UK · Unfair dismissal

Unfair dismissal qualifying period calculator

Find out whether you have enough service to bring an ordinary unfair dismissal claim. Enter your start date and how your employment ended. The calculator works out your effective date of termination, adds the statutory notice extension where it applies, and checks it against the two-year rule or the six-month rule that starts on 1 January 2027.

Last updated Last reviewed

The first day of continuous employment with this employer (or an associated employer, or before a TUPE transfer).

Used to find your last day when notice was given. With pay in lieu or an on-the-spot dismissal, employment ends on the dismissal date.

Enter both dates to check your service.

Not legal advice. Continuity of employment can be affected by breaks, transfers and agency work. Check your position with Acas or an employment solicitor before you rely on it.

What the qualifying period is

The right not to be unfairly dismissed is not available from day one for most reasons. Section 108 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 says you must have been continuously employed for a minimum period “ending with the effective date of termination”. Until the end of 2026 that minimum is two years. The Employment Rights Act 2025 cuts it to six months, and the commencement regulations bring the cut into force on 1 January 2027.

The qualifying period only controls ordinary unfair dismissal: the claim that your employer had no fair reason, or did not follow a fair process. It does not affect discrimination claims, whistleblowing claims, or the list of automatically unfair reasons further down this page. It also does not affect your right to notice or notice pay, which starts after one month.

Service is counted in calendar months from the day you started. Someone who started on 1 August 2026 completes six months at the end of 31 January 2027, and two years at the end of 31 July 2028. The calculator uses the same corresponding-date method, including for start dates at the end of a month.

Which rule applies to you

The transitional rule turns on the effective date of termination, not on the date you were told you were being dismissed and not on when you started. If your employment ends on or after 1 January 2027, the six-month rule applies, even if notice was given in 2026. If it ends on or before 31 December 2026, the two-year rule applies.

The effective date of termination is defined in section 97. If notice was given, it is the day the notice runs out, whether you worked it or spent it on garden leave. If you were dismissed with immediate effect, whether or not you were paid in lieu of notice, it is the day of dismissal. Watch for letters that pay in lieu but say your employment continues to the end of the notice period: in that case the later date is the effective date of termination, so choose “notice given” in the calculator.

The statutory notice extension

An employer cannot defeat the qualifying period by dismissing someone without notice a few days before they reach it. Section 97(2) says that where the employer ends the contract without the statutory minimum notice under section 86, the effective date of termination for counting qualifying service is the day that statutory notice would have expired. The notice is treated as given on the day notice was actually given or, if none was, on the day of dismissal.

The statutory minimum is one week once you have a month’s service, rising to one week per complete year from two years, up to 12 weeks. For anyone near the six-month or two-year line, the extension is one week. Pay in lieu does not count as notice for this purpose, so a payment in lieu always triggers the extension.

The extension does not apply if the employer was entitled to dismiss without notice because of your own gross misconduct (Lancaster & Duke Ltd v Wileman, EAT). If your dismissal was for alleged gross misconduct and that is disputed, run the calculator both ways. The extension also does not move the tribunal time limit, which runs from the actual effective date of termination. Use the employment tribunal time limit calculator for that.

Law firms reading the January 2027 regulations say the extended date also counts when deciding whether the six-month rule applies, so a payment in lieu on 29 December 2026 can produce a date in January 2027. Because the regulations simply refer to section 97, that reading is reasonable but has not been tested. The calculator applies it and labels the result. The removal of the compensation cap, by contrast, turns on the actual date your employment ended.

Worked examples

Each of these is calculated by the tool above, and the site tests check the results every time the page is built.

  1. Started 1 August 2026, dismissed 15 February 2027 with one week’s pay in lieu. The actual effective date of termination is 15 February 2027. Section 97(2) adds one week, to 22 February 2027. That is after 1 January 2027, so the six-month rule applies. Six months was reached on 31 January 2027, so the employee qualifies, with 22 days to spare, and the compensatory award is uncapped.
  2. Started 10 November 2024, dismissed 1 November 2026 with pay in lieu of one month’s notice. The actual effective date is 1 November 2026; the extension makes it 8 November 2026. That is in 2026, so two years are needed, and two years are only complete on 9 November 2026. The employee is one day short. Had the employer given the month of notice instead, employment would have ended on 1 December 2026 and the employee would qualify.
  3. Started 10 July 2026, dismissed 5 January 2027 with one week’s pay in lieu. Six months are complete on 9 January 2027, so on the actual date the employee is four days short. The extension moves the date to 12 January 2027, and the employee qualifies because of section 97(2).
  4. Started 1 June 2026, dismissed 29 December 2026 with pay in lieu of one month’s notice. The actual date is in 2026, which on its own means the two-year rule and no claim. The extension gives 5 January 2027, so on the law-firm reading the six-month rule applies and the employee may qualify (six months were complete on 30 November 2026). The calculator marks this as borderline: get advice before relying on it, and work to the earliest possible tribunal deadline, counted from the actual last day (28 June 2027). The compensatory award cap still applies, because the actual date is before 1 January 2027.

Reasons that need no qualifying period

Section 108(3) and (4) of the 1996 Act and section 154 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 switch off the service requirement where the reason, or main reason, for dismissal is one of these:

  • Pregnancy, maternity, paternity, adoption, shared parental or parental bereavement leave, or time off for dependants
  • Raising or acting on a health and safety concern
  • Whistleblowing (making a protected disclosure)
  • Asserting a statutory right, such as complaining about unpaid wages or a missing payslip
  • Rights under the Working Time Regulations, the national minimum wage or pension auto-enrolment
  • Making a flexible working request, or a request for time off to study or train
  • Jury service, or acting as an employee representative or pension trustee
  • Rights as a part-time, fixed-term or agency worker
  • Trade union membership or activities, or political opinions or affiliation
  • Being selected for redundancy for any of these reasons

Discrimination because of a protected characteristic is a separate claim under the Equality Act 2010 and has no service requirement. If you are short of the qualifying period, these routes are worth checking with an adviser before you give up.

What to do next

If you qualify, your next deadline is the tribunal time limit, and before that you must notify Acas for early conciliation. If you do not qualify, check whether the reason for dismissal falls in the list above, and make sure you received the notice or notice pay you are owed. You may also be able to appeal internally; see dismissed during probation and probation rights.

Frequently asked questions

When does the six-month qualifying period start?
It applies where the effective date of termination is on or after 1 January 2027. If your employment ends before then, you still need two years' continuous service for an ordinary unfair dismissal claim.
Does it matter when I was dismissed, or when my employment ended?
When it ended. The commencement regulations look at the effective date of termination, which is the end of any notice you were given. Someone given notice in December 2026 that runs into January 2027 is covered by the six-month rule.
What is the statutory notice extension?
If your employer dismissed you without the statutory minimum notice, including by paying in lieu, section 97(2) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 treats your employment as ending when that statutory notice would have run out, for the purpose of counting qualifying service. With under two years' service that adds one week.
Is there any limit on compensation after 1 January 2027?
The statutory cap on the compensatory award is removed where the effective date of termination is on or after 1 January 2027. The basic award is still calculated on the redundancy formula with its weekly pay cap.
Can I claim unfair dismissal without the qualifying period?
Yes, if the reason for dismissal is one of the automatically unfair reasons, such as whistleblowing, pregnancy or maternity, health and safety, or asserting a statutory right. Discrimination claims under the Equality Act need no service either.

Sources (opened and checked 27 October 2026)