FAO Chef Tyke (Or Anyone Else With Employment Law Knowledge)

If an employee is in a probationary period, am I correct in saying they are still considered "permanent" employees and should have the same rights as employees not on probation?

Can an employer deny an employee the opportunity to apply for another position because they are in their probationary period or is that detrimental treatment?

Would it make any difference if other employers had been allowed to change jobs during their probation?

 

As a first stab, If you're still in a probationary period then your employment isn't really permanent. In any event, if dismissal was deemed unfair in that period the amount of compensation/damages you would be entitled to for termination would be minimal during that period so it would seem that the employer has the upper hand. This is a product of the watering down of employment rights over the last few years although thankfully, excessive fees to launch a EAT case have themselves been ruled unlawful by the courts recently.

 

I think you're wrong about it not being permanent- otherwise you'd be employed as a temporary worker.

You're basically buggered if you've been with an employer for less than two years even if you're not in probation. That's not really what I was asking though.

 

Hi mate if you are in a probationary period then you are still a permanent employee

The effect of being in it is contractual - usually the employer can dismiss on a shorter notice within a probationary period and without following a dismissal procedure.

Unfavourable or detrimental treatment is not allowed in employment but usually that treatment has to be connected to something like sex, age, race, religion etc to be able to bring a claim.

Therefore if an employer chooses to overlook an employee for promotion on the grounds they are in a probationary period then there is probably very little the employee can do. Cheers

 

Thanks very much - much appreciated.

 

Usually most employers won't let you transfer or apply for other jobs within an organisation whilst you are still under a probationary period .
Most probationary periods tend to be anything from 3 months to 2 years employers always have the upper hand

 

Are you an employment lawyer by any chance?

 

Yes mate