can be awarded is being removed the same day. And since 1 October, people have had six months rather than three to bring a claim.
It sounds like a lot to worry about, but it doesn’t need to be. Recruitment is a sector built around setting targets. The step many agencies miss is recording them, and from now on that matters more than ever.
Why one review at the end isn’t enough
In August, HRLocker surveyed 1,500 UK employers, including 150 recruitment agencies. Of those agencies, 93% had dismissed someone with between six months’ and two years’ service in the last three years. Almost half (47%) had done it three or more times, the highest of any sector in the survey.
Among agencies that dismissed someone, 43% cited missed targets as the reason. That’s more than double the 20% average across all employers we surveyed. But if one of those dismissals went to a tribunal, the agency would need to show what happened. It would need to provide evidence that the consultant knew the target, knew they were behind and had a fair chance to catch up.
Incredibly, almost half of agencies (49%) don’t have these kinds of regular, documented check-ins during probation. That leaves them wide open to scrutiny.
Amy Harvey, Consultant Solicitor at Cognitive Law, says: “A tribunal will look at the whole process leading up to a dismissal. If the first written record of a problem is the meeting where someone is let go, it’s very hard to show the employee knew what was expected, knew they were falling short and had the opportunity to improve. Notes made at the time, from the first few weeks onwards, can often be the strongest evidence an employer can have.”
A check-in framework for the first six months
Here are four simple things you can do so your records stand up if a decision is ever challenged:
- Day one: write the targets down. Record what the consultant should deliver by month three and month five, such as client meetings, CVs sent, interviews and placements. Note the training and support on offer.
- Week one: the first check-in. A ten-minute conversation. Are they set up? Do they understand the targets? What help do they need? Write it down.
- Every month: a documented one-to-one. Your team leaders probably hold pipeline meetings already. Turn one of them into a record once a month, covering what’s going well, what needs work, what was agreed and when you’ll review it.
- Month five: the real review. Make the probation decision here, a month before the six-month line. That leaves time to extend probation, agree an improvement plan or make a decision with the evidence already on file.
Records don’t need to be complicated. A three-line note is enough. For example:
14 July. Target: eight client meetings and two placements by 31 August. So far: five meetings, no placements. Agreed: shadow a senior consultant on two client pitches, with a review on 11 August.
Keep every note in one place that someone other than the line manager can find. Team leaders are often billers too, so these kinds of notes are the first thing to slip or be lost in a busy month. Three in ten agencies (30%) told us they haven’t given managers any documentation training in the last two years, so an hour on what to write and when is time well spent.
Why it’s worth starting now
Earlier check-ins help the consultant as much as the agency. Someone who hears in month one that they’re behind has a real chance to turn it around. Someone who first hears it in month six usually doesn’t.
Plenty of agencies are already moving. Nearly half (47%) told us they plan to formalise probation reviews.
However, 57% say they’ll simply dismiss earlier, and that worries me. Letting someone go before six months doesn’t remove the risk. A consultant can bring a discrimination claim from their first day. If someone dismissed in month four argues the real reason was their age or a disability, you’ll need notes made at the time to show the decision was about performance.
Don’t save the conversation for the end of probation. Break the rule. Have it on day one, write it down, and repeat it every month.
Notes for Editor
Source: HRLocker, Unfair Dismissal: The Six-Month Rule. Online survey of 1,500 UK HR decision-makers and business owners at firms with 10 to 500 employees, including 150 recruitment and staffing firms, plus 500 employees of those firms. Fieldwork 3 to 14 August 2026. Figures are unweighted. Full findings: hrlocker.com/reports/unfair-dismissal-uk-six-month-rule/
Author bio: Crystel Robbins Rynne is CEO of HRLocker, a people management platform for SMEs. She has been with the company since 2013 and has more than two decades of HR experience.
