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A probation review done late or with no paper trail is how employers lose the ability to part with a poor hire cleanly: miss the end date and the employee is treated as confirmed in post by default, and from 1 January 2027 anyone who reaches six months' service can bring an ordinary unfair dismissal claim. This checklist forces the decision to be dated, evidenced, and confirmed in writing before any of those deadlines bite.
Employment Rights Act 1996 s.86 (minimum notice, 1 week after one month's service) and s.97 (effective date of termination extended by statutory notice when counting qualifying service); Employment Relations Act 1999 s.10 (right to be accompanied at a hearing that may result in a formal warning or other disciplinary action); Employment Rights Act 2025 (unfair dismissal qualifying period reduced from 2 years to 6 months, in force 1 January 2027, confirmed by Acas "Employment Rights Act 2025" guidance); Equality Act 2010 and EHRC time-limits guidance (discrimination claims, no qualifying period, 3 months less one day, Acas early conciliation required); Acas Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures (2015); Acas guidance "Dismissal during a probation period" (acas.org.uk).
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What’s on it
Everything that matters, nothing that does not. Here is the full list, exactly as it appears on the template.
Good to know
If probation expires and you have neither extended it in writing nor confirmed the outcome, the employee is treated as having passed and becomes permanent from that date. From 1 January 2027 the danger sharpens: the unfair dismissal qualifying period falls to 6 months, and because any statutory notice you owe is added to the leaving date when service is counted, a dismissal decided at 5 months 3 weeks can still tip the employee past 6 months and give them full unfair dismissal rights. Decide by around 5 months, not at the wire.
Source: Employment Rights Act 1996 s.86 (minimum notice, 1 week after one month's service) and s.97 (effective date of termination extended by statutory notice when counting qualifying service); Employment Relations Act 1999 s.10 (right to be accompanied at a hearing that may result in a formal warning or other disciplinary action); Employment Rights Act 2025 (unfair dismissal qualifying period reduced from 2 years to 6 months, in force 1 January 2027, confirmed by Acas "Employment Rights Act 2025" guidance); Equality Act 2010 and EHRC time-limits guidance (discrimination claims, no qualifying period, 3 months less one day, Acas early conciliation required); Acas Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures (2015); Acas guidance "Dismissal during a probation period" (acas.org.uk).
Good to know
A probation review done late or with no paper trail is how employers lose the ability to part with a poor hire cleanly: miss the end date and the employee is treated as confirmed in post by default, and from 1 January 2027 anyone who reaches six months' service can bring an ordinary unfair dismissal claim. This checklist forces the decision to be dated, evidenced, and confirmed in writing before any of those deadlines bite.
If probation expires and you have neither extended it in writing nor confirmed the outcome, the employee is treated as having passed and becomes permanent from that date. From 1 January 2027 the danger sharpens: the unfair dismissal qualifying period falls to 6 months, and because any statutory notice you owe is added to the leaving date when service is counted, a dismissal decided at 5 months 3 weeks can still tip the employee past 6 months and give them full unfair dismissal rights. Decide by around 5 months, not at the wire.
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A weak handover is the most common root cause of medication errors, choking on the wrong diet texture, missed post-fall checks, and pressure damage that goes unwatched. A sheet that names the specific person, number, and action passes information the next shift can act on immediately, and it is the record CQC reads back when something goes wrong.
Onboarding done right keeps the business clear of an illegal-working civil penalty (up to £60,000 per worker), of tribunal claims for a missing written statement or unlawful pay deductions, and of the early attrition that hits when someone leaves inside 90 days because day one was a mess. This is the order an onboarder actually works through, from legal must-dos to the things that make a new starter productive.
A new starter induction that is actually done, not just signed off, prevents two kinds of expensive failure: legal exposure (a £45,000 to £60,000 illegal-working penalty, an unfair dismissal or discrimination claim, an ICO breach, an HMRC tax-records penalty) and operational failure (someone who cannot evacuate the building, cannot log in for three days, or hits month five of probation with no documented reviews). Each item below names the document, the number or deadline, and the action, so it can be ticked off and evidenced.