Probationary period confusion

Ginger_Winner

I have a question about a probationary period, having been told today that my services are no longer required. Details are as follows:

* I started work on 16th July 2012 and signed a contract which included a clause stating that the first 3 months of employment were to be a pobationary period and that this could be extended at the employers discretion.

* The notice period within my contract is 3 months, however the notice during the probationary period is 1 week.

* On 16th October I received verbal notification that my probationary period would be extended for another 3 months and the notice period would be increased to 1 month.

* I did not receive any documentation to confirm this extension.

* Today (4th February 2013) I was invited to a probationary review meeting where I was informed that my employment would no longer be required and that they were serving me 1 months notice.

I would like to know if I have any grounds for being entitled to 3 months notice? I believe that this may be the case because:

1. The extended probationary period was only communicated to me verbally - does this constitute a formal agreement?

2. I believe that the extended probationary period had expired by 19 days at the point when I was told that I was no longer required

Any advice would be very gratefully received....

Many thanks in advance.

getmore4less

Probation periods are contractual.

What does the contract say about how a probation period will finish triggering the change in contractual notice.

Can you take non notification of an extention as a completion.


You agree that the first extension happened and had a change in notice so probably best not to chalenge that,

Always a good idea to consider creating a paper trail for verbal changes by fireing of an email/letter confirming any change.

Ginger_Winner

Thanks for replying.

My contract states that 'probation period may be extended at the discretion of the employer'.

It also states that on completion I will be invited to 'attend a review meeting to discuss performance and confirm my position within the Employer'

So assuming that informing me of the extension verbally is sufficient, my question is this: is there an acceptable period of time from when the probationary period ceases to inform me that my employment must now cease? 19 days feels like a long time to me.

Uncertain

A probationary period has almost no meaning in law. As indicated above, "passing" it may give you some additional contractual rights (depending on your contract) but "failing" it does not reduce your basic legal rights such as they are.

As you were employed after April last year you need two years service before you could claim unfair dismissal (apart from unlawful discrimination). You employment could therefore be terminated without any formal process and without giving a reason. You would be entitled to a week's notice (or more if your contract so specifies) and accrued holiday pay but that is all.

getmore4less

It is the contractual notice( 1 or 3 months) that is the issue here not the dismisal.

if the contract says there will be a formal interview to determine pass/fail/extention, it looks to be down to is 19 days from the end of the period to holding the meeting too long.

Ginger_Winner

Yes, getmore4less is correct, it is the contractual notice that I'm not clear about. I'm not sure which should apply...

1 Week - detailed in the probation clause of the contract

1 Month - stated verbally when I was told of the probation extension

3 Months - contractual term outside of probation

My probationary review meeting took place 19 days after the completion of the probation extension. At this meeting I was informed that I have not passed my probation and shall receive 1 months notice.

Uncertain

If they hadn't told you that you had failed the probation (at the end of the extended period) then there is an argument that you have passed it and are therefore entitled to three months notice.

Are you working your notice or are they paying you in lieu?

If they are paying in lieu then I would be tempted to keep quiet until you receive the money. If they only pay one month then you could send a letter before action demanding the rest.

If you are working the notice then you need to take action now and raise a grievance.

Ginger_Winner

They are paying me in lieu, so I will take your advice and wait to see what they do.

I haven't received any formal communication from them other than the verbal notification at the meeting, so I will wait for that to come through first. However, given the lack of formal communication in the past I guess it's likely that I won't receive any.

Once again, thanks for the advice.

sso3es

Personally, I would fight this.

Given that 19 days have passed since your extended probabtionary period, I think you have every right to believe you have passed your extended probation and therefore your notice period is extended to 3 months. If they wanted to get rid of you, they really should have made more effort to have the conversation during that extended month. To me it smacks of a last minute decision which hasnt been thought out.

Definitely worth contesting- even more so that they havent provided any written communication about your probation being extended. Depends how much you want to fight, but worst case, it might lead to a compromise and more than just a month.

None of what I say is based on fact but I had a few similar issues myself recently and have had access to an employment law company who were advising at each stage....theres plenty here to suggest the actions of the employer were unfair and in breach of procedure.