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One of the main advantages of a probation period is that it means an employment contract can be terminated without having to give specific reasons. However, if the employee is notified about the termination after the probation period has expired, in reality it’s a dismissal and if no written reasons are given it will be deemed to be unfair.<\/p>\n
In the past, employers used to be able to get round this problem by explaining in the probation period termination letter why it was being ended. This was a way of “pre-establishing” a dismissal letter so the employer would have some grounds of defence in the event of a dispute about the fairness of the termination.<\/p>\n
However, this solution is no longer possible following a decision taken by the Labour Chamber of the Court of Cassation on 3 July 2024 (no. 22\u201317. 452<\/span>).<\/p>\n Pursuant to this decision, once an employer goes down the track of terminating an employee\u2019s probation period, they can\u2019t go back on it. If a probation period is terminated too late, in other words after it’s expired, the courts won’t look at the reasons for the termination set out in the probation period termination letter. In this case the termination will be viewed as a dismissal and automatically deemed unfair as no reasons for the dismissal have been given.<\/strong><\/p>\n So what can an employer do?<\/p>\n Basically, be careful not to take the risk of extending a probation period when you know it\u2019s not possible.<\/p>\n Remember that:<\/p>\n – some collective bargaining agreements (such as those applicable to wholesalers or financial companies) prohibit the extension of probation periods; And if you’ve gone past the time limit, dismissal is still an option, although you’ll have to give the employee notice pay. All in all, it’s important to carefully weigh up all the pros and cons before deciding which option to choose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" One of the main advantages of a probation period is that it means an employment contract can be terminated without having to give specific reasons. However, if the employee is notified about the termination after the probation period has expired, in reality it’s a dismissal and if no written reasons are given it will be deemed to be unfair. In<\/p>\n
\n– companies should not apply policies of systematically extending all probation periods as these make the extension invalid (Court of Cassation (Labour Chamber) 27 June 2018, no. 16-28.515).<\/p>\n