The Employment Rights Act: Why creative businesses need to rethink hiring, not fear it

The Employment Rights Act 2025 is going to force a lot of businesses to rethink recruitment. And honestly? That is not a bad thing.

For years, many organisations have relied heavily on probation periods to work out whether someone is the right fit. That has been particularly common in fast-paced creative, PR and agency environments, where hiring decisions are often made quickly, roles evolve rapidly and teams need people who can hit the ground running.

But the reality is this: most hiring mistakes happen much earlier than probation. They happen in the interview process. They happen during onboarding. They happen when expectations are not clearly set. They happen when the difficult questions are avoided because everyone is excited about the candidate, the portfolio looks strong, or the business needs someone in-post quickly.

The Employment Rights Act 2025 has now received Royal Assent, with changes being introduced gradually across 2026 and 2027. One of the key changes employers need to prepare for is the reduction in the qualifying period for ordinary unfair dismissal protection –  from two years to six months. In practical terms, that means businesses will have less time to address early concerns informally, inconsistently or without proper process.

What the Employment Rights Act means for hiring

For some employers, that may feel daunting. But the best employers will not respond by becoming more reluctant to hire. They will respond by becoming better at hiring. Because prevention has always been easier than performance management.

For creative businesses, this matters. Agencies and PR teams are often built around pace, chemistry, client service, ideas and trust. A poor hire does not just affect output – it can affect team morale, client relationships and commercial momentum. But that does not mean businesses should become fearful of recruitment. It means they need to become more intentional.

• Hire carefully.
• Onboard well.
• Set clear expectations.
• Be honest about what the role really involves.
• Ask the questions that matter before the contract is signed.
• And once someone joins, do not leave them to guess what good looks like.

One phrase I find myself repeating to leaders all the time is: “If it is not written down, it did not happen.” Not because people are dishonest, but because people remember things differently.

A manager thinks they have had multiple conversations about performance. An employee believes they have never received any meaningful feedback. Months later, both sides are frustrated, the relationship has broken down, and neither can understand how they ended up there.

Why documentation in employment matters

As we move towards the Employment Rights Act changes, documentation is going to become even more important. Not because businesses need more paperwork, but because they need more clarity.

Good leaders do not document conversations because they expect a tribunal claim. They do it because expectations should never come as a surprise. The best performance conversations are not the formal ones. They are the ones that have been happening consistently all along.

• A quick check-in after a client meeting.
• A clear conversation about missed deadlines.
• A note following a discussion about behaviour, quality of work or communication style.
• A probation review that actually reflects what has been discussed, rather than becoming the first time concerns are properly raised.

This is not about making agency life more corporate. It is about making it more consistent, fair and grown-up. And there is another shift businesses cannot ignore: everyone is talking about how AI is changing productivity. Far fewer people are talking about how it is changing employment relations.

We are already seeing employees use AI to draft grievances, subject access requests and formal complaints in seconds. Information that once took hours to find is now available almost instantly. Employees are becoming more informed, more confident and more able to challenge decisions.

That is not going away. If anything, it is only going to become more common.

How will the Employment Rights Act affect employers

At the same time, the Employment Rights Act will increase expectations on employers when it comes to managing people fairly, consistently and transparently. For some businesses, that feels like a challenge.

I think it is an opportunity. An opportunity to train managers properly, to improve recruitment processes, and to make onboarding more effective. It also offers the opportunity to create more consistency in how decisions are made and communicated, because if your managers are trained properly, your processes are clear and your decisions are fair – therefore, scrutiny should not be something to fear.

Creative and PR businesses do not need to lose their personality, pace or culture because employment law is changing. But they do need to make sure their people practices can keep up with the business they are becoming.

That means reviewing recruitment processes before issues arise, as well as making probation periods meaningful. It means giving managers the confidence to have early, honest conversations, and documenting decisions clearly.

It also means recognising that good HR is not about slowing a business down. Done well, it protects the pace, culture and creativity that make the business successful in the first place.

Employment law may be changing, but the fundamentals of good leadership are not.

• Hire well.
• Manage fairly.
• Communicate clearly.
• Write things down.

The businesses that get those basics right will not just be more compliant. They will be better places to work.