Probation period after working for company for 7 years????

posie 1980

Hi all,
I've been working for this company for close to 7 years. Only now are they getting they're act together and have written up contracts for all staff. In the contract, it states that i will be on a 6 month probationary period. If after this time the company are happy with my performance, i will be given a letter confirming my permanent employment. However if they are not happy, my employment may be terminated. As far as i'm concerned, i have been permanent for the last 6.5 years! Also, will i still be entitled to redundancy for the full time i have worked here? Any advise is much appreciated.
Thanks,

bryaner

They have their sh1t and are totally contravening employment laws.

jimoc

This is the contract that they should have prepared for you when you started work 7 years ago.
therefore your probation period has already been served.
Just get them to put dates on the probation period to indicate that it has already been served and you should be fine.

ronaneire

They haven't got a hope or a leg to stand on.

bryaner

How is the company going, is it busy or are things getting slack?

posie 1980

I have a feeling this is they're way of getting rid of a load of staff. I know the company is struggling. It states that if the probation period is unsuccessful, they can terminate my employment. Does anyone know where i can get this in writing? I've searched through employment rights websites but can't seem to find it.

Mr. Presentable

They haven't a hope. If they were to release you during this new probationary period the Labour Court would hang them out to dry. I'd say they're chancing their arm. As prior poster suggests, get it back-dated.

dvpower

I'd hope that they are just putting together a standard contract that will apply to everyone (including future hires).

Check the wording on the contract and make sure it says that the probationary period begins on the day you commence work. Also, ask them for a written confirmation that you have passed probation.

It may be all above board, but I'd be very wary of a company who didn't have proper employment contracts in place from the get go.

bubbaloo

AFAIK a verbal contract is as good as a written one if you have been working there more than 2 months and have not received a written contract!
This contract (7 years late) should be retrospect and should mean that you completed your probation in your first 6 months there.
It may be worth calling Citizen's Information or the Enterprise & Employment Board just to get things clarified.
Good luck.

bryaner

posie 1980 wrote: »

I have a feeling this is they're way of getting rid of a load of staff. I know the company is struggling. It states that if the probation period is unsuccessful, they can terminate my employment. Does anyone know where i can get this in writing? I've searched through employment rights websites but can't seem to find it.

It's just a standard employment contract, you could be right but they have no chance.

Just make sure your 7 years service backdated on the contract, and make sure
that the contract is not starting from now i.e a break in service.

Eoin

Probationary periods can't be extended past the first year of continuous employment, apart from certain exceptions. As the others have said, hopefully it's just a standard clause that is retrospective.

Also, will i still be entitled to redundancy for the full time i have worked here?

I think 2 years of service is when redundancy kicks in, but it applies to the full term of your service there.

Check out www.citizensinformation.ie - it's a really handy site, and explains it in English rather then legalese.

bryaner

bubbaloo wrote: »

AFAIK a verbal contract is as good as a written one if you have been working there more than 2 months and have not received a written contract!
This contract (7 years late) should be retrospect and should mean that you completed your probation in your first 6 months there.
It may be worth calling Citizen's Information or the Enterprise & Employment Board just to get things clarified.
Good luck.

Yes the Enterprise & Employment people are very helpful.

posie 1980

Thanks a million. You've all really helped me.

Eoin

Hope it all works out. Here's the relevant page:
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/employment/employment-rights-and-conditions/contracts-of-employment/contract_of_employment

And here's the exact wording from the Unfair Dismissals Act:

3.—(1) This Act shall not apply in relation to the dismissal of an employee during a period starting with the commencement of the employment when he is on probation or undergoing training—
( a ) if his contract of employment is in writing, the duration of the probation or training is 1 year or less and is specified in the contract, or
( b ) if his contract of employment was made before the commencement of this Act and was not in writing and the duration of the probation or training is 1 year or less.

StompToWork

Bear in mind that your contract should include your start date. Therefore, the 6 months specified in the contract would be the six months from your start date as indicated in the contract.

Make sure your contract has your actual start date.

bryaner

Slimy feckin employers!

posie 1980

Hi all,
Thanks a million for all your advice. I went to citizens advise and they helped me out alot. Now i have all the info i need to challenge the contract. Regardless of what my employers say about it, they really haven't a leg to stand on regarding several issues.
Thanks again,
Rose

professore

At the end of the day if they need to let people go they will ... however if you have 2 months or seven years it will make a difference to your redundancy payment. Also if others don't challenge it you will be kept on as it will be more expensive to get rid of you.

I think they're trying to pull a fast one.

tinnuvial

Even if they won't give you a letter confirming the end of your probation (6.5 years ago), they fact that you are still working there after 1 year implies that they have made you permanent. The only way they can put you on any kind of probation now is for disciplinary issues and they would have to have gone through a disciplinary process first.

MrDarcy

Get a solicitors letter sent to them, for the avoidance of any doubt.

tricky D

Your situation is covered as you are in a contract by practice. Effectively, that means your probation was up 6 years ago and any changes in normal practice that they try to impose on you are effectively breaching the contract and require negotiation. The new written contract should not change anything and maintain the status quo unless changes are negotiated.

tenchi-fan

Guys calm down! Get a solicitors letter? Don't be daft!

This looks like a standard contract and the probation period clearly doesn't apply to the op.

Op, I think you should ask your employer to clarify. Get them to print it out again without mention of a probation period or simply put a line through it and ask them to initial it.

bryaner

If the employer was any good he would have the probation section removed prior to passing the contract around to his long standing employees..

tenchi-fan

bryaner wrote: »

If the employer was any good he would have the probation section removed prior to passing the contract around to his long standing employees..

It could be an oversight. He probably got a HR mate of his to email a contract template.

Google's T&Cs at one stage implied all your private email and anything uploaded using google chrome was the property of google.
I went to sign a contract for a house and the amount was overstated by €50k which they put down to a type (more likely they used a template!)
It happens.

bryaner

Hmmmm whatever, I live in the real world and I see an employer under
pressure, with employees of over 7 years, suddenly introducing contracts
stating probation. :rolleyes:

Eoin

bryaner wrote: »

If the employer was any good he would have the probation section removed prior to passing the contract around to his long standing employees..

I would say that they would want everyone to have the same contract, rather than trying to figure out what clauses to remove from whatever contracts. The probation period (which is a very common clause) does not affect the OP as he or she has been employed there continuously for over a year. It's a non-issue IMO.