united-kingdom notice
Different notice periods for employer and employee
<p>On another site, someone was asking because it seems his employer doesn't need to give any notice during the three month probation period, while the employee has to give three months notice. Apart from being obviously most unfair, is that legal at all in the UK? (And information about other countries would likely be of interest to other people as well)</p>

<p>Referring to the UK company <a href="https://www.citation.co.uk/news/hr-and-employment-law/much-notice-given-probation-periods/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Citation Ltd</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>How much notice has to be given during probation periods?</strong></p>
<p>If an employee’s in their probation period and chooses to leave before it’s over, if you don’t have a set term in your contracts of employment, they must give the statutory minimum notice period – which is one week.</p>
<p>However, you can set your own notice period specifically for probation periods in your contracts of employment.</p>
<p>So, for example, if an employee’s notice period would ordinarily be four weeks outside of probationary periods, you can set it at two weeks during their probation period, providing it’s in writing in their contract of employment.</p>
<p><strong>Letting go of an employee during their probation period</strong></p>
<p>. . . it’s good practice to try to make it work by clearly setting out what’s expected of them, and holding regular reviews to monitor performance and further reiterate your expectations – particularly as you’ll have no doubt spent time and money during the recruitment and training process already.</p>
<p>If, despite your efforts, things still aren’t working out, you’d be within your rights to dismiss the employee. Remember though, even in their probation period, employees still have certain rights – like the right to be accompanied by a work colleague or an accredited trade union official.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It seems quite bizarre to expect 3 months notice from an employee who is on 3 months probation. That would be on the first day, and isn't legal unless agreed in the contract – in which case the employee has until the last day to withdraw their notice.</p>
<p><strong>Edit</strong></p>
<p>If the three months notice is contractual, it reminds me of UK (real) estate agents' T&amp;C for sole agency vendor agreements, that the apparently fixed period agreement does not terminate unless the client provides the required notice. So in this case, if the probationer has not given the 3 months contractual notice, they cannot legally leave at the end of the probation period, unless they are dismissed.</p>
