Probationary period (employment)

A probationary period is an initial stretch of employment that an employment contract sets aside to assess the fit between employer and employee. A buyer meets the term when inherited staff, or the buyer’s own new hires after closing, are still inside the period their contracts name. This entry covers Ontario only; check the rules where you are. See whether a buyer can change employee terms.

What Ontario’s act says

Section 52(2) of Ontario’s Employment Standards Act, 2000, in Part XIV on leaves of absence, says the period of an employee’s leave shall not be included in determining whether the employee has completed a probationary period under an employment contract. It is an exception to s.52(1), which counts such leave toward length of employment, service and seniority. The Act therefore refers to probation as something the contract provides. Separately, s.54 bars an employer from terminating an employee who has been continuously employed for three months or more unless the employer has given written notice under s.57 or s.58 and it has expired, or has complied with s.61 on termination pay. Under s.55, prescribed employees are not entitled to notice or termination pay.

What to check or ask

• Ask which contracts contain a probationary period, and how long each one runs.
• Check whether any employee in probation took a leave, since s.52(2) does not count that time toward completing probation.
• Compare the dates of hire with the closing date to see who is still within the period.