09 Jun 2023
There are several options available to employers when it comes to offering contracts to new employees. Some of these include periods of increased monitoring to ensure that the successful candidate or candidates are up to the task. The increased managerial oversight of a particular employee can sometimes increase the workload for managers and make the employee feel under increased pressure to perform well. This doesn’t have to be something negative, as being able to build confidence in both the employee and their managers that they are up to the tasks expected of them is an excellent outcome from the process and can stand both in good stead.
Probation
Having a probationary period for any position means you need to have proper, transparent processes in place that your staff and their managers are perfectly clear about and able to follow.
That means all parties are fully aware of the process for monitoring probation, how long the probationary period is, and what employees can expect to see throughout their probation period. There also needs to be a clear plan for managers to follow to ensure they manage the whole process well.
This should generally involve a formal review structure where the manager and employee review performance against a plan, agree on progress and implement improvement plans where relevant.
In most cases, improvement plans shouldn’t be necessary, as the new employee will likely be quite on top of what they are doing from an early point in their employment, and these should only be used in cases where they need to get back on track.
Probation is generally used where staff are employed on longer-term/permanent contracts to ensure they are a good fit. Staff employed with a probation period generally expect that as long as they keep their nose clean and meet their minimum objectives, they have a decent chance of staying long-term.
Some probation periods can last up to six months, and these can be a good measure of how well someone will fit into the company's expectations in terms of the amount of work completed and how they fit the culture. Being able to pass this period will generally mean that you have a well-adjusted employee who is doing well at te job they are asked to perform.
Trial Period
A trial period in employment implies that an individual’s performance is being very closely monitored, i.e. they’re on trial. This will seem more of a challenge than completing a probation period.
Trial periods are for a much shorter time than probationary periods and can be anything from days to a couple of weeks in duration. The enhanced scrutiny that they are under during this time can either be make-or-break for the employer/employee relationship.
From the employee’s perspective, they really have to prove themselves if they stand a chance of staying in the role for the long term. Most will view this as a chance they have been given to show what they are capable of and they will, in fact, make every effort to go the extra mile to ensure they impress their employers as much as they can.
When a trial period is perceived as an opportunity, the employee won’t tend to mind the extra level of scrutiny they are under to ensure they are making the grade. Once they have proven themselves in the trial period though, there is a legitimate expectation that there will be less micro-management of their work.
Their contract should either be a short-term one which includes the trial period element, or a longer-term contract which should state that employment will end on a specific date unless they meet all their objectives and their conduct/performance is faultless.
Trial periods can be used where a candidate might not appear, during the selection process, to be the best fit for the role, but where the employer is prepared to allow them to prove themselves without committing to longer-term employment.
Fixed Term Contracts
Employment contracts with a defined start and end have several uses.
They should always be used where it is clear that a role is limited in duration, e.g. for a period of Maternity cover, or to oversee a specific project or element of a project.
However, they can also be used where employers again aren’t confident enough to commit to a permanent contract for reasons relating to the candidate concerned or the definite longer-term need for the work to continue.
As there is now legal protection for staff employed on Fixed Term Contracts, it is generally assumed that most fixed-term contracts are for shorter periods than the 4-year ‘limit’ in the Fixed Term Worker regulations.
Fixed-term contracts should also include Probation periods and Trial Periods, as outlined above, so in some respects, the employer can cover all bases in making sure they get the best from their employee.
In deciding which of these options is most suitable for you and your needs, just make sure that you bear in mind:
