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Probationary period (Philippines)
Probationary period (Philippines) is the trial employment period under Article 296, capped at six months from the first day of actual work, unless a true apprenticeship rules apply.
How it works
Standards must be written and given at engagement. Miss that and they can be deemed regular from day one. You cannot extend probation by consent. The clock is calendar days from start of work, not from the offer letter. A 90-day commercial replacement window is a recruiter contract, not this statute. For a U.S. company hiring one Filipino teammate, write this into the brief, the employment contract, and the peso payroll file before the start date. Slack habits do not override the Labor Code, BIR, or NPC. If the local employer of record holds the paper, they run the statutory step; you still owe a clean operating definition so the seat does not fail in week three. Put a number on the example when you budget loaded cost, because a nameless allowance always returns as a December surprise or a missed SLA.
Example: start 15 January. Day 180 is mid-July. No written standards on day one: you do not get a ‘failed probation’ exit in June.
How it differs
Regularization is what happens when the cap clears. Twin-notice still matters if you terminate for cause during probation.
Common errors
Emailing standards in month two. Rolling 5-month contracts to dodge the cap.
In practice
Treat Probationary period (Philippines) as a week-one operating object. Ask who signs the notice, who remits, and who would answer DOLE. If three vendors each point at the other, you have a story rather than a file. Write an owner - founder, local employer, or worker - and a date you will look at it again: first cutoff, first holiday, or first miss. If nobody can show a contract clause, a payslip line, a calendar block, or a checklist box, you do not have probationary period (philippines) yet. You have a conversation. Convert the conversation before the person starts, while changing the deal still costs a paragraph rather than a resignation. Re-read the worked example above against the actual hire in front of you. If the numbers in that example cannot be swapped for this seat’s pesos, hours, and start date, the brief is still unfinished.