Probation Period in Uzbekistan: Length, Pay and Dismissal

How to set probation

The probation condition must be stipulated in the employment contract. Without such a clause, the employee is deemed hired without probation — a verbal agreement or a clause only in the hiring order is not enough. The Code lists the probation condition among the additional terms of the employment contract.

Probation may be set only on hiring. It cannot be set on transfer to another job or on secondment to another employer.

How long probation can last

The general maximum is three months. For heads of organisations, their deputies, chief accountants and heads of separate subdivisions — up to six months. Within these limits the parties set the period in the contract.

Periods of temporary incapacity for work and other periods of actual absence do not count towards probation. If the employee was ill for two weeks, probation is automatically extended by that time — no separate agreement is needed, but it should be reflected in HR records.

Who cannot be put on probation

Article 129 of the Labour Code lists the persons who cannot be hired on probation. A collective agreement, collective contract or local act may extend this list but not narrow it.

• pregnant women, women with a child under three, and a father (guardian) raising a child under three alone;
• persons from socially vulnerable groups referred to reserved jobs;
• university graduates who studied on state grants and take up work in their speciality by referral within three months of graduation;
• graduates of schools, colleges, technical schools and universities who find a job in their speciality on their own for the first time within one year of graduation;
• employees hired under an employment contract of up to six months;
• persons under eighteen;
• persons previously dismissed by the same employer on certain grounds and rehired;
• trainees who studied with the employer under an industrial training contract;
• temporary workers (contracts of up to two months) — the prohibition for them is in a separate Article 496.

Rights and pay during probation

Labour legislation and other legal acts on labour apply in full to an employee on probation. Salary is therefore paid in the amount and at the times set by the contract and the Labour Code, and the employee enjoys all guarantees — vacation pay, sick pay, overtime and holiday pay. The Code has no special "probation" rate or simplified pay procedure; if you want to pay less during probation, it must be written into the contract and must not breach the general pay guarantees.

The probation period counts towards length of service, including service giving the right to annual leave.

How to dismiss an employee who fails probation

Before probation ends, either party may terminate the employment contract by giving the other written notice at least three days in advance. This three-day period can be shortened only by agreement of the parties.

The employer terminates the contract on its own initiative if the probation result is unsatisfactory and must state the reasons for deeming the employee to have failed. In practice you need documents: assignments, work results, the manager's memos. "Failed probation" without specific reasons is the main ground for disputes.

• record the specific reasons for the unsatisfactory result in writing;
• hand over written notice at least three days before termination;
• stay within the probation period: if it has expired or fewer than three days remain and the parties do not agree to shorten the notice, the contract continues and can then be terminated only on general grounds.

If the employee leaves

An employee on probation may resign by submitting a written application reflecting a genuine wish to end the employment. The reasons do not matter. During the notice period the employee may withdraw the application. Once the notice period ends, the employee may stop working, and the employer may not delay the termination.

HR checklist

• write probation and its length into the employment contract, not only into the order;
• check that the candidate is not in one of the Article 129 categories;
• up to six months for a head, deputy or chief accountant; up to three months for others;
• mark sick leave and absences in the timesheet — they do not count towards probation;
• if the result is unsatisfactory — written reasons and notice three days before the period ends.