> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.hr-easy.nlead.ch/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Probation

> The Probezeit companion — a shared meeting template, not a paper trail.

Swiss law caps probation at three months (OR Art. 335b). Most HR software treats that
period as a countdown to a decision. Swiss HR Easy treats it as a set of conversations
that the employee, their manager and HR have **together**.

## The end date is derived

Once the contract is signed, the start date and the configured probation duration are
both known, so the end date is computed rather than typed:

* Probation runs whole months from the start date. The last day is the day before the
  same day-of-month that many months later — start 01.01 with three months means
  probation ends 31.03 and employment is confirmed from 01.04.
* Day-of-month overflow clamps to the end of the target month: 31.01 plus one month is
  28 or 29.02, never 02 or 03.03.
* The configured duration is **capped at three months** regardless of what a position
  asks for. A template requesting six months yields three.
* If the contract has no probation, there is no end date at all.

<Note>
  Because it is derived, the end date stays correct when a start date is corrected — a common source
  of missed deadlines when the date is a manually typed field.
</Note>

## The companion

The module provides a compassion-framed **meeting template**: a shared reference the
three parties work through together, structured around what the person needs to
succeed rather than around whether they are meeting a bar.

It is a code-defined template — there is no write surface for it — which is why
managers can view it alongside HR (`probation:view` includes `MANAGER`) even though
running the process is HR's job (`probation:manage` is `HR_STAFF`+).

## Questionnaires

Reflective questionnaires can be sent to the employee and the manager, either on
demand or automatically as the probation window progresses. A scheduled job sweeps for
due automatic questionnaires and dispatches them.

Each dispatch **snapshots the wording actually sent**, in the recipient's own locale,
onto the dispatch row. Six months later the record shows what the person was asked,
not what the template says today.

There are no scores. The questionnaires collect reflection: what has gone well, what
has been harder than expected, what support is missing, what the person wants to learn
next.

<Warning>
  Probation in this product is framed as a **mutual decision about fit and support**, not as legal
  cover for a termination that has already been decided. Requests to add ratings, a pass/fail score,
  or a performance-improvement-plan default are refused on the grounds of
  [ADR-006](/concepts/design-philosophy).
</Warning>

## Ending probation

Three outcomes, all recorded:

| Outcome                | What happens                                                                                                   |
| ---------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Confirmed              | Employment continues; the notice period switches from the probation term to the contractual one.               |
| Extended               | Only within the statutory cap, and only where the contract allows it — for example after a qualifying absence. |
| Ended during probation | Offboarding starts with the shorter probation notice period.                                                   |

Whichever it is, the conversation and its outcome are recorded on the employee's
change log — so the reason is on file, in the employee's own words as well as HR's.