Client: Employer engaging us during a probationary period.
Issue: New hire not working out.
Outcome: Fair, compliant exit with the employee’s reputation intact.
The challenge
The client had put a new employee on. Probation was running as it should: the employer trying the person out, the person working out whether they liked the organisation they’d joined. Then the writing went on the wall. It just wasn’t working. The performance wasn’t there, and there were questions about conduct in the workplace. The employer needed the employment to end. What they didn’t want was a short employment relationship turning into a long dispute.
Why it isn’t as simple as it looks
Employers assume probation is a free pass. End it, move on. It isn’t. The relationship may be short, but the obligations are real, and a rushed exit is how a six week hire becomes a six month problem. The standard the Fair Work Commission applies is a fair go all round. That applies to a probationary employee the same as anyone else.
What we did
We had the conversation first.
We sat down with the employee and put it plainly. Here are the shortcomings in the performance. Here are the problems with the conduct in this organisation. Nothing vague, nothing implied. Sometimes that conversation is enough. The issues get ironed out, the person lifts, and the employment continues. It’s the outcome we look for first. In this case it didn’t resolve.
We ran the process properly.
From there we worked through a structured exit. Correct reasons, correct notice, correct documentation, correct sequence. Handled ethically, start to finish.
The outcome
The employee exited the organisation fairly. They left understanding why. They left able to go on to future employment with their good self intact, able to step forward into the future rather than carrying a bad exit into their next interview. The employer closed the matter cleanly, without an exposure hanging over them.
In our words
“It’s still important, even though it’s been a very short term employment relationship, to handle things very ethically and to do things correctly, to make sure there is, as they say in Fair Work, a fair go all round. So often we’ll sit down with the person first and talk to them about what the shortcomings are with their performance, what might be the problems with their conduct in this organisation. Sometimes that works to iron things out, other times it doesn’t. That’s where we work through a process to make sure that person exits the organisation fairly, so they can actually go on to future employment with their good self intact.”
The takeaway for employers
Probation is not a licence to end employment however you like. It’s a window to assess fit, with the same obligation to act fairly attached. Have the conversation first. Be specific. Document it. If it doesn’t resolve, run a proper process. Both people walk away able to move on. That’s the whole point.
