Employment Contract Offers: Probationary Period and Employment Confirmation.

Michael Tolulope Emmanuel
Onboardly
Published in
3 min readOct 14, 2022

When an employee completes a probationary period, the employee’s employment status is confirmed. This is preceded by a performance review between the management team and the employee. The outcome of this meeting determines if an employee is offered a full-time position or not.

Many fast-paced organisations fail to confirm an employee’s employment status, implying that the employee is now functioning in a permanent position. However, this assumption means that the employee is held to the standards expected of a full-time employee. It also means that the organisation must fulfil all benefits due to a full-time employee, including leave bonuses and healthcare insurance. Failure to do this may incur unwarranted legal implications.

To fix this, companies should send employment confirmation contracts at the end of a probationary period. Companies that use an automated HR platform like Onboardly can fast-track this process by setting up templates from their dashboard.

The Probationary Period

Employees combine multiple tasks within their first week in a new role. They are expected to navigate onboarding, complete their first productive task, and become familiar with the company culture. A probationary period allows new hires to adapt and reach their time to productivity before stepping into full-time roles.

The probationary period is a fixed time spanning one to six months, during which company leaders check an employee’s performance, attitude towards work, and ability to meet outlined KPIs. Probationary periods help employers decide whether an employee is a good fit for a full-time position, or whether a promoted employee is capable of managing their new role.

If you find that a new hire hasn’t measured up to the expected productivity limit but has shown considerable potential, you don’t have to outrightly dismiss them. You can extend the probationary period, giving them added time to catch up. Your goal is to recruit an effective employee for your team.

During this period, you support your new hires’ growth into the role by:

  • Defining their KPIs.
  • Providing training resources and materials.
  • Offering quality feedback on tasks.
  • Addressing problems before their probationary period expires.
  • Pairing them with experienced talents within the same team.

Confirming an employee’s status

An employment confirmation contract is sent to an employee to confirm that they are now functioning in a full-time role within the organisation. It details the contractual arrangement, salary structure, and duration of the contract. With this, employees can access all company benefits including health insurance and pension.

Employers may also choose to include an employment letter. Employment letters are usually abridged, highlighting a talent’s employment status and role within the organisation.

The employment contract, however, is a detailed document that contains clauses on terms of employment, privacy and confidential information policies, employee’s duties, data protection, leaves and holidays, and termination procedure.

With an employment confirmation contract, employers create a win-win situation that keeps the company’s information and rights protected and gives the employee complete access to all benefits. An employment confirmation contract also insures the companies from possible legal troubles in rare cases where a former employee pursues legal action.

Sending Out Contracts?

HRs, tasked with multiple duties, unsurprisingly make mistakes when sending new offers. Imagine adding an extra zero to an employee’s salary, or mistaking an employee’s health insurance benefits. To tackle this, many HRs trust default templates sourced from the internet.

Onboardly simplifies contract signing through updated contract offer templates for different employment types. Sending out employment confirmation letters to your recent hires? You can create contracts for multiple employees within minutes right from your Onboardly dashboard.

New to Onboardly? We’ve been waiting for you. Sign up for a 14-day free trial today to start creating new contract offers.

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