How long you must work before unfair dismissal protection applies, by country
Four of these statutes make protection depend on service: the UK asks for two years, Canada for twelve months, Germany for more than six months, and Australia for six months or one year depending on whether the employer is a small business. Germany adds an employer-size cut-off that removes small workplaces altogether. Norway, Sweden and Japan, in the provisions quoted here, protect against dismissal without good reason without naming a service period, and Norway and Sweden instead let a probation period of up to six months run first.
Scope of this guide
Canada: the Canada Labour Code (federal sector) and the Ontario statutes that LawAsked has loaded. Other provinces are not compared.
| Country | Service needed | Employer size or exclusions | Probation window |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 6 months (one year for a small business employer) | Small business employers have the longer one-year period | |
| Canada | 12 consecutive months of continuous employment | Employees under a collective agreement are excluded | |
| Germany | More than 6 months without interruption in the same establishment or company | Not for establishments with 5 or fewer employees; for those with 10 or fewer, not for staff hired after 31 December 2003 | |
| Japan | Not conditioned on service in this article | ||
| Norway | Not conditioned on service in § 15-7 | Up to 6 months by written agreement; dismissal during it must relate to fit, skill or reliability | |
| Sweden | Not conditioned on service in 7 § | Probation employment of at most 6 months | |
| United Kingdom | 2 years of continuous employment | Several listed grounds are exempt from the qualifying period |
Country by country
Australia
- Rule
- Fair Work Act 2009 s 383
- The period ends at the earlier of the notice of dismissal or the moment before the dismissal. Section 382 sets further conditions for protection (for example coverage by an award or enterprise agreement); they are not summarised here.
if the employer is not a small business employer—6 months ending at the earlier of the following timesif the employer is a small business employer—one year ending at that time Canada
- Rule
- Canada Labour Code s 240
- Federal-sector employees only (Canada Labour Code). The complaint must be made within ninety days of the dismissal. Provincial law, including Ontario, is not covered by this row.
has completed 12 consecutive months of continuous employment by an employeris not a member of a group of employees subject to a collective agreementshall be made within ninety days from the date on which the person making the complaint was dismissed Germany
- Rule
- KSchG § 1 and § 23
- Part-time staff count as 0.5 (up to 20 hours a week) or 0.75 (up to 30 hours); trainees are not counted. Chapter 1 protection is lost for small establishments, except the procedural sections named in § 23.
ohne Unterbrechung länger als sechs Monate bestanden hat, ist rechtsunwirksam, wenn sie sozial ungerechtfertigt ist in der Regel fünf oder weniger Arbeitnehmer ausschließlich der zu ihrer Berufsbildung Beschäftigten beschäftigt werdenin der Regel zehn oder weniger Arbeitnehmer ausschließlich der zu ihrer Berufsbildung Beschäftigten beschäftigt werdennach dem 31. Dezember 2003 begonnen hat Japan
- Rule
- 労働契約法 第16条
- Article 16 makes a dismissal void when it lacks an objectively reasonable ground and is not appropriate under social norms. The article does not mention a service period or employer size; the Labour Standards Act and case practice are not covered here.
解雇は、客観的に合理的な理由を欠き、社会通念上相当であると認められない場合は、その権利を濫用したものとして、無効とする。 Norway
- Rule
- Arbeidsmiljøloven § 15-7 and § 15-6
- Section 15-7 requires an objective justification for dismissing an employee. During an agreed probation period § 15-6 narrows the permitted reasons rather than removing protection; a longer probation can be allowed by ministerial regulation for certain groups.
Arbeidstaker kan ikke sies opp uten at det er saklig begrunnet Prøvetid kan avtales for en periode på inntil seks måneder.må oppsigelsen være begrunnet i arbeidstakers tilpasning til arbeidet, faglige dyktighet eller pålitelighet Sweden
- Rule
- LAS 7 § and 6 §
- Section 7 requires objective grounds for a dismissal by the employer. A probation employment is a fixed-term form: if neither side gives notice by the end of the probation it turns into a permanent job, and unless agreed otherwise it may be ended earlier.
Uppsägning från arbetsgivarens sida ska grunda sig på sakliga skäl. om prövotiden är högst sex månaderövergår provanställningen i en tillsvidareanställning United Kingdom
- Rule
- Employment Rights Act 1996 s 108
- The period must end with the effective date of termination. Section 108(3) lists dismissals to which the qualifying period does not apply; the full list is in the statute and is not reproduced here.
unless he has been continuously employed for a period of not less than two years ending with the effective date of terminationSubsection (1) does not apply if Countries not in this table yet
The United States, France, Spain, Austria and the Netherlands are left out: the ingested texts either do not state a service condition for dismissal protection or the relevant acts (for example the Austrian Arbeitsverfassungsgesetz) are not ingested.
How this table was built
Every row is taken from the official, consolidated text of the statute, which LawAsked loads from each government’s legislation service.
Each figure is tied to a passage quoted word for word from that text. When the page is served, it checks that every quoted passage is still in the current text of a law that is in force; if a law is amended and its wording changes, that row is hidden until a person reviews it again.
The table shows the statutory minimum only. Collective agreements, awards and individual contracts often give more than the statute, and some countries let a collective agreement set different terms.
Use this data
The table and the CSV are free to reuse under CC BY 4.0: credit LawAsked and link to this page. Quoted statute text stays under the terms of its official source.
How to cite this page
LawAsked, “How long you must work before unfair dismissal protection applies, by country”, https://lawasked.com/guides/unfair-dismissal-qualifying-period (reviewed October 25, 2026).
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