Probation Period Dilemma: Should Companies Customize or Standardize for New Hires?

Can the probation period be different for different employees, or should the company keep the standard probation for all new hires?

Dear Swati,

Yes, you can apply different notice periods for different employees in your company. There is no compulsion to keep a standard probation period.

Probation Period for Different Employee Levels

The probation period can vary for employees at different levels. You can categorize it based on their experience or key points, for example:

- Intern: 6 months to 1 year
- Entry Level: 6 months
- Mid Level: 3 months
- Higher Level: 1 month

With the exception of the President, CEO, CFO, COO, and MD of the company, the duration is entirely up to your company's discretion. You need to work with your team to determine how much time a new employee needs to prove themselves and learn the processes.

Regards, Nain

Is the Industrial Employment Standing Orders Act applicable to your company? If yes, it has to be uniform as mentioned therein. Manoj Kamble & Nain, please note.

Hi Srikant,

Thank you for your reply. Our team size is 25 employees, so I believe the Industrial Employment Standing Orders Act is not applicable to our company. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Thank you.

Even though the act is not applicable to you, you can't have an unduly long probation period for employees.

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Since the Employment Standing Orders Act does not apply to your company, you are at liberty to set different probation periods for employees at various levels. However, I do not see any sound logic in establishing distinct probation periods for each employee. It may be more practical to consider implementing only two periods: one year for senior-level employees and six months for others, with the possibility of extending the probation period for an additional three months. The purpose of the probation period is to evaluate the suitability of both the employer and the employee, and having too many different periods, in my opinion, could be perceived as unfair and unjust.

Regards,
V.L. Nagarkar HR Consultant

Dear Nagakar,

It is complicated and unstructured to keep the probation period different even in a small team. I agree with your point of keeping it 6 months standard and 1 year for senior level. I and the business head of my organization were discussing this, and he was totally in favor of keeping a longer period of probation for the senior level employees.

Thank you for your feedback on my query.

Regards, Swati Chawla