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Moving from contract to permanent, do I need to serve probation?

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  • 21-06-2021 5:52pm
    #1
    MegamanBoo
    Registered Users Posts: 2,285 ✭✭✭


    I've worked for my current company for a year as a contractor. This was through a recruitment firm, so technically I was self employed.

    When my contract was due for renewal I explained to my manager that I was now hoping to buy a house and was finding it difficult to get mortgage approval as self employed. For this reason and also because I had been performing strongly, she offered that my contract be switched to a permanent one on its completion.

    As part of that process I was verbally assured by a hiring manager that the company would complete a salary certificate for a bank stating that I had completed my probation period. Even though my permanent contract included a probation clause we discussed that this was to be considered complete in my case having already worked there for a year.

    Now that I've switched to the permanent role I'm told the company won't complete my salary certificate as I'm on probation!

    My first approach is to go back and very nicely inform the person who signs these salary certs of my situation. Going into this, I wonder does anybody here have experience of this type of situation, or know what my position is legally?


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    #2
    bluestrattos
    Registered Users Posts: 555 ✭✭✭bluestrattos


    Not personally, but a friend of mine was in the same situation. In his case, he just went back to HR and they sorted that issue by checking with the manager, and removed the probation period reference from the contract.

    Most likely the person in charge of the contracts just gave you a standard one, and wasn't aware of the existing agreement. Technically you're joining the company, as you'll get an employee number, however check with the manager, and they either check with HR directly or ask you to contact them and CC the manager, so everyone is on the loop.


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    #3
    dotsman
    Registered Users Posts: 3,635 ✭✭✭dotsman


    I would talk to your line manager and/or the hiring manager (if they are not the same person?) and ask them to talk to HR.

    It really is all down to bureaucracy. If the HR manager is a stickler for the rules, they may need a shove from your line/hiring manager (or you may discover that there is no way around it if the HR person is a complete gob$hite). But, assuming the HR manager is good at their job, a quick and pleasant conversation with one of them will resolve the issue promptly.


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    #4
    Jim2007
    Moderators, Business & Finance Moderators Posts: 10,084 Mod ✭✭✭✭Jim2007


    MegamanBoo wrote: »
    Now that I've switched to the permanent role I'm told the company won't complete my salary certificate as I'm on probation!

    My first approach is to go back and very nicely inform the person who signs these salary certs of my situation. Going into this, I wonder does anybody here have experience of this type of situation, or know what my position is legally?

    Regardless of what you agreed to verbally, if you followed it up by signing a contract agreeing to a probation period, then that is what is binding.

    Signing a salary certificate, knowing it to be incorrect is a serious matter as it can be used to obtain credit and could result in a criminal complaint. So expecting someone to sign such a certificate when your contract states otherwise is unlikely to happen.

    The best approach is to go back to the people you made the agreement with and ask then to sort it out - wave the probation period would be the obvious way to do it.


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    #5
    MegamanBoo
    Registered Users Posts: 2,285 ✭✭✭MegamanBoo


    Jim2007 wrote: »
    Regardless of what you agreed to verbally, if you followed it up by signing a contract agreeing to a probation period, then that is what is binding.

    Signing a salary certificate, knowing it to be incorrect is a serious matter as it can be used to obtain credit and could result in a criminal complaint. So expecting someone to sign such a certificate when your contract states otherwise is unlikely to happen.

    Thanks Jim, I'm not looking for anyone to submit a false claim. I understood that the probation period in my contract was just a standard text which didn't apply in my case, having already been there for a year.

    Out of interest does anybody know the legal status of this? Surely if you've worked with a company for a year they've had time to assess your suitability.


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    #6
    Jim2007
    Moderators, Business & Finance Moderators Posts: 10,084 Mod ✭✭✭✭Jim2007


    MegamanBoo wrote: »
    Out of interest does anybody know the legal status of this? Surely if you've worked with a company for a year they've had time to assess your suitability.

    If that is what you signed up to, then in the absence of anything else it is legally binding. Rightly or wrongly we assume adults are capable of reading and understanding the documents they sign, if there was something in there you did not agree with, then you should have had it altered before you signed it, stuck it out or indicated in some other way that the clause did not apply.

    Unless you are expecting the people you negotiate with are going to deny all knowledge of the verbal agreement, I don't see the issue to be honest.


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