Employment Manual Language

MichelleS

In reading the 6/13/03 e-mail outlining the "top 10 reasons not to update your handbook," reason #10 mentions that employers should avoid using the term "probationary," because this is said to alter the employee's at-will status.

It is our company's policy/philosophy that the first three months of employment are an ajustment period to determine employee/employer job compatibility. Therefore, no vacation benefits are accrued during this "probationary" period. My question, therefore, is how to I avoid using the term "probationary," but still get the point accross that these first three months are considered an ajustment period?

aingram

In all of our handbooks, manuals, etc., we use the words "Introductory period" and find that we have not had any problems. We ran it by the lawyer and he agreed. Hope this helps.

Amanda

HR in CA

This is what we use. The first paragraph is the introductory period and the third one deals with vacation accrual. I hope it helps. PS It was attorney approved a few weeks ago!

Initial Introductory Period

All new and rehired employees (for reasons other than an approved leave of absence or temporary lay off) go through an initial introductory period of 90 calendar days worked after their date of hire. This “getting acquainted” period provides the supervisor the opportunity to determine the abilities of the employee to effectively perform duties the position requires. This period also allows the employee time to determine if he/she is satisfied with his/her position, supervisor and working conditions.

Employees rehired for reasons other than an approved leave of absence or temporary lay off are considered new employees of XXXXX from the effective date of their re-employment for all purposes, including purposes of measuring benefits and must serve a new initial introductory period.

Once the initial introductory period has been successfully completed, employment with XXXXX continues at the mutual consent of the employee and the employer. Employment is therefore terminable at will, at any time, either by the employee or Quest XXXXX or without cause or advance notice.

Employees accrue vacation beginning the 1st of the month following the successful completion of the initial introductory period. Each employee must have completed 6 months of employment before using any accrued vacation time. All accrued and earned vacation shall be paid upon termination of employment.

lnelson

We use the verbage "Orientation" period. We have not had any problems we also sent it to our attorney for verification.

Tony Kessler

MichelleS,
For more interesting comments on this issue, do a search (to the left of this screen) for "Probationary." The first link will take you to a discussion from last month titled, "Probationary period -- to have or have not." Hope this helps. tk

Tony Kessler, director of editorial
M. Lee Smith Publishers LLC
(615) 661-0249 ext. 8068