Dear Atty. Kathy,

I am an HR officer. While interviewing an applicant, I told Employee B that she would be undergoing training, to which she agreed. Employee B then signed her employment contract, which contained a clause on the probationary period of her employment for a period of 6 months. During the performance evaluation of Employee B, I told her that she failed to pass the probationary employment standards, thus, her probationary employment will be terminated. However, Employee B is insisting that she was already a regular employee because of what we allegedly agreed, orally, that she will only be required to undergo training. Isn’t Employee B a probationary employee?

Danielle

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Dear Danielle,

The Labor Code, as amended, permits the hiring of employees on a probationary basis, as follows:

ART. 296. [281] Probationary Employment. — 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. The services of an employee who has been engaged on a probationary basis may be terminated for a just cause or when he fails to qualify as a regular employee in accordance with reasonable standards made known by the employer to the employee at the time of his engagement. An employee who is allowed to work after a probationary period shall be considered a regular employee.

Probationary employment exists where the employee, upon his/her engagement, is made to undergo a trial period. During said period, the employer determines the employee’s fitness to qualify for regular employment based on reasonable standards, which are made known to the employee at the time of engagement.

Based solely on your narration, while Employee B claimed that she had a different, oral agreement with you, she still signed her employment contract, which contained a clause on the probationary period of her employment for a period of 6 months.

Subject to supervening or any other circumstance, it is therefore clear that Employee B agreed to the 6-month probationary period as stipulated in her employment contract. Thus, Employee B’s employment is probationary in nature, which employment may be terminated for failure to qualify as a regular employee in accordance with the reasonable standards made known to her at the time of her engagement.

(C.P. Reyes Hospital, et al. versus Geraldine M. Barbosa, G.R. No. 228357, 16 April 2024)

Atty. Kathy Larios