Why waiting until January 2027 to review your performance management procedures will be too late
For many logistics employers, performance issues do not arrive quietly.
They arrive as missed delivery windows, picking errors, repeated lateness, safety concerns, poor handovers, damaged goods, rota gaps and managers quietly saying, “He’s just not working out.”
That may be true. But ahead of the 2027 unfair dismissal changes, it will not be enough.
This is because from 1 January 2027, ordinary unfair dismissal protection is due to apply after six months’ service, rather than two years. The Government has also indicated that the cap on unfair dismissal compensatory awards is due to be removed.
For logistics employers, this matters because the margin for delay is getting smaller.
If the first meaningful conversation about performance happens at the end of a six-month probation period, the business may already be on the back foot.
The two-year comfort zone is ending
Many employers have historically treated the first two years of employment as a lower-risk period for dismissal. That assumption has never been completely safe. Employees already have day-one protection against discrimination and certain automatically unfair dismissals.
But the January 2027 changes will significantly alter the risk profile. Employers will have less time to identify performance concerns, raise them clearly, provide support, document what has happened and make a fair decision.
In logistics, where recruitment is often fast-paced and operational pressure is constant, this is a real issue. A depot, warehouse or transport operation cannot afford months of drift. But equally, employers need to be able to show that concerns were managed properly.
The probation period cannot be passive anymore
Probation periods are often treated as a calendar reminder rather than an active management process.
Someone starts. Everyone hopes for the best. The first few weeks are busy. A supervisor spots a few issues but decides to give it time. Then month five arrives and the business suddenly has to decide whether to confirm employment, extend probation or dismiss.
That approach is going to become harder to defend. For logistics employers, probation should become a structured period of active review.
That means building in early check-ins at regular intervals.
This does not mean turning probation into a Tribunal bundle from day one. Nobody needs a 40-page file because someone struggled with the handheld scanner in their first week in post. But you do need a clear record of what was expected, what concerns arose, what support was offered and why the final decision was made.
Where logistics employers often get into difficulty
Performance concerns in logistics are usually easy to identify. The harder part is evidencing how they were managed.
Common mistakes include letting concerns drift for too long, giving vague feedback such as “not a good fit” or “poor attitude” and failing to document conversations.
The problem is not always that the employer lacks a genuine concern. It is that the concern has not been clearly explained, evidenced or managed.
A manager may say, “Everyone knew it wasn’t working.”
That might be true. But if challenged, there will be key questions needing to be asked, not least what standard was required and whether the employee was told there was a problem.
That is where poor documentation can turn a genuine operational issue into a legal risk.
Performance management is not just an HR issue
In logistics, poor performance can have an immediate commercial impact.
One person’s underperformance can affect delivery times, customer relationships, warehouse accuracy, overtime spend, team morale and health and safety.
Good employees also notice when poor performance is not addressed. They are often the ones picking up the slack.
So, performance management is not about creating paperwork for the sake of it.
Done properly, it protects your operational standards, customer service, health and safety, team morale, management time. It also protects your legal position, commercial consistency and goodwill. Employees should be provided with a fair opportunity to understand the concern and improve.
That is the balance you should be aiming for.
The overlap with sickness, disability and caring responsibilities
Performance issues are not always straightforward:
An employee making repeated mistakes may be poorly trained, overwhelmed, affected by a health condition or struggling with a disability.
Repeated lateness may involve childcare or caring responsibilities.
Reduced productivity may be linked to an adjustment that has never been properly considered.
That does not mean you cannot manage performance. But it does mean you need to pause and ask the right questions.
This is particularly important because discrimination claims do not require two years’ service. They can arise from day one. The January 2027 unfair dismissal changes therefore sit alongside existing discrimination risk, not instead of it.
What logistics employers should do now
Employers should use 2026 to tighten performance management before the six-month qualifying period takes effect.
The priority steps are practical.
- Review probation clauses and processes
- Train line managers to give clear feedback.
- Separate conduct, capability and absence.
- Document the operational impact.
- Consider support and alternatives.
This does not mean endless chances. It means a fair opportunity to improve, proportionate to the role, the issue, the risk and the business context.
The key message for January 2027
The January 2027 reforms do not mean employers cannot dismiss employees for poor performance.
They do mean employers need to manage performance earlier, better and with clearer evidence.
For logistics employers, the key question is not:
“Do we think this person is underperforming?”
The better question is:
“Can we show how we handled it?”
If managers are only raising performance concerns when they want someone dismissed, the process is already too late.
Now is the time to review probation periods, train managers, tighten documentation and build performance management into the rhythm of the business.
Because from January 2027, “we knew it was not working” may not be enough.
Employers will need to show what they knew, when they raised it, what they did about it and why the final decision was fair.
This article is general guidance only and should not be treated as legal advice on specific facts. For individual advice tailored to your business, please contact the Tees Law Employment Team.
