Can a Permanent Employee's Probation Be Extended? Understanding What It Means and Why It Happens

Can anyone help me understand if probation can be extended in the case of a permanent employee? If the probation period of an employee is extended, what could be the meaning of that? Is it that the employee is performing poorly or something else? Kindly suggest.

Thanks,
Roop

Probation can be extended only to the employee who has not been confirmed after joining. Normally, the probation period differs from company to company, ranging from 3 months to 1 year, with 6 months being the most common duration.

Employee Probation Extension Cases

Employee probation can be extended in the following cases (mostly in 3-month probation):

1. If the employee doesn't perform well, but the management has faith in the employee and wants to give them a chance to improve, the employer may choose to extend the probation. In such cases, the employer typically provides a minimal notice period (usually 1 week) if they decide to terminate the employee. The extension reflects the employer's hope in the employee's potential.

2. In scenarios where the organization is downsizing its workforce or a particular department, they may extend the probation of an employee, even if the employee is performing well. The employee is then asked to relocate or move to a different role after the extended probation period, often seen in the case of management trainees.

3. An employee might excel at their job performance but exhibit poor behavior, attitude, lack of discipline, or punctuality. In such instances, the Head of Department (HOD) may extend the probation to allow the employee an opportunity to rectify their conduct.

Please let me know if you need further clarification or information.

Best regards

Thank you, Shenbagarajan K. That means if the company has extended the probation, it doesn't necessarily mean that the employee has to take it in a negative sense, right?

Thanks,
Roop

The company has the option to terminate a probationary employee with minimal notice. However, if they choose to retain the employee, it indicates that they believe the individual has the potential to perform well with some support that may not have been provided earlier.

Regards.

Very rarely does the employer terminate an employee under probation or extension unless the employee doesn't show marked improvement in performance and other behavioral attitudes.

Let me have a comment...

Understanding Probation for New Employees

Probation is a criterion for new employees to complete a certain amount of time within the company's systems, processes, procedures, and their immediate working conditions of employment, based on the business objectives of the company. Based on these parameters, we should confirm the employment services. It could be extendable if he/she does not meet the probation period objectives of the company/department/job.

Importance of Fulfilling KRAs

First and foremost, everyone must fulfill the KRAs of the job within the probation period. Only then can we decide on extending or regularizing the services.

In my view, it refers to only one meaning for a standard and well-established organization. If the performance of an employee is not up to the mark and satisfactory level, his probation may be extended. If one's probation period is extended without any reason and despite his good performance, it may simply be presumed that there is a problem, such as financial issues or related to working conditions within the organization. In my view, seeking opportunities in other companies would be the better advice.

Thank you very much for your valuable insights. The current scenario involves one of our employees (let's call them XYZ) who joined as a replacement while another existing employee (let's call them ABC) was on sabbatical leave. Now, ABC wishes to return, but the project they were managing has concluded, and XYZ has taken over successfully. However, the management has requested me to extend XYZ's probation period, stating that they will be under observation for two more months, and their confirmation will depend on their performance.

XYZ, the new employee, is a high performer and a close friend of mine. There seems to be no justification for letting them go, except perhaps for financial constraints or a lack of workload.

The main concern here is that XYZ should seek a role that allows them to utilize their skills effectively. Currently, they feel deceived.

Thank you,

Roop

Understanding Probation Periods

The probation period is in vogue to enable an employer to see whether the new recruit is suitable for the post. If he is not found suitable, his services can be terminated. However, as per the principles of natural justice, a probationer has to be given a chance to improve his performance. He should be given different job assignments so that his employability can be properly assessed. Additionally, he should be placed under a different supervisor or section in charge so that bias by the supervisor can be ruled out, or the recruit may, in fact, perform better under someone else.

It is better to give advisory memos to the probationer, informing him about his shortcomings and advising him to improve his performance or behavior. It would be better to extend his probation and give him a chance to improve his performance. If such a chance is given, and the above actions are done, the employer cannot be accused of any illegal action when he terminates the services of the probationer.

Courts generally assess if a fair chance has been given to a probationer and whether the principles of natural justice have been followed. If any further information is required, please contact me.

Regards,
Devdas Uchil, AGM HR, Mazagon Dock Ltd.

Can anyone help me understand if we hired an employee and mentioned in an offer letter "you are not entitled to any leave until completion of 3 months" because you are in the probation period. If he/she is absent for one week during probation, can we confirm them or extend their probationary period? In case we extend probation, for how many months can we extend it again?

Whether the employee is performing well. If good, then you can confirm him/her. Anyway, you have the confirmation due date; you shouldn't change that. Since, due to illness, he/she would have taken leave and also would not have been paid for those days as a probationary employee.

If the performance is still not up to the mark, you can extend the probation, but it can only be a maximum of 3 months (since the actual probation period in your organization is 3 months).

Thank you.

I have always used the extension of probation as an initial performance booster for new starters. You must ensure that this approach is used for all employees; i.e., a letter of confirmation is given to all employees as standard. The fact that the probation is extended should be used as a positive sign that the company wants to keep the employee, but they need a little more help before confirming.

Guidance During Extended Probation

Once the probation is extended, it is good practice to give the employee clear direction on what is expected of them. A PIP (Performance Improvement Plan) should be set up and agreed upon with the employee, with regular reviews on the progress of the PIP. This is a very good step in gaining investor trust in people, so it is very good practice for a company to carry out.

I agree with the posting of Mr. Senbagarajan. Management wants to give the employee another chance with the hope that he will make up for the deficiencies/lacunae observed and communicated to the employee. The employee has to become aware of his shortcomings and try to improve in these areas to get confirmed in the job. In other words, the performance shown so far is not up to the mark, and given a chance, the management believes he can improve.

Regards,
M.J. Subramanyam, Bangalore

When mentioning the clauses in an offer letter, it is always good to frame the content positively rather than in a negative manner, but ensure clarity in communication. In this case, if you wish to convey that there is no entitlement to leave during probation, you can phrase it as follows: "During the period of your probation, there won't be entitlement to any kind of leave."

Additionally, you can include the following statement: "In the unlikely circumstance of you proceeding on leave or experiencing absenteeism resulting in Loss of Pay (LOP), your probation may be extended for the period of LOP taken during your probationary period."

Typically, the probation period ranges from 0 to 6 months. However, under no circumstances should the probation period exceed one year for any employee.

Regards,
Swapna Sarith

If the probation period is 3 months and the offer letter states that you are not eligible for any leaves during probation, you can extend the probation for the next one week. For example, if he/she joined your organization on 1st Jan '12 and was supposed to get confirmed by 1st Apr '12, you can extend the probation for the next one week, i.e., until 8th Apr '12, as the confirmation date, due to one week's leave taken during probation.

One week's extension doesn't make much difference, but you can still explain to the employee that it got extended due to the leaves. Simple...

Regards,
Balaji S
Human Resources