Are the rights of a permanent employee equal to those of a probationary employee with the prospect of further permanent employment? What are the differences between them according to the law? In particular, is it legal to pay less during the probation period for the same work performed by a permanent employee?
Alevtina Grigorenko, lawyer:
According to the Labor Law (Article 40, Part 1), an employment contract must be concluded in writing before the hired employee begins work.
This legal requirement conceptually stems from Article 39. (quote) “An employment contract is considered concluded at the moment when the employer and the employee reach an agreement on the work to be performed and the remuneration, as well as on the employee's further subordination to the established work schedule and the employer's instructions.” This means that by signing the contract, the employee agrees to certain conditions and remuneration.
In practice, the employer can indeed offer a different remuneration to a probationary employee, but this is usually discussed and defined in the employment contract before it is signed, which does not contradict the aforementioned legal norm. In such cases, the employment contract typically includes a provision for a salary increase after the probation period.
It is important to understand that, according to Article 59 of the Labor Law, remuneration is the regularly paid compensation to the employee for work, including wages and additional payments established by regulations, collective labor agreements, or employment contracts, as well as bonuses and any other work-related compensation.
In turn, Part 1 of Article 60 stipulates that for equal work or equivalent work, the employer is obliged to establish equal remuneration for men and women.
If a specific employee has no grounds to complain about discrimination, then in assessing the aforementioned norms, it is the employment contract that determines the amount of remuneration. If there are grounds to believe that the employer, whether intentionally or unintentionally, applied a lower wage rate only to one employee, while other employees in the same position performing similar duties receive higher pay, or if during the probation period the lower rate applies only to one specific employee, then there may be grounds to initially contact the State Labor Inspectorate to request an examination of this issue for possible violations of the principle of equality (Article 7, Part 1 of the Labor Law).
