5 ms·

This is what the 'probation' period is for?

swiftcoder 2y ago
We don't have those in America. Mostly because your healthcare is tied to your job, so nobody would risk taking a probationary role that could land them out of work and without healthcare at the end of it...
- the_af 2y ago
  I don't follow (not from the US, please excuse my ignorance). I was told that, with some exceptions, in the US every job is permanently "on probation" ("at will employment"). As in, you can get fired from one day to the other, no severance and no reason needed (as long as it's not discrimination based on sex, religion, etc). Is my understanding incomplete?
  - jetti 2y ago
    You are correct, however, that isn’t the same as probation. Companies with a probation period may not grant full benefits until after the probation period ends. For example, a company may not let an employee take any time off during the probation period or the company may not let an employee participate i. The company 401k retirement savings plans until after the probation period.
  - 0xBDB 2y ago
    > I was told that, with some exceptions, in the US every job is permanently "on probation" ("at will employment"). This is sort-of true. Employment law in the U.S. is by state, and there are only a handful of states that are truly at-will with no exceptions at all (and even in those there are federal exceptions for thew 'protected categories' - race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, national origin, disability that can be reasonably accommodated, etc.). Montana is not employment-at-will at all - you have a probationary period and can only be fired for cause there after that. America has a thing called the 'Uniform Commercial Code' which is basically templates for business and employment law that states can voluntarily pick and choose from (Louisiana, where the law is based on French legal tradition, uses it the least). But even with the UCC there is actually a lot of variation in state laws on stuff like this. In my experience outside of Montana having an explicit probationary period is rare in the U.S. You are seeing why in this thread. Your employer may be able to legally fire you at any time, but the social expectation is that they will get the hire right and not fire you for being a mismatch unless they absolutely have to.
- jetti 2y ago
  There most definitely are companies that have a probationary period in the US. It may not be common but it does happen. My first dev job had a probationary period and I put up with it because it was a job that was willing to employ me as a dev without a CS degree or prior dev experience. I lasted about 7 or 8 months before I quit for somewhere better.

We don't have those in America. Mostly because your healthcare is tied to your job, so nobody would risk taking a probationary role that could land them out of work and without healthcare at the end of it...

the_af 2y ago
I don't follow (not from the US, please excuse my ignorance). I was told that, with some exceptions, in the US every job is permanently "on probation" ("at will employment"). As in, you can get fired from one day to the other, no severance and no reason needed (as long as it's not discrimination based on sex, religion, etc). Is my understanding incomplete?
- jetti 2y ago
  You are correct, however, that isn’t the same as probation. Companies with a probation period may not grant full benefits until after the probation period ends. For example, a company may not let an employee take any time off during the probation period or the company may not let an employee participate i. The company 401k retirement savings plans until after the probation period.
- 0xBDB 2y ago
  > I was told that, with some exceptions, in the US every job is permanently "on probation" ("at will employment"). This is sort-of true. Employment law in the U.S. is by state, and there are only a handful of states that are truly at-will with no exceptions at all (and even in those there are federal exceptions for thew 'protected categories' - race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, national origin, disability that can be reasonably accommodated, etc.). Montana is not employment-at-will at all - you have a probationary period and can only be fired for cause there after that. America has a thing called the 'Uniform Commercial Code' which is basically templates for business and employment law that states can voluntarily pick and choose from (Louisiana, where the law is based on French legal tradition, uses it the least). But even with the UCC there is actually a lot of variation in state laws on stuff like this. In my experience outside of Montana having an explicit probationary period is rare in the U.S. You are seeing why in this thread. Your employer may be able to legally fire you at any time, but the social expectation is that they will get the hire right and not fire you for being a mismatch unless they absolutely have to.
jetti 2y ago
There most definitely are companies that have a probationary period in the US. It may not be common but it does happen. My first dev job had a probationary period and I put up with it because it was a job that was willing to employ me as a dev without a CS degree or prior dev experience. I lasted about 7 or 8 months before I quit for somewhere better.