Indeed, I wish we could get rid of this idea that it's so hard to fire people in the UK, and stop using it to justify low pay. Before that 2 year milestone you

Indeed, I wish we could get rid of this idea that it's so hard to fire people in the UK, and stop using it to justify low pay. Before that 2 year milestone you can basically be summarily dismissed. The probation period is meaningless. After 2 years it's harder, the employee would be able to bring a claim for constructive dismissal for the examples you give. IANAL, but I have personally witnessed people being fired from a small business. None of them had done anything especially terrible.