As you hopefully know, the law on unfair dismissal protection changes on 1 January 2027.
From that moment, any staff members who’ve been with you for at least six months are automatically protected.
We’ve spent much of the last few months instructing clients to review all staff with under 2 years’ service.
Because the reality is this: you either let them go now, or you’ll have to pay a settlement agreement to get rid of them next year.
But this doesn’t just apply to team members – it’s also the case with general managers, which is the silver lining of this particular cloud where you’re concerned!
A recent case illustrates the point – I was advising a club manager who’d been put in a rather unenviable position.
He was trying to deal with some ‘Member vs Employee’ friction – where a member was (at best) interfering with the greenkeeping team.
(At worst, and in reality, he was bullying the greenkeeper)
The friction had bubbled up to the point that the chair of the committee had been alerted.
And at that point, the chair was adamant that the manager needed to deal with ‘Member vs Employee’ friction ‘correctly’, i.e. through the proper HR channels.
The manager dutifully followed those instructions, only for the chair to perform a full U-turn, now saying that GM should NOT have spoken to HR or made the grievance official.
The GM in question has under 2 years’ service and therefore could just be let go this side of January.
But when the clock strikes 12 on New Year’s Eve? No dice.
It’s almost certain the chair hasn’t even considered the new legislation, and very likely no action will be taken until after the busy Christmas period.
Which means protection for the GM, and a hefty unfair dismissal claim if a dismissal takes place.
The takeaway? If you’re being bullied (even low-level) by your chair or committee, you’ll now only have to make it to 6 months without being fired, rather than two years.
The committees will not be able to keep track of time, and I foresee several large settlements having to be paid out at the beginning of next year…
Bring on 2027!
