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From 6 April 2026, Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) becomes a Day 1 right. Ensure your probation tracking is audit-ready for the Fair Work Agency launch on 7 April 2026.

New UK law · effective 1 Jan 2027

Your probation record is about to become a legal exhibit. Day 182 is the deadline.

From 1 January 2027, UK employees can bring an unfair dismissal claim after just six months. ProbationWatch gives you the countdown, the review rhythm, and the sealed record — before Day 182 becomes a problem you can't defend.

  • Free for 2 employees — no card
  • £24/month for unlimited + sealed PDFs
  • Cancel anytime
SHA-256 sealed·ACAS-aligned·Fair Work Agency ready

What the workflow delivers

Day 182

Decision horizon

Tracked from each start date

4-step

Review rhythm

Before the deadline goes critical

ACAS-style

Review record

Draft free, sealed in Pro

SHA-256

Evidence trail

Audit prep and tribunal defence

What changes in practice

The difference between a record a tribunal can read and a conversation nobody wrote down.

Reviews live in inboxes and memory.

Reviews live in a dated, sealed record.

Managers drift past the six-month threshold.

Managers are prompted at Day 150, 165, and 175.

Employers rely on vague recollections.

Employers keep a tamper-evident evidence trail.

PDFs are assembled in a rush after a complaint.

Every review exports to an ACAS-style PDF in one click.

Live demo · no signup

See the staff list, the countdown, and the sealed PDF before you create an account.

The demo workspace is pre-loaded with staff at every phase — Day 91, Day 162, Day 174 — so you can see exactly where Free ends and Pro begins.

  • Staff list with live countdowns
  • Deadline alerts at 150 / 165 / 175
  • One-click sealed ACAS PDF
  • SHA-256 legal ledger
Staff · Probation tracker
3 active
EmployeeDayStatus
SO

Sarah Okonkwo

Customer Support

162
Warning
JW

James Whitfield

Account Manager

91
On track
PM

Priya Mehta

Operations Lead

174
Decision
SHA-256 sealed · ACAS-aligned

Sealed records

SHA-256 hash

Tamper-evident ledger

Framework

ACAS-aligned

Code of Practice fields

Hosting

UK-based

Encrypted at rest

Support

Founder-led

Direct email access

The Day 182 window

The job is to make the decision before the threshold — with the record already written.

  1. 150

    Warning window

    Start the formal review

    then
  2. 165

    Escalation

    Gather evidence and notes

    then
  3. 175

    Decision week

    Pass, extend, or exit

    then
  4. 182

    Threshold

    Legal rights attach

Before Day 182

You still have room to act: document the review, raise concerns, and record a formal decision while the process is still yours to run.

After Day 182

Unfair dismissal rights attach. A missing or vague paper trail becomes far more expensive — and harder to defend if it reaches a tribunal.

Who it's for

The employers who feel the risk first are the ones this is built for.

Owner-managed businesses

Founders and directors who need a defensible probation process without building an HR team first.

HR managers and people leads

Teams that need a consistent review rhythm, cleaner records, and less manual chasing before Day 182.

Operations and line managers

The people actually running probation conversations, collecting notes, and making pass, extend, or exit decisions.

Pricing

Free to prove the fit. £24 when the record has to stand up.

No per-seat charges. No contract. No card to start. Move to Pro the moment you need the sealed PDF and legal ledger — not before.

Free workspace

£0/ month

Proof tier for the first 2 active probation employees

  • Up to 2 active probation employees
  • 182-day countdown tracking
  • Dashboard and staff registry
  • Draft ACAS review records
Founding price

Pro workflow

£24/ month

Current founding price for the full employer record

  • Unlimited employees
  • All 4 automated deadline alerts
  • Sealed ACAS-style PDFs
  • SHA-256 legal ledger
  • Fair Work Agency audit fields
£24/mo · founding price·Cancel anytime·No per-seat charges·UK-based support
DM

Founder access

I personally handle walkthrough requests for the first wave of UK employers. No sales team, no demo sequence — just a direct reply.

Request walkthrough

Common questions

The questions that usually come up before employers act.

When does the 6-month unfair dismissal rule take effect in the UK?
The Employment Rights Act 2025 reduces the unfair dismissal qualifying period from two years to six months (182 calendar days), effective 1 January 2027. From that date, any employee dismissed on or after Day 182 without a documented, procedurally fair process under the Acas Code of Practice can bring an unfair dismissal claim at an Employment Tribunal.
What is the Fair Work Agency and when does enforcement begin?
The Fair Work Agency is the UK's new single labour market enforcement body. It launches on 7 April 2026 with stronger investigatory powers and can request employment records, right-to-work evidence, and probation documentation during an audit.
Is Statutory Sick Pay a Day 1 right from April 2026?
Yes. From 6 April 2026, Statutory Sick Pay is payable from the first day of sickness absence for eligible workers. That includes employees still within probation, provided they meet the weekly earnings threshold.
Do I need to migrate data or sign a contract to try it?
No. The free workspace starts with two active employees, no card, and no contract. You can import or add staff, run the review workflow, and only move to Pro (£24/month) when you need sealed PDFs, unlimited employees, and the SHA-256 evidence ledger.
Built for the 2027 deadline

If the process matters later, capture it properly now.

Start with the free tier. Open the live demo. Move to Pro when you need the sealed document and audit trail.

SHA-256 sealed·ACAS-aligned·Fair Work Agency ready

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ProbationWatch UK | Probation tracking, review records, and Day 182 compliance