Question about probationary periods

[momentoe]

Hi,

Just wondering (for any HR workers or others in the know). Are probationary period rules generic across businesses or do they change depending on the company.

I'm not meaning in terms of length of PP, I'm meaning in relation to problems that might crop up and firing or extending an employee's probation. From what I read online it seemed like if you were having issues with a hire in the UK that you could get rid of them during the probationary period, no questions asked, and no comeback from a legal perspective. However upon reading my company documents on the subject it appears that you have to go through an entire dismissal process (rather like someone who's served over 2 years but in a shorter period) involving various warnings and interviews. I'm wondering if it's different for private companies?

I'm going to call ACAS for advice but was wondering if anyone could answer this question in the meantime.

Thanks,

Toe.

Any employee can be dismissed within 2 years, businesses may choose to have robust internal procedures that would mean there were procedures and processes in place but may choose not to. There is no legal requirement for any procedure or process at that stage, unless there have been accusations of bullying, harassment or forms of racism etc. In that case it would be in a company's interests to ensure that they worked with the employee and covered their own back in doing the same. xxx

Think of it in terms of statutory UK legislation versus what individual companies choose to do.

A company can legally dismiss an employee without any formalities, because employees do not have statutory employment rights until they have served 2 years continuous service. Any company (private for example) can elect to do more, however I'd say it's quite unusual for a company to have formalised performance management during a probationary period, when they don't need to by law.

Just to mention, a successful PP generally just means the notice period increases from 1 week (or similar), to 1 month which clearly has advantages for both sides in terms of finding a new role (employee) and replacing them (employer), it doesn't increase the employees rights in law.

Bullying is not deemed illegal in UK Law. Harassment is, because it's associated with discrimination within the Equality Act.

Sorry, been away. Thanks for your responses! Very helpful.