Probation (workplace)

In a workplace setting, probation is a status given to new employees of a company or business. It is widely termed as Probation Period of an employee. This status allows a supervisor or other company manager to closely evaluate the progress and skills of the newly hired worker, determine appropriate assignments and monitor other aspects of the employee – such as how they interact with co-workers, supervisors or customers.

A probationary period varies widely depending on the business, but usually lasts anywhere from 30 to 90 days. If the new employee shows promise and does well during the probationary time, they are usually removed from probationary status, and may be given a raise or promotion as well (in addition to other privileges, as defined by the business). Probation is usually defined in a company's employee handbook, which is given to workers when they first begin a job.

The probationary period also allows an employer to terminate an employee who is determined not to be doing well at their job or otherwise deemed not suitable for a particular position. Some companies have an at will policy, which allows a company manager to terminate an employee at any point during the probationary period.

Some companies may place employees on probationary status, particularly if their performance is below a set standard or for disciplinary reasons. In this instance, the employee is usually given a period of time to either improve their performance or modify their behavior before more severe measures are used. Similarly, students with unsatisfactory grades may also be placed on academic probation by their institution.

The placement of an employee on probationary status is usually at the discretion of their manager. This has allowed managers who have personal reasons unrelated to worker performance to punish or control a worker's status within an organization. The reasons vary, and may include attempts to downsize the workforce. But in many cases there is usually a personality conflict between the manager and the worker. Because of this a manager's reasons may be trivial, petty, outright false, or as vague as seeing a worker as not "fitting in". But as long as the probationary status is formally documented in the organization's prescribed format, it is seen by the organization as an official doctrine of under-performance. In this way management can move a worker out of an organization when there is no reasonable performance basis for outright dismissal. Challenges or appeals to the human resource department by the worker are usually ineffective as human resource departments usually side with and support management.