Employment Rights Act 2025: What It Means for Public Sector Hiring (And Why Your Managers Need to Act Now)

From April, your hiring decisions will carry more risk, much earlier in an employee’s journey. 

The Employment Rights Act 2025 is set to reduce the qualifying period for unfair dismissal rights from two years to just six months. That means the window to identify and address a poor hire is about to shrink significantly. 

For public sector organisations, where recruitment is already under pressure, this change raises an important question: are your managers equipped to get hiring decisions right first time? 

What Is Changing Under the Employment Rights Act 2025?

From April, employees will gain the right to claim unfair dismissal after just six months in a role.

This significantly shortens the timeframe employers have to assess performance, manage concerns and make decisions about suitability.

In practical terms, it increases the consequences of getting recruitment wrong. 

Why This Matters for Public Sector Organisations

While all employers will feel the impact, public sector organisations face a distinct set of challenges.

Greater accountability
Recruitment decisions are often subject to scrutiny. A poor hire can quickly become more than an internal issue.

Tighter budgets
The cost of a mis-hire, recruitment, onboarding and potential legal processes is harder to absorb.

Impact on service delivery
In the public sector, people deliver outcomes. Hiring the wrong person can affect services, teams, and communities.

Recruitment Is Becoming a Key Risk Area

With only six months before full employment protections apply, recruitment is no longer just about filling roles, it’s about making defensible, well-evidenced decisions.

Hiring managers need to be able to:

• Make clear, evidence-based hiring decisions
• Follow structured and consistent processes
• Assess candidates thoroughly, not just on interview performance
• Document decisions in a way that stands up to scrutiny
• Address performance issues early and confidently

Without these capabilities, organisations are exposed to increased legal and operational risk.

How to Prepare 

With the changes approaching, organisations should focus on strengthening their approach now.

1. Standardise recruitment processes
Structured interviews and clear scoring criteria help reduce subjectivity and improve outcomes.

2. Upskill hiring managers
Managers need practical tools to assess candidates effectively and make confident decisions.

3. Focus on early performance management
Expectations must be clear from day one, with issues addressed quickly.

4. Drive consistency across teams
Variation in hiring practices increases risk. Alignment is essential.

How ModernGov Can Help

At ModernGov, we work with public sector organisations to strengthen recruitment capability at manager level.

Our tailored team training focuses on practical application, helping your managers to:

• Improve hiring accuracy and consistency
• Reduce the risk of mis-hires
• Build fair and transparent recruitment processes
• Make confident, well-documented decisions

The result is a more robust approach to hiring, ready for the changes coming in April.

Final Thought

The Employment Rights Act 2025 doesn’t just change employment law, it changes the margin for error in recruitment.

With less time to course-correct, getting hiring decisions right first time becomes critical.

April is close. Now is the time to make sure your managers are ready.