What are probationary periods?

Words to know

Ableism: discrimination against people with disabilities. 

Arbitrator: someone who helps with the grievance and arbitration process. They make final rulings about what is fair. An arbitrator cannot be the boss, a worker, or someone from the union. 

Accommodations are changes that help people with disabilities. Accommodations help us get the same things as people without disabilities. 

At-will employment: when a boss can fire any one for any reason at any time. All non-unionized workers also have at-will employment.

Contract: also called an employee contract. It is an agreement between a union and their bosses. The contract sets rules about working conditions. 

Discrimination: when someone treats you badly based on who you are. 

Grievance and arbitration process: a way to decide if a boss is following the rules of the contract. The grievance and arbitration process can also decide if a union member is following the rules of the contract.

Just-cause employment: when a boss cannot fire or get a worker in trouble without a good reason. In most cases, unionizing with a contract is the only way for workers to get just-cause employment.

Non-unionized workers: workers who are not in a union.

Onboard: when bosses teach everything a new employee needs to know about their job.

Probationary employees: workers in a probation period.

Probationary period: a specific time when a worker starts their new job. Probationary periods can last different amounts of time. They can be two months, six months, one year, or another amount of time. During a probationary period, new workers do not get as many protections from their labor union. 

Progressive discipline: something bosses can do to help employees who are not doing a good job. Progressive discipline is a way to fix bad behavior, not punish it. 

Racism: discrimination against people of color (POC). 

Working conditions: all the things that affect your day at work. Working conditions are things like pay and time off. Working conditions are also about what happens if you get in trouble at work.

What do I need to know before I read this?

The Guild of Autistic Self Advocates (GASS) wrote a statement called, “What Is A Union?”: https://cwalocals.org/gass/what-is-a-labor-union.

GASS suggests you read “What Is A Union?” before reading this post.

What is a probationary period? 

A probationary period is a specific time when a worker starts their new job. Probationary periods can last different amounts of time. They can be two months, six months, one year, or another amount of time. Probationary employees are workers in a probation period.

During a probationary period, new workers do not get as many protections from their labor union. 

Unions have rules about what happens when union members get in trouble at work. Unions also have rules about what happens when union members get fired. 

These rules help make sure union members are treated fairly. But bosses do not have to follow these rules for a new worker in a probationary period. That is unfair.

What happens during a probationary period?

During probationary periods, there is at-will employment. That means a boss can fire any one for any reason at any time. 

Probationary employees have at-will employment. That means a boss does not need a good reason to fire probationary employees. 

All non-unionized workers also have at-will employment. Non-unionized workers are workers who are not in a union. That means a boss does not need a good reason to fire non-unionized workers. 

A non-unionized worker and a union worker in a probationary period both have at-will employment. That is unfair.

• Example: 

• Abisola just started her new job. She is a member of their workplace union. 

• Abisola is in a probationary period. That means she does not get all the protections from her workplace union. So Abisola has at-will employment during her probationary period.

• Abisola did not complete a project that she was supposed to finish during her probationary period.. 

• Abisola did not finish her project because she had a family emergency. 

• Abisola’s boss did not let her explain that. He only said she was in trouble. He fired her. 

• Abisola wanted to try getting her job back. But she couldn’t. That is because she was a probationary employee. 

Most workers in the U.S. have at-will employment. But unionized workers can fight to change that.

When workers unionize, they fight for an employee contract. A contract is an agreement between a union and their bosses. 

The contract sets rules about working conditions. Working conditions are all the things that affect your day at work.

Working conditions are things like:

• Pay
• Time off
• What happens if you get in trouble at work
• And more

How do unions feel about probationary periods?

A lot of unions fight for contracts that get rid of at-will employment. 

Many unions fight for contracts that have just-cause employment. Just cause means that a boss cannot fire or get a worker in trouble without a good reason. 

In most cases, unionizing with a contract is the only way for workers to get just-cause employment.

Under just-cause employment, a boss can only get a worker in trouble if they:

• Have not been doing their work
• Have caused problems for other employees
• Have not changed their behavior after being asked
• Have not changed their behavior after being helped

If a worker does those things, there are different ways a boss can respond.

Progressive discipline is something bosses can do to help employees who are not doing a good job. Progressive discipline is a way to fix bad behavior, not punish it. 

Progressive discipline is more fair than at-will employment and probationary employment. That is because progressive discipline helps workers to fix their work. This lets workers have a chance to fix problems instead of losing their job right away.

Bosses who use progressive discipline might start by making sure an employee has everything they need. That can include things that help employees do their job well, like: 

• Skills training
• Practice
• Feedback
• Weekly meetings to ask and answer questions
• Disability accomodation

Accommodations are changes that help people with disabilities. Accommodations help us get the same things as people without disabilities. 

Probationary periods are the opposite of progressive discipline. Probationary periods punish what could be a learning opportunity. 

Unions can fight to get progressive discipline in their contract. 

• Example: 

• Emilio just started a new job. They are a member of their workplace union. 

• Emilio is NOT in a probationary period. 

• During Emilio’s first month at the job, they did not finish a project that they were supposed to finish. 

• Emilio’s boss was not happy with Emilio’s work. Emilio’s boss wants to fire Emilio. 

• But this would not follow the union contract for progressive discipline.

• Emilio has a right to progressive discipline. He is allowed to do that because Emilio is not a probationary employee. 

• At Emilio’s progressive discipline meeting, they had the chance to explain why they did not finish their project. 

• Emilio needed an accommodation to do their job well. Emilio’s boss gave Emilio the accommodation they needed. 

• Now, Emilio could finish their projects on time. They were not in trouble anymore. Emilio kept their job.

What is the grievance and arbitration process?

Bosses sometimes treat their workers badly. For example, bosses sometimes punish workers for unfair reasons. And bosses sometimes fire workers for unfair reasons. 

If that happens, it means the boss is not following the rules of the contract. If a boss treats a worker badly or fires them for unfair reasons, there are ways to get help. The grievance and arbitration process can help here. 

The grievance and arbitration process is a way to decide if a boss is following the rules of the contract. The grievance and arbitration process can also decide if a union member is following the rules of the contract.

At the start of a grievance and arbitration process, the union and their bosses try to solve things together. The union and their bosses sometimes struggle to solve things. If that happens, they can get help. An arbitrator can help with the grievance and arbitration process. An arbitrator is someone who makes final rulings about what is fair. An arbitrator cannot be the boss, a worker, or someone from the union. 

An arbitrator is not a judge. But the law says that bosses and unions have to do what the arbitrator decides.

The grievance and arbitration process is a good thing. These meetings help make sure both unions and bosses follow the rules of the contract.

Probationary employees are not allowed to use the grievance and arbitration process. That is because probationary employees are at-will employees. Probationary employees do not get just-cause protection from the union contract. 

It is unfair that probationary employees are not allowed to use the grievance and arbitration process.

Why do probationary periods exist?

Some bosses think probationary periods are useful. Some bosses say probation periods make sure new employees are good at their job. But that is not true. There are better ways for bosses to make sure employees are good at their jobs. 

Bosses can make sure employees are good at their jobs by only hiring good employees. It is literally a boss’s job to find and hire good employees. 

It’s also a boss’s job to onboard new employees. Onboarding is when bosses teach everything a new employee needs to know about their job.

If a boss is good at hiring and onboarding, then it is more likely that new employees will be good at their jobs. 

Why are probationary periods bad?

There is a lot to learn when starting a new job. It can take time to learn everything. 

Probationary periods make it harder to learn. That is because you are being judged more than usual. Probationary periods put stress on new workers. 

It is hard to do good quality work if you are stressed. So probationary periods can worsen job performance.

Asking for help during a probationary period can feel scary. You may feel afraid that you will get in trouble. You may worry about getting fired if you do not understand something right away. 

There are people who get health insurance from their job. The risk of getting unfairly fired can feel extra scary for these people. That is because losing their job means losing their healthcare. Probationary periods put more of a burden on people who need health insurance from their job. 

These are only some reasons that probationary periods hurt workers. Probationary periods hurt workers for even more reasons. 

Probationary periods are very bad for workers of color, workers with disabilities, and people of color with disabilities. To explain why, GASS needs to first explain other ideas. 

Bosses can be unfair toward people who are good at their job. This sometimes happens because of discrimination. 

Discrimination is when someone treats you badly based on who you are. Racism is discrimination against people of color (POC). Ableism is discrimination against people with disabilities. 

There are many kinds of discrimination. Discrimination makes it harder for people to keep their jobs.

Bosses sometimes discriminate against workers with disabilities, people of color, and people of color with disabilities. When these workers do well at their jobs, their boss might act like that is not true. It is unfair to act like someone’s good work is not good.

Bosses might also punish or fire the workers for no reason. It is unfair to punish or fire workers who did nothing wrong. This happens a lot to workers with disabilities, people of color, and people of color with disabilities.

Racism and ableism make these workers vulnerable. These workers are treated unfairly more often. 

Workers need help if they are treated unfairly at their job. The grievance and arbitration process can help workers with disabilities, people of color, and people of color with disabilities. 

Grievance and arbitration meetings are a place for workers to self-advocate. This is a way to make bosses follow the rules. 

If a worker did not deserve to get fired, the grievance and arbitration process can sometimes get their job back. 

But probationary employees are not allowed to use the grievance and arbitration process. This exclusion hurts probationary employees who are disabled, POC, or both. 

Probationary employees who are disabled, POC, or both need the grievance and arbitration process. The grievance and arbitration process gives them a tool to fight back against discrimination. Probation takes away this tool. 

Are probationary periods ever useful?

Probationary periods are never useful. 

Some bosses want help firing bad employees. A bad employee could be someone who is violent. A bad employee could also be someone who lied about the job skills they have.  

Some bosses think probationary periods help them fire bad employees. That is not true. Bosses can still fire bad employees without a probationary period. The grievance and arbitration process still allows bosses to fire bad employees. 

Grievance and arbitration does not stop people from being fired. Grievance and arbitration means that bosses have to try and help workers fix a problem before firing them.

• Example:

• Brad just started a new job. He is a member of his workplace union.

• Brad is NOT in a probationary period.

• Brad misses five meetings in the first two weeks of his job. So Brad’s boss tries progressive discipline. Brad’s boss asks him if he needs help. 

• Brad’s boss asks if needs accommodations to help him attend meetings. Brad says no.

• Brad’s boss asks him if he needs training about how to find and organize meeting invitations. Brad says no. 

• Brad’s boss asks him why he’s missed so many meetings. Brad explains that the job was not what he expected. Brad’s job description never plainly said that being in many meetings was part of the job. 

• Brad tells his boss that he will not attend the meetings. So Brad’s boss fires him. 

• Brad’s union has just cause protections in its contract. So Brad asks to go through the grievance and arbitration process. 

• The arbitrator looks at the job description. The arbitrator decides that any applicant should already understand that attending meetings is part of the job. 

• So the arbitrator decides that Brad can be fired. They make that decision because Brad is not doing the job he was hired to do. The grievance and arbitration process means that Brad is still fired.