Trial Employment Periods For New Employees

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It may take time to find the right person to work for your window cleaning company. If you are worried about whether your new employee is going to be a good fit for your company, you could start off with a trial employment period to test his skills and loyalty. Setting up this trial phase is relatively simple, as long as the new employee understands the terms up front. This guide will explain how to create a successful trial employment phase for a new employee for your small business.

Create a Temporary Employment Contract

Develop an employment contract for the trial period that highlights the timeframe, pay rates, and expectations for your new employee. Make sure there are clauses in place that explain what happens if you are not satisfied with the person’s work (two-week termination notice, no increase in pay, etc.). You can use this sample trial employment contract as a template.

How Long Should The Trial Period Last?

The length of your trial period will depend on a variety of factors. If you are hiring a family member, you may only need to have a one or two week trial phase because you already know a lot about the person. For a brand new employee though, you may need to have a trial for a month or longer to make sure you can trust the person. You may set up milestones to complete this initiation phase, with different levels at 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year. If you feel comfortable with the person you are working with and you are encouraged by his enthusiasm, you may be able to speed up the process accordingly.

How Much Should I Pay During The Trial Employment Period?

Again, the pay scale for your trial employment period will depend on the nature of your business as a whole. You will most likely want to pay less for the trial period than you would during full-time employment to minimize your loss if the employee does not work out. You may pay minimum wage for the first week or two, and then raise the pay rate to your target wage. To check the current minimum wage in your state, you may refer to this chart on the National Conference of State Legislatures’ website.

Make sure that your employee is aware of this pay increase before the hire, as you may scare off good employees with low pay rates. Set up milestone payments for each phase of the trial period so your new hire feels validated in his efforts.

What To Do If It Doesn’t Work Out

If your new employee is not a good fit for your small business, give him a two-week notice of termination (or whatever you agreed to in your employment contract). If the employee is caught stealing, lying, or consistently not showing up for work, you can terminate his employment without notice. Approach this from a professional standpoint, and immediately begin looking for a replacement. Then you can repeat this process again until you find the perfect person for your clean company.

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