A performance improvement plan is a formal document that sets out what your employer says you are doing wrong, what they expect instead, and how long you have to get there. It is a capability process, not a disciplinary one, so it is about your ability to do the job rather than your behaviour. Used properly, a PIP is genuine support with clear targets and real help to hit them. Used badly, it is a paper trail built to justify a dismissal that has already been decided. This guide explains what your employer must do, how to spot a PIP designed to fail, and what your rights are at every stage.
Contents
- What is a performance improvement plan?
- Capability or conduct: why the label matters
- What a fair PIP must contain
- Your rights during a PIP
- The PIP meeting and your right to be accompanied
- Warning signs of an unfair PIP
- Health, disability and reasonable adjustments
- What happens if you do not meet the targets
- Challenging a PIP
- FAQs
- How the National Employees Union can help
What is a performance improvement plan?
A performance improvement plan is a structured period during which your employer monitors your work against agreed standards. ACAS describes it as a plan setting out specific objectives, a reasonable timeline to meet them, and any further support or training you need. It usually runs for a fixed period, commonly between four weeks and six months, with review meetings along the way.
No law requires your employer to use a PIP, and no statute sets out what one must say. That does not make the process optional in practice. Capability is one of the five potentially fair reasons for dismissal under section 98(2) of the Employment Rights Act 1996, and section 98(4) asks whether the employer acted reasonably. A tribunal will expect to see that you were told what was wrong, given support and given a genuine chance to improve before anyone talked about dismissal.
That genuine chance is the heart of the process. Everything else — the targets, the reviews, the paperwork — exists to prove it was real.
Capability or conduct: why the label matters
Capability is about ability. It covers your skill, aptitude, health, and any physical or mental quality affecting your work. Conduct is about choice: you can do the job but you are not doing it properly.
The distinction changes the route your employer should take. A capability problem calls for training, coaching and time. A conduct problem calls for a disciplinary procedure, which is a different process with different protections — see our guide to a disciplinary hearing at work for how that runs.
Employers often blur the two. They open a PIP because it sounds supportive, then treat missed targets as misconduct and move straight to a sanction. If your employer calls the process “capability” but the allegations are about attitude, lateness or following instructions, say so in writing at the first meeting. Getting the label right early protects you later.
What a fair PIP must contain
A defensible plan is specific. Vague standards cannot be met, and a tribunal knows it.
| Element | What good looks like | What to challenge |
|---|---|---|
| Objectives | Specific, measurable tasks tied to your job description | “Improve communication”, “show more initiative” |
| Timescale | Long enough to show a real change in output | Two weeks to fix a six-month issue |
| Support | Named training, coaching, mentoring, shadowing | “Ask if you need help” |
| Review points | Scheduled meetings with written notes | Silence until the final review |
| Evidence | Documented examples with dates | Unattributed complaints, hearsay |
| Consequences | Clearly stated at the outset | Dismissal raised for the first time at the end |
If your plan is missing any row in that table, ask for it in writing before the plan starts. A written request is a record, and records are what decide capability cases.
Your rights during a PIP
You do not lose your ordinary employment rights because you are on a plan. In particular:
The right to know the case against you
Your employer should give you the evidence behind each concern: the figures, the dates, the examples. You cannot fix a problem described only in adjectives.
The right to reasonable support
ACAS expects employers to provide adequate resources to enable you to do your job, including training. If the plan demands a skill nobody has taught you, the support is the missing part, not you.
The right to your normal pay and contractual terms
A PIP does not change your contract. Your employer cannot cut your pay, downgrade your role or strip your duties as part of the plan unless you agree.
The right to raise a grievance
If the plan is retaliation, or the targets are unachievable, you can raise a formal grievance. Our grievance letter template shows how to set out the facts and the outcome you want.
The right not to be discriminated against
If your performance is affected by a disability, pregnancy or another protected characteristic, the Equality Act 2010 applies throughout the plan.
Those rights are only as strong as the record you keep of them. Confirm every conversation by email the same day.
The PIP meeting and your right to be accompanied
The statutory right to be accompanied under section 10 of the Employment Relations Act 1999 applies to disciplinary and grievance hearings. A disciplinary hearing includes any meeting that could result in a formal warning or dismissal, so a final PIP review carries the right where a sanction is on the table. Our guide to your right to be accompanied at work meetings explains who can attend and what they can do.
Earlier, informal review meetings may fall outside the statutory right. Many employer policies still allow a companion, and most will agree if you ask. Ask in writing, and ask early.
Your companion can put your case, sum up, and confer with you during the meeting. They cannot answer questions on your behalf. Bring your own notes, request the meeting record, and correct anything inaccurate in writing within a few days.
Warning signs of an unfair PIP
Some plans are set up to fail. The pattern is recognisable:
- Targets are higher than those applied to colleagues doing the same job
- The timescale is shorter than the work cycle it measures
- The plan lands days after you raised a grievance, reported a safety concern or returned from leave
- Promised training never happens, or happens too late to count
- Review meetings are cancelled, then the final review says you missed everything
- Your manager has already told others that you are leaving
None of these makes a dismissal automatically unlawful on its own. Together, they are evidence that the process was a formality. Tribunals look at whether a reasonable employer would have acted this way, and a plan nobody could pass fails that test.
Health, disability and reasonable adjustments
If a health condition affects your work, tell your employer in writing. Once they know, or could reasonably be expected to know, that you are disabled within the meaning of the Equality Act 2010, they have a duty to make reasonable adjustments.
Adjustments in a capability context can include changing the targets themselves, extending the timescale, altering hours or duties, providing equipment, or referring you to occupational health. Applying an unmodified plan to a disabled employee can amount to discrimination arising from disability as well as a failure to adjust.
Absence is a separate issue. Where the concern is time off rather than output, the process should follow a sickness absence route — see can your employer sack you for being off sick? for how that differs.
What happens if you do not meet the targets
If you improve but fall short, a reasonable employer extends the plan. If there is no improvement, the usual next step is a formal capability hearing, which can lead to a written or final written warning. Our guide to written warnings at work explains how long a warning stays live and what it means for later stages.
Dismissal should be the last stage, not the first response. Before dismissing for capability, your employer should consider whether alternative work exists, whether more time or different support would help, and whether the standard being applied is realistic.
If they dismiss you anyway, capability is a potentially fair reason — but the process still has to be fair. Read unfair dismissal UK for how those claims work.
Two dates matter as the law changes. Until 1 January 2027, you generally need two years’ continuous service to bring an ordinary unfair dismissal claim; from that date the Employment Rights Act 2025 reduces the qualifying period to six months where the effective date of termination falls on or after 1 January 2027. Separately, the tribunal time limit for most claims rises from three months to six months on 1 October 2026, applying where the act complained of happens on or after that date. Some claims — including discrimination and automatically unfair dismissal — need no qualifying service at all.
Challenging a PIP
Challenge the plan, not the person. Put your objections in writing at the start, listing each target you consider unachievable and what you need instead. Ask for the evidence behind each concern and for comparator data if you believe you are being held to a different standard.
Attend every review, and follow up each one with your own written summary. Log the support you asked for and did not receive. If the plan is a response to something you reported, say so and raise a grievance in parallel.
Do not resign in frustration. Resigning cuts off most routes and puts the burden on you to prove your employer breached your contract fundamentally, which is the test for constructive dismissal. Speak to a legally trained representative before you take that step.
FAQs
Can I refuse to sign a performance improvement plan?
Yes. Signing usually means only that you have received the plan, but you are not obliged to sign. Write to your manager confirming you have received it, setting out which parts you dispute and why. Refusing to engage with the plan at all is riskier than signing under protest.
How long should a PIP last?
There is no legal minimum. The period must be long enough to show a genuine change in performance, which usually means at least one full work or reporting cycle. Plans of four to twelve weeks are common; a plan of days is rarely reasonable for anything but the simplest task.
Can I be dismissed at the end of a PIP?
Yes, if your employer has a fair reason and follows a fair process. Capability is a potentially fair reason under section 98(2) of the Employment Rights Act 1996. Dismissal should follow warnings and a capability hearing, not arrive without notice at the final review.
Can I be put on a PIP while on sick leave?
Your employer should normally pause a plan while you are absent and resume it when you return. Running review meetings during sickness absence, particularly where the illness relates to the work situation, is difficult to defend. Ask for the plan to be paused in writing.
Does a PIP go on my employment record?
Usually yes, in your personnel file. A PIP is not a disciplinary warning, so it should not be treated as one when future decisions are made. If your employer relies on an expired plan to justify a later sanction, challenge it.
Can I raise a grievance while on a PIP?
Yes, and doing so does not pause the plan automatically. If the grievance is about the plan itself or the manager running it, ask for the process to be held while the grievance is heard. Put both in writing on the same day so the sequence is clear.
How the National Employees Union can help
A PIP is a test of process as much as performance. Members tell us the hardest part is knowing whether the plan is genuine support or the first step towards the door. That is exactly the judgement our legally trained representatives make every day.
National Employees Union members get a review of the plan and its targets, help drafting written objections, representation at review and capability hearings where the right applies, support with grievances and appeals, and advice on your options if dismissal is raised.
Join the National Employees Union today Membership from £15/month. For advice on your specific situation, contact us.
Written by the National Employees Union team. We represent employees in capability and performance processes across the UK. This guide is reviewed regularly and was last updated in August 2026.
