Hold the end-of-probation review

When to use

An employee's probation period is approaching its end and a decision is due. Not for an ordinary performance conversation about a confirmed employee — use people.performance-review. Not for ending the employment of a confirmed employee — use people.dismissal-lv; probation-ending has its own shorter rules and deadlines. The groundwork (goals, expectations) is laid in people.onboard-employee; if that never happened, this review starts from a weaker pack — note it and set expectations now, mid-review.

Before you start

• The probation end date is known and the review starts at least 10 working days before it.
• The contract's probation clause has been read: its length, and whether extension is provided for at all.
• ⚠ verify the statutory maximum probation length in Latvia under Darba likums (likumi.lv) before

What a run requires2

The trail8 steps

1. S1

   Assemble the packagent

   Pull from the people module: contract and probation clause, onboarding goals, mid-probation notes, attendance and any prior conversations.

   Done when one document contains every input with dates.

2. S2

   Collect feedbackagent

   Ask the direct manager and anyone who worked with the employee for specific examples (work delivered, behaviour observed), not adjectives.

   Done when each contribution is written with the contributor's name and date.

   ⛔ "Seems fine" is not feedback; ask for an example of work or behaviour.

3. S3

   Draft the optionsagent

   Write three options — confirm, extend, end — each with the evidence for and against, drawn only from S1–S2.

   Done when the owner receives the pack with options at least 3 working days before the meeting.

4. S4

   Hold the review meetingownerneeds approval · owner

   Approval · S4 · owner — the run stops until a named person records the decision

   Walk through the evidence with the employee, let them respond, agree what confirmation would mean going forward.

   Done when the employee has heard the assessment and their response is recorded, with the meeting date.

5. S5

   Decideownerneeds approval · owner

   Approval · S5 · owner — the run stops until a named person records the decision

   Choose one option. If extend: confirm it is both permitted by the contract and within the legal maximum (⚠ verify against Darba likums, likumi.lv), set the new end date in writing. If end: the termination itself runs through people.dismissal-lv — this playbook only records that the decision was made and hands over.

   Done when the chosen option is in writing, an extension is confirmed within the contract and the legal maximum, or the termination is handed to people.dismissal-lv.

   ⛔ A verbal "let's give it another month" with no writing is the single most common way this goes wrong.

6. S6

   Record and signagent

   Write the decision into the people module; prepare the evaluation document for signature (documents.sign-with-eparaksts for a remote employee).

   Done when the signed document exists and the employee status in the people module matches the decision.

7. S7

   Set what followsagent

   If confirmed: record the goals for the next period and the date of the next review conversation. If extended: add the deadline for the follow-up review.

   Done when the task or goal exists with a date.

8. S8

   Fileagent

   Attach the pack, the feedback, the meeting note and the signed decision to the employee record.

   Done when a person opening the record in a year can reconstruct what was decided and why.

Checks — how we know it worked

• The decision date is on or before the probation end date — read both dates back from the record.
• The signed document exists and the employee received a copy.
• If extended: the extension is in writing, within the contract, and within the legal maximum.
• The people module status matches the decision (confirmed / extended / leaving) — not the intention, the field.

If it goes wrong

What each step leaves behind

1. S1one document contains every input with dates.
2. S2each contribution is written with the contributor's name and date.
3. S3the owner receives the pack with options at least 3 working days before the meeting.
4. S4the employee has heard the assessment and their response is recorded, with the meeting date.
5. S5the chosen option is in writing, an extension is confirmed within the contract and the legal maximum, or the termination is handed to people.dismissal-lv.
6. S6the signed document exists and the employee status in the people module matches the decision.
7. S7the task or goal exists with a date.
8. S8a person opening the record in a year can reconstruct what was decided and why.

Evidence to keep

The evidence pack with dates · feedback with named contributors · meeting note and date · the employee's response · the signed decision document · the people module status change · if extended, the new end date in writing.

How this playbook improves

After every 5 runs ask: did every review finish before the end date, and if not, which step waited? Did any decision get disputed within 6 months, and was the S2 evidence strong enough to answer it? Were goals missing at S1 more than once — and if so, propose a change to people.onboard-employee instead of compensating here. A new version names the step it changes in its change note.