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The Period Of Probation Should Not Exceed Six Months

Before you become officially employed, you need to sign an employment contract that binds you into an agreement. Signing a contract means that you will follow company policies and agree to the terms and conditions. Your probationary period is one of the provisions in the contract. But, what if you noticed that the probationary period is more than six months? Will you still consider your employment just and legal?

According to Article 281 of the Labor Code, "probationary employment shall not exceed six months from the date the employee started working, unless it is covered by an apprenticeship agreement stipulating a longer period."

Also, an employee who continues to work for the same company after the probationary period will be considered a regular employee. As a rule of thumb, the period of probation should only be limited to six months.

However, there are still some exceptions to the rule. This is when probationary employment is covered by an apprenticeship agreement, which in theory requires a longer period. Apprenticeship refers to an employment wherein the situation that an employee is engaged in is apprenticeable.

SECTION 6. Probationary employment.

(a) Where the work for which an employee has been engaged is learnable or apprenticeable in accordance with the standards prescribed by the Department of Labor, the probationary employment period of the employee shall be limited to the authorized learnership or apprenticeship period, whichever is applicable.

(b) Where the work is neither learnable nor apprenticeable, the probationary employment period shall not exceed six (6) months reckoned from the date the employee actually started working.

(c) The services of an employee who has been engaged on probationary basis may be terminated only for a just cause or when authorized by existing laws, or when he fails to qualify as a regular employee in accordance with reasonable standards prescribed by the employer.

(d) In all cases involving employees engaged on probationary basis, the employer shall make known to the employee the standards under which he will qualify as a regular employee at the time of his engagement.

Pinoy Attorney

Written by : Pinoy Attorney

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