Currently, employment in most companies requires a probationary period. During the probationary period, the company's management evaluates the professional and personal qualities of the employee, and at the end of it, makes a decision on the employee's further work in the company. If the employee fails the test, he may be summarily dismissed on the basis of notice. In this article we will talk about notification of failure to complete the probationary period and the mechanism for dismissing an employee.
Causes
There are three main reasons why an employee may “fail” the probationary period:
- Inconsistency between the employee’s qualifications and the functionality performed. The most common reason, the roots of which lie in an incorrect assessment of the candidate during an interview.
- “Didn’t fit in” with the team. One of the most “slippery” reasons because it is the most difficult to measure. Sometimes it happens that an employee does not fit into the existing corporate culture of the company, does not support certain moral values, behaves differently from what is customary in this particular organization, etc.
- Violation of labor discipline. According to statistics, one of the rarest reasons for dismissals is during the probationary period. As a rule, adequate employees do not allow themselves to commit gross violations of discipline, and most often such a reason “covers up” the true one - professional incompetence, which is simply much more difficult to prove in fact.
Each of the listed reasons must be documented and justified.
In an ideal situation, in order to determine whether an employee successfully passes the probationary period or not, it is necessary to determine the criteria for success at the time of signing the employment contract.
In Russian companies, KPIs (key performance parameters) are quite rarely formed “at the entrance” to the company, and yet they could serve as excellent assessment tools.
Sample report on failure to complete the probationary period
According to statistics, after the probationary period expires, 84% of subjects are hired; 7% of candidates quit on their own; another 7% are fired without explanation; and only in 2% of cases are candidates explained why they were not suitable.
The legislation does not provide for a set form for the notification form, so specialists draw up the document in any form.
In accordance with Art. 71 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, we warn you that the employment contract concluded with you is subject to early termination due to the fact that you were found to have failed the test provided for by the employment contract due to inconsistency with the position held and repeated violations of labor discipline and internal regulations of the organization .
Their written execution, as a rule, brings a lot of trouble for the organization, but is more preferable from the point of view of labor legislation. In turn, the employee must submit reports on the completion of assigned tasks. Based on these documents, it can be proven that the employee did not pass the test.
Many people undergoing testing in an organization, when they are informed that they have not passed the test, ask their employer to formalize dismissal during the probationary period at the initiative of the employee. In this case, the labor report will not indicate their unsatisfactory performance.
Who makes the decision?
During the probationary period, the final decision to dismiss an employee who fails the test is made by his line manager, but it is formed, as a rule, on the basis of collected feedback from colleagues working closely with the new employee.
Thus, the decision may be influenced by: HR department employees supervising the probationary period, line colleagues, project team members, department head, employee’s subordinates, etc.
A separate category includes the process of dismissal during the probationary period of the general director. In this case, the decision is made by the board of directors, the owner of the company, the managing partner or another body with the necessary rights.
Can they be fired during the probationary period?
Based on the data obtained, value judgments, and a general impression of the employee’s qualities, the manager makes a conclusion about the test results.
Judicial practice Employee rights In order to avoid cases of unfair treatment of an employee who is quite vulnerable during the probationary period, the law provides for some guarantees for the protection of his rights.
Official website of the National Union of Personnel Managers Monthly publication of the professional community of personnel specialists.
The probationary period is necessary in order to look at the person being accepted in action. The duration of the trial cannot exceed 3 months, and when concluding a fixed-term employment contract for a period of up to six months, the probationary period does not exceed 2 weeks. When applying for a leadership position, the probationary period can last up to 6 months.
When should you decide?
This coin has two sides:
- on the one hand, the employer is interested in assessing as soon as possible whether the employee is suitable for the position held or not, since he spends resources on his personal and professional adaptation;
- on the other hand, everyone has a different speed of adaptation and it is possible that the employer, in a hurry, will make the wrong decision, a little before waiting for the employee’s potential to be revealed, and he will again suffer losses.
There is a way to minimize risks . The secret is careful planning of the adaptation process and the development of stage-by-stage patterns of success. The clearer the employer himself understands what he wants from an employee, the higher the likelihood of relevantly assessing his results:
- Divide the probationary period into stages;
- Write down tasks and goals for each stage;
- Think over a system for assessing each stage;
- Collect feedback wisely.
Technically, the company has the right to make a decision on whether an employee fails to complete the probationary period at any time.
Who cannot be tested
There are categories of citizens who cannot be given a probationary period:
- women – pregnant or having a child under 1.5 years old;
- persons elected through a competition to fill a position;
- minors;
- employees invited by transfer.
The full list of beneficiaries is given in paragraph 4 of Art. 70 Labor Code of the Russian Federation.
Important! If a hired woman turns out to be pregnant before the end of the test and has not completed her probationary period at work, she will not be fired (Article 261 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).
We fire you wisely
So, let’s say the decision has already been made, the conclusion has been made that the employee did not pass the probationary period, now the employer is faced with the task of correctly formalizing the dismissal based on the results of the probationary period, because dismissal is always a risk of getting a lawsuit from an offended former employee.
Procedure
Let's consider the procedure in stages:
- We prepare a justification (as a rule, the personnel management department or human resources is responsible for this stage) - documents confirming failure to complete the probationary period:
- memos from the line manager about the employee’s improper performance of job duties;
acts, reviews and characteristics from the manager, colleagues;
- minutes of the decision-making commission meeting, etc.
- In case of violation of labor discipline, it is necessary to prepare acts indicating violations, as well as explanatory notes from the employee himself.
- Warn the employee in writing about the upcoming dismissal, no later than three days before the date of its occurrence, sending him a notice of failure to complete the probationary period with reasons.
- Obtain a signature from the employee on the received copy of the notice.
- Issue an order to terminate the employment contract.
- Make payments to the employee on the day of dismissal.
- Make an entry in the work book and hand it over to the dismissed employee.
Also, the employer must have written reports from the employee on the fact of completion of work and explanatory notes on the fact of non-fulfillment.
In order for the employer to have the opportunity to do everything correctly and according to the law at the dismissal stage, when signing an employment contract, the employee must be familiarized with his job description.
Notification of Failure
There is no single sample notification. The only thing that is regulated is the mandatory presence of reasons for failure to pass the test. A sample might look like this:
Entry into the work book
Entry into the work book is standard: the required article of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation is indicated, the number and date of the order is recorded, the signature and seal of the organization is affixed. A sample entry might look like this:
End of probationary period memo
When an employee on probation carries out his work, he and his achievements are monitored by a responsible person who records the results using documents.
Package of documents for registration To obtain a foreign-style identity card, you must provide personal data to FMS employees. They are submitted in a certain form: in the form of an application, a completed application form and additional documents.
From date full name, works in the position of _______ with a probationary period of 3 months, during the period worked, he has proven himself positively, copes with his job responsibilities. In accordance with the above, I propose (recommend) to accept the full name for the position of ________ permanently.
Package of documents for registration To obtain a foreign-style identity card, you must provide personal data to FMS employees. They are submitted in a certain form: in the form of an application, a completed application form and additional documents.
From date full name, works in the position of _______ with a probationary period of 3 months, during the period worked, he has proven himself positively, copes with his job responsibilities. In accordance with the above, I propose (recommend) to accept the full name for the position of ________ permanently.
When a new employee joins a company, the administration may assign a probationary period upon hiring to test his knowledge and skills.
In this case, the employee must declare failure to pass the test and terminate the agreement. But you can’t just fire an employee.
By the way, sometimes one memo may be enough to fire an employee. There is such a case in judicial practice. The reason for the dismissal was a memo from the employee's immediate supervisor. The document stated that the employee’s quality of work did not correspond to the position he occupied, and that his attitude towards work was lazy and lacking initiative.
The following may sign a notice of failure to complete the probationary period:
- Head of the organization;
- A person authorized by the company’s management to conclude and terminate employment contracts with personnel.
According to Article 70 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the test conditions are provided for in the employment contract. The maximum period for checking an employee’s professional competencies is 3 months. For managers no more than 6 months.
Unfortunately, this “relative painlessness” gives employers the illusion that an employee on a probationary period can be easily fired at any time, guided solely by his own desires. In practice, things are not so simple.
Employer risks
Even if everything is done as competently as possible, there is always a risk that the offended employee will go to court to challenge the reasons for not completing the probationary period. In order to be confident in a positive outcome of the case, the employer must reduce all possible risks to a minimum.
Common mistakes
- untimely notice of dismissal;
- the absence in the employment contract of a stated clause on assigning a probationary period to the employee;
- insufficient justification of the reasons;
- lack of familiarization with the job description at the time of signing the employment contract.
Arbitrage practice
Labor legislation does not regulate a specific list of documents required to justify dismissal due to the employee’s failure to complete the probationary period, as a result of which each case is considered individually to determine the sufficiency of the evidence presented.
A court that finds such a dismissal unlawful may oblige the company to reinstate the employee to his previous position and pay compensation:
- Wages for the period of forced work downtime;
- Compensation for legal costs;
- Compensation for moral damage.
Useful video
Watch the video about the reasons for failure to complete the probationary period and how the fact of improper performance of functional duties is established:
According to Russian judicial statistics at the moment, the vast majority of cases considered are decided in favor of dismissed employees, which suggests that employers, wittingly or unwittingly, continue to make mistakes when completing the dismissal procedure during the probationary period.
Sep 10, 2019adminlawsexp
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Clearly state the conditions for completing the probationary period.
Let's look at what a sample notice of failure to complete the probationary period looks like and what information the document contains.
As a rule, dismissal as a result of failure to complete the probationary period occurs for one of the following reasons:
- Systematic violation of safety rules;
- Violation of the work schedule established by the company;
- Non-fulfillment or partial fulfillment by an employee of the duties assigned to him;
- Failure to comply with the standards or plans established for it;
- Unprofessional behavior of the employee;
- Other reasons that are specified in legislation or internal documents of the company.
The address of actual residence and registration is indicated in different sections. Corrections or the use of a proofreader will invalidate the application. Work history is indicated for the last 10 years.
