The Employment Rights Act: Why food manufacturers are turning to interim hires to navigate new day one rights

By Denis O’Driscoll

MD at Corvin Fox

Recent changes to day one rights under the Employment Rights Act are leaving employers with far less margin for error when it comes to permanent hires. Workers now receive Statutory Sick Pay (SSP), family leave and protection against automatically unfair dismissal from their very first shift on site. This means that when an appointment goes wrong, leadership teams can no longer rely on an informal probation period to fix the mistake.

From 1st January 2027, the window for ordinary unfair dismissal also drops from two years to six months, giving leadership teams far less time to evaluate a new hire. Dismissals after that six-month mark will require formal performance reviews and documented warnings, which leaves struggling employees on the payroll for longer – an expense that could be compounded if the employee claims SSP or takes family leave.

Unsurprisingly, these developments have made organisations far more cautious when approving permanent appointments. But they’ve also strengthened the case for using experienced interim hires to bring in instant expertise, test new shift structures or leadership models, and delay committing to the financial and administrative liabilities of a permanent hire until the time is truly right.

In this blog, we’ll explain the new rules around day one rights and explore how food manufacturers can use interim hires to navigate them.

Key summary

• The recently expanded Employment Rights Act has introduced new day one rights and shorter qualifying periods for unfair dismissal, increasing the financial and legal risks attached to permanent hiring.
• Bringing in an interim manager provides food manufacturers with immediate and effective support, and allows leadership teams to test new shift structures without taking on new legal liabilities.
• Corvin Fox brings 15 years of specialist recruitment experience in the food manufacturing sector, placing vetted interims on site within 48 to 72 hours while managing all aspects of legal and financial compliance.

What we will cover

• What the new Employment Rights Act rules mean for food manufacturers
• How experienced interim managers help food manufacturers navigate recruitment delays
• How Corvin Fox can support your interim hiring
• FAQs

What the new Employment Rights Act rules mean for food manufacturers

The Employment Rights Act 2025 introduces extensive changes to UK employment law, giving food manufacturing workers protections immediately upon starting a role.

Statutory sick pay and family leave

From 6 April 2026, Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) became a day-one right, with the three-day waiting period and the lower earnings limit removed. Employees can now receive statutory payments from their first morning of absence, increasing potential wage commitments for food manufacturing sites, particularly those relying on flexible, lower-paid and part-time workers who were previously exempt from the rules. Removing the three-day buffer also makes it harder to prepare for short-term or last-minute absences.

Paternity leave and unpaid parental leave have also become day-one entitlements, making it all the more important that managers make contingency plans to cover unexpected absences

Unfair dismissal and fire and rehire
From 1 January 2027, the qualifying period for ordinary unfair dismissal drops from two years to six months. In practice, this drastically shortens the window food manufacturers have to evaluate whether a new hire is the right fit.

Currently, organisations can dismiss an underperforming employee relatively quickly without facing an ordinary unfair dismissal claim. Once the threshold drops to six months however, these terminations will require formal capability reviews, documented warnings and a full legal procedure. The legislation also removes the cap on compensatory awards for unfair dismissal, meaning any procedural errors could carry much higher tribunal penalties than before.

Dismissing an employee and rehiring them on worse terms and conditions will also become an automatically unfair dismissal in most cases, closing off “fire and rehire” as a fallback option for restructuring. Site leaders must now ensure shift patterns and contractual terms are as accurate as possible from the outset, as altering them later will carry significant legal risk.

Flexible working refusals
In a factory environment reliant on strict shift patterns, accommodating flexible working is often difficult or impossible. However, when the law updates in 2027, site directors will face a higher administrative burden when rejecting these requests. Employers must formally justify their refusal using one of eight acceptable business reasons and provide a detailed written explanation of why the rejection is reasonable, adding further complexity to managing shift rotas and permanent staff.

Collective redundancies

On 6 April 2026, the financial penalty for failing to consult workers during collective redundancies doubled. Employment tribunals can now order non-compliant employers to pay each affected worker up to 180 days’ gross pay, up from the previous 90-day limit. From 2027, the rule requiring formal consultations for large-scale redundancies will no longer look at each factory in isolation. Instead, planned job cuts will be tallied across the whole company, meaning small staff reductions at multiple sites will combine to trigger full statutory consultation duties.

This fundamentally changes how operational restructures work for multi-site food manufacturers. If a business needs to cut roles across several facilities, small site-level changes will quickly add up. Making a procedural error will also carry double the financial penalty per worker, making it all the more essential that organisations plan and coordinate their consultations effectively.

“Food manufacturers used to have time on their side when it came to permanent hires. If a new technical manager or shift leader turned out to be a poor fit, you had a two-year window to handle the issue without a drawn-out legal process. With the timeline now reduced to six months, leadership teams are naturally taking longer to sign off on new contracts.

The problem is that production cannot simply pause while leadership teams rectify mistakes or look for the perfect hire. Leaving key supervisory positions empty puts strain on existing staff, which inevitably leads to mistakes. In this context, interim hires provide the perfect middle ground, giving the team an instant injection of experience without exposing the business to as many financial and legal liabilities.”

– Denis O’Driscoll, Managing Director at Corvin Fox

How experienced interim managers help food manufacturers navigate recruitment delays

With new day one rights increasing the potential cost of making a mistake with a permanent hire, organisations are increasingly turning to experienced interim staff to keep their production lines running smoothly while they focus on making the right choice.

At Corvin Fox, we’ve seen a 32% increase in interim assignments across food and drink manufacturing over the past 12 months, suggesting that organisations are using interim cover as a flexible, low-risk way to take more time over their long-term recruitment decisions.

Interim managers operate as independent contractors, giving you an experienced leader on-site immediately without the long-term commitments attached to hiring someone permanently. Beyond the financial and legal benefits, there are a number of other reasons why an interim hire could be a smart move.

Trialling shift patterns and candidates 

Hiring an interim manager allows leadership teams to trial new shift rotas, adjust reporting lines or tweak team structures without needing to fully commit. An interim can run a new shift setup for a few months, then managers can see what works on the line, make any necessary changes and update the job spec before advertising the permanent role. An interim contract can also act as a trial period, allowing site directors to test how a candidate handles the factory floor before offering them a permanent position.

Getting immediate help

Senior interims offer years of hands-on experience, and can hit the ground running without needing months of onboarding.

Whether you’re facing an upcoming audit, dealing with an operational bottleneck or facing unexpected equipment failures, an interim can step in with the skills needed to resolve the issue quickly.

Controlling payroll costs

An interim hire means food manufacturers only pay for specialist leadership for as long as they need it. Because interims operate under commercial contracts, businesses can avoid long-term overheads like pensions, holiday pay and benefit packages – as well as the expanded day one rights coming into force under the Employment Rights Act.

Bringing in an objective

Because interims arrive as independent contractors often tasked with solving a specific challenge, they can bring a fresh, unbiased perspective to your organisation. Without any attachment to internal politics, they are well-placed to assess operational issues objectively and give site directors straightforward and unbiased feedback.

Training your existing supervisors

While interims generally focus on short-term fixes, they can also train the staff around them. Experienced interims often mentor shift supervisors, coach junior technical managers and write up clear operating procedures before their contract ends. Passing those skills on to permanent staff keeps line performance, safety standards and output high long after the interim leaves.

“The rise we’ve seen in interim assignments isn’t just a temporary reaction to the expansion of the Employment Rights Act. Site directors are realising that temporary cover does far more than just plug a gap. Bringing in an experienced interim lets you test out new ideas and stabilise your team without locking the business into a more risky permanent contract.

We often observe that interim hires quickly become a core part of an organisation’s recruitment strategy once leadership teams see how effective they can be at relieving operational pressures.”

– Denis O’Driscoll, Managing Director at Corvin Fox

How Corvin Fox can support your interim hiring

Finding interim hires who possess the right technical background, site experience and availability takes time that leadership teams rarely have to spare.

This is where a specialist recruitment agency like Corvin Fox comes in.

We have over 15 years of experience recruiting exclusively for UK food and drink manufacturers, and maintain a network of over 600 vetted interim managers.

We can deliver shortlists within 24 hours and place experienced leadership on site within 48 to 72 hours.

Over 80% of the interim contracts we place are extended by our clients.

We also handle every element of the legal process, including off-payroll tax status assessments, IR35 compliance, commercial contracts and payroll structures, making sure every placement complies with statutory regulations.

Contact the team at Corvin Fox today to discuss how our interim management network can support your manufacturing site.

FAQ

Do day-one employment rights apply to interim managers?
No. Because interim professionals operate as self-employed contractors rather than employees, they are exempt from standard employment legislation and do not receive day-one statutory rights.

How does the six-month unfair dismissal rule affect recruitment for food manufacturers?
Changing the qualifying period for unfair dismissal from two years to six months gives site directors a much smaller window to evaluate permanent hires. Because ending a contract after six months carries greater legal liabilities, businesses are taking more time over permanent offers and using interim managers to cover critical roles during the transition.

How quickly can an interim manager start on site?

Corvin Fox presents a shortlist of vetted candidates within 24 hours of receiving a brief. Following client interviews, managers can usually start on site within 48 to 72 hours.

What roles do interim managers cover in food manufacturing?

Food manufacturers use interims across senior factory positions, including Operations Directors, Factory General Managers, Technical Directors, Shift Managers Engineering Managers and Quality Assurance Leaders. They manage site turnarounds, oversee capital engineering projects, prepare plants for audits and maintain operational standards during long-term recruitment searches.

How does Corvin Fox ensure IR35 compliance for interim placements?
Corvin Fox brings over 15 years of recruitment experience in food and drink manufacturing, managing full IR35 and off-payroll working compliance. Every assignment undergoes a working-practice assessment to determine tax status before work begins, protecting food businesses from legal and financial exposure.

Are interim managers cost-effective for food manufacturers?

Yes. Interims allow food manufacturers to pay for specialist skills only for the duration of a project or vacancy, and avoid recurring payroll costs like pensions, statutory benefits and severance packages.