Unfair dismissal qualifying date checker: six months' service and the notice trap

The rules, in their own words

Source: Employment Rights Act 2025, section 25, legislation.gov.uk. Read 10 November 2026.

Employment Rights Act 2025, section 25(2), as the desk record of the page quotes it:

for "two years" substitute "six months"

Source: S.I. 2026/559, regulations 3 and 4, as made, legislation.gov.uk. Read 10 November 2026.

S.I. 2026/559, regulation 4(1), as the desk record of the page quotes it:

have effect in any case where an employee is dismissed before 1st January 2027 but the effective date of termination falls on or after that date

do not have effect

The same regulations, regulation 4(2):

(2) In this regulation "dismissed" and "the effective date of termination" have the same meaning as in Part 10 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (see sections 95 and 97 of that Act).

Source: Employment Rights Act 1996, section 97, legislation.gov.uk. Read 10 November 2026.

Employment Rights Act 1996, section 97(2), as the desk record of the page quotes it:

would ... expire on a date later than the effective date of termination

for the purposes of sections 108(1), 119(1) and 227(3) the later date is the effective date of termination

The same section, subsection (3):

(3) In subsection (2)(b) “ the material date ” means— (a) the date when notice of termination was given by the employer, or (b) where no notice was given, the date when the contract of employment was terminated by the employer.

Section 97(2) applies where the employer terminates the contract. Section 97(4) is the separate rule for a resignation, and this page does not work it out.

What is not settled

• The exact qualifying day. Two candidate dates are shown side by side and the tool does not choose between them. Counting calendar months is the tool's own choice, not a statutory rule.
• Section 97(2) deems the later date to be the effective date only for the purposes of sections 108(1), 119(1) and 227(3). Regulation 4 is not in that list.
• So whether the date after statutory notice decides if the regulation 4 test is met is not settled by the words quoted on this page. Both dates are shown, and the tool leans neither way.

On our reading. Check with Acas or an adviser.

Guidance, not legal advice.

How we check this rule

Every rule above is quoted character for character from one data file on this page, which names the source it came from, its address and the date we read it. Sources read 10 November 2026. We re-read the statute pages on day 21 and day 42 of this page's test. If the wording changes, or we find an error, we correct the page and record it below.

Law firms and HR publishers explain this change. In one search on 10 November 2026 we found no dedicated qualifying-date calculator; we did not read every site.