Am I on probation / what are my options (internal promotion) UK

Question

I live and work in the UK I've worked for a company for 4 and a half years being promoted a couple of times in the role I was in.

I moved departments on the 30th April 2018 the job offer email stated 'the salary will be X, raising to Y after 6 months in the role and on completion of a selected course'

when I applied i presented a 30-60-90 day plan so while i was working i requested a 30 day meet up with my new manager to discuss how things were going. everything was fine.

I then got 'stuck in' to the new role and the time flew by until I realised i had just passed my 6 months.

during this time I found a short course that i requested to do, which my manager accepted, and was told this wasn't the course described in the job offer email

I requested a meeting with my manager at the end of October for my 6 month review.

This was planned in, cancelled and re planned in several times. I eventually had a meeting with her on the 16th January 2019.

During this meeting she told me she was unhappy with my level of work and wanted to extend my probation. this was the first instance the word probation had been used and it took me back as to my knowledge i wasn't even on probation - and secondly i had already been in the role 9 months.

After checking my contract there is nothing in it to say a probation could be extended or that i'd be put on a new probation in my new role

In the probation policy (which was released 2016 - long after i had completed my initial probation within the company) it states: 'it is the company's policy to operate probationary periods for all new employees and, in some cases, in respect of employees who have been transferred or promoted into different roles'

Questions:

Am I right in thinking since no one has told me that i'd be on a new probation (since I never did one after being promoted internally last time) that I was technically never on probation?

If I was on a new probation since there is no extension clause in my contract does this mean I automatically passed it?

My main concern is that they are holding off on processing this is the promised pay rise, since my manager has yet to tell me about the course she want's me to complete do I have any ground to say this is their fault and not my own and therefore should have the payrise anyway?

If everything does get worked out, what grounds do I have to ask for the payrise to be backdated to when I finished 6 months in the role?

Answer 1

I think what you need to do here is have an independent talk with a representative from HR.

They should have a copy of your employment contract and should be able to tell you whether you've been on a formal probation, or something informal invented by your manager for some purpose.

They pay rise seems to be somehow related to you attending a certain course, which for some reason didn't happen. I assume that you talked about this and agreed that your own selected course would act as a suitable alternative (if you didn't discuss this, then you've dropped the ball on this one as you were aware of this situation).

You'll also need to address the reason for your unsatisfactory work (real or imaginary) as this seems to be the basis for this whole situation.

Answer 2

Answers in order:

• there should be a paper trail to show that you were told so; even if there was, you should verify how frequently the company re-applies probation on older employees, and whether it's legal in UK

• in theory yes, i.e. it's your manager's job to verify progress during probation, so if she used inattention as an excuse it would open the way for a lawsuit later on

• if the pay rise was promised, was there a paper trail? Get an ETA for it, sooner rather than later.

• you need to establish (with written proof) the promised raise, the length of the probation period and the link between the two. If you have this in writing, it should be much easier. Verbal commitments are just professional farts.