How Should I Write a Letter About Poor Performance and Commission-Based Salary?

As an Admin/Human Resources Manager, I was asked by my boss to write a letter to one of the staff members who is about to complete his six-month probation, informing him of his poor performance. Additionally, I am to include in the letter that once he completes his probation period, his salary will be placed on commission. How should I approach writing this letter?

Performance Evaluation and Commission-Based Offer

If the performance was not up to the mark, why does your boss want to offer work to him on a commission basis? Is there a clause in the appointment letter that requires a reason to be communicated in case the work is not up to the required parameter?

In case such a clause does exist, you may communicate the following: "This has reference to your appointment letter no---dt---. This is to inform you that your probation will be over on -----, and we would like to inform you that, as per feedback, your performance during probation does not meet our standards. Therefore, it will not be possible to confirm you as a regular employee. Your services, therefore, will no longer be required after the probation period is over, i.e., after -----. We wish you the very best."

Regards,
Auth Signatory

In addition to Mr. Rathi's opinion, I wish to advise you with an option that can provide an opportunity for him to improve performance, provided your management is also willing to allow him time to demonstrate his commitment and complete all pending tasks. Alternatively, in another situation, you can extend the probation period for another three months in writing as follows:

Probation Extension Notification

"Dear Mr. ABC,

This is to inform you that your probation will be over on -----=====. Although you might have put in efforts in learning and performing the assigned tasks in the normal course, there are still gaps in performance that have been observed as 'Unsatisfactory.' These observations and feedback have been pointed out to you by your Head of Department from time to time.

Management has, therefore, decided to extend your probation period for another three months. Please note that your performance during probation needs to meet our performance standards. Therefore, you are advised to improve in the areas already discussed in detail with timelines; otherwise, it will not be possible to confirm you as a regular employee. (It would be best to include job details, areas, timelines, and targets here.)

We expect that you will take this in the right spirit and will pay attention to the expected level of improvements in the assignments.

For XYZ Ltd,

Authorized signatory."

Probationary Period and Employment Terms

When you take an employee on probation for a certain period, you evaluate their performance. If you are satisfied with their performance, you confirm their service. If not, you can terminate their service.

From where do you get the scope of employing them on commission? It may create a lot of legal complications and could be harmful to the company.

If you do not want to keep them on a salary but want to pay based on performance, it is better to terminate their service as per the probationary letter's clause and settle all dues. After that, wait for a month and then appoint them freshly on commission. That is the only way to end the employer-employee relationship.

An employee has to be given a chance to improve. Hence, it is advisable to extend his probation for another 3 months, as suggested by the above members. Furthermore, even after the completion of the extended probation, if his/her performance is not satisfactory, then the employee has to be terminated from his/her services.