Charity hires made this summer will fall under tougher dismissal rules from January 2027, warns Charity Recruit

Charity boards have little time to prepare for the biggest UK employment law overhaul in a generation, says executive search firm Charity Recruit. The warning follows a roundtable event the firm recently hosted for HR and leadership professionals across the charity and not-for-profit sector.

The Employment Rights Act 2025, which received Royal Assent on 18 December 2025, will cut the qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims from two years to six months from 1 January 2027. It also restricts "fire and rehire" practices on the same date. Anyone hired from the end of June 2026 onwards will come under the new framework within their first six months in post. That makes the next eight weeks a critical planning window for charities recruiting senior staff this summer.

"The practical impact lands squarely on the hiring decisions you make this summer," said Emily Formby, Divisional Director at Charity Recruit. "The six-month probation period most charities run won't stand up to the new framework. Boards need to move to three-month probations with the option to extend, and managers must make confident calls on fit far earlier."

The voluntary sector employs around 978,000 people, which is roughly 3% of the UK workforce, with more than half in organisations of fewer than 50 staff, according to NCVO. The Act also introduces day-one paternity and unpaid parental leave. It reforms statutory sick pay and expands trade union recognition rights to organisations of 21 or more employees.

Charity Recruit estimates the cost of directly employing staff will rise from around 15% of salary to over 20% per head once these changes take effect. NCVO has estimated that the April 2025 employer National Insurance rise alone has added £1.4 billion in annual costs to the charity sector. The firm urges boards to add the Act to their risk registers and review 2026/27 budget provisions. "Internal research from the Charities HR Network suggests around 70% of charities don't have anything resembling a workforce plan," Formby said. "What makes the Act feel disorienting isn't a new probation policy but the lack of a workforce plan."

Formby is concerned that the changes will harden hiring patterns when charities need to broaden their pipelines. "There's a risk boards retreat into safer, like-for-like choices," she said. "We've argued for years for cross-sector experience at executive level, especially in digital, finance and commercial. A shorter probation window quietly closes that door. The answer isn't to stop taking those bets but to redesign induction so you know within three months whether someone is right."

Charity Recruit
Unit B1, NJK House, Shadsworth Gateway Estate, Blackburn, England, BB1 2EE
0330 027 1535

Press Contact:
Christianne Kania, PR Manager
c.kania@charityrecruit.co.uk

About Charity Recruit
Charity Recruit is a specialist executive search firm within the Exec Recruit Group, placing leaders across the UK charity and not-for-profit sector. It handles Chief Executive, Director, Trustee and Non-Executive Director appointments for organisations, across local charities, hospices, national bodies and international development bodies. Charity Recruit also runs networking events and peer-to-peer roundtables for charity sector professionals. For more information, visit charityrecruit.co.uk.

This release was published on openPR.