Trial Period
The purpose of the trial period is to reserve a possibility to both parties to evaluate whether the employment contract, work, employee or employer meet the expectations. Trial period condition can be taken both into fixed term employment contracts and into employment contracts valid until further notice.
According to the Employment Contracts Act, the employer and employee may agree upon a trial period, which will start at the commencement of the employment relationship and last up to six months. If the employee has been absent from work during the trial period due to incapacity for work or family leave, the employer is entitled to extend the trial period by one month for each 30 calendar days of incapacity for work or family leave. The employer must inform the worker of the extension before the end of the probationary period. In a fixed term employment relationship the trial period may at most constitute half of the duration of the employment contract and be no more than six months.
If the employment relationship is subject to a collective agreement, any provisions on trial periods in the collective agreement must be checked. They may lead to a different outcome from that described above, for example, the maximum length of the trial period may be shorter.
If, after the end of the temporary employment relationship, the employee is hired by the user company for the same or similar tasks, the maximum trial period is reduced by the period during which the employee was hired by the user company. Similarly, in the case of a work try-out, the period during which the worker performed the same or similar tasks for the employer during the work try-out must be deducted from the maximum trial period.
The employer and the employee must specifically agree upon the trial period. The trial period condition do not have to be in writing but the party relying on the condition must be able to prove its existence. That is why it is reasonable to agree upon the trial period in writing in the employment contract.
A trial period must take place at the beginning of the employment relationship and start on the day the employee starts working. Prior to that, the employment contract may only be cancelled in accordance with the Employment Contracts Act. Cancellation of the employment contract in accordance with the rules for cancellation during the trial period may only take place once the trial period has started as the party is in no position to assess the opposite party before this.
Trial periods may not be used in close to consecutive fixed term employment contracts which set out the same or similar work tasks, but if the employee’s work tasks change significantly, the use of a trial period may be justified.
The employer and employee may during the probation period cancel the employment contract with immediate effect, without the requirement to provide grounds for the termination or cancellation of employment contracts included in the Employment Contracts Act. [Termination of Employment Contract during Trial Period]