Is it illegal to extend the probation period of employees? Is it illegal to extend the probation period of employees? Paragraph 2 of Article 19 of the Labor Contract Law stipulates that "the same employer and the same worker can only agree on one probation period." In the practice of enterprise human resources management, it often happens that an employee performs mediocrely during the probation period and fails to see clearly his/her work ability during the originally agreed probation period, So the employer wants to investigate for a while. However, the law clearly stipulates that the probation period cannot be agreed twice for the same employee. At this time, extending the probation period becomes the best choice for employers. For the extension of the probation period, the employer should pay attention to the following four points: 1. Article 35 of the Labor Contract Law stipulates that "the employer and the employee can change the content of the labor contract by consensus." It can be seen that the change of the labor contract is the right conferred by the law on both parties to the contract, an authorization norm, not a mandatory legal provision. In practice, if either the employer or the employee thinks that it is necessary to extend the probation period, they can make an intention to the other party (generally the employer makes an offer to the employee) and send an offer. After receiving the offer, the other party will make the relevant declaration of intention, or refuse, or agree, or further negotiate. No matter what kind of declaration, both parties should express their true intentions on the premise of complete voluntariness. If it is necessary to further negotiate to extend the probation period, both parties shall fully communicate with each other on the extended relevant period, treatment, etc. in accordance with the principle of equality, voluntariness, honesty and credibility, and neither party shall impose its own will on the other party. If either party does not agree to the extension, the other party shall not unilaterally extend it. 2. One of them shall be proposed before the expiration of the probation period. If either party to the labor contract believes that it is necessary to extend the probation period, it must be proposed after the labor contract takes effect and before the expiration of the probation period. The former is an essential condition for the extension of the probation period. Only after the labor contract takes effect, the two parties have agreed on the probation period, and on this basis, the intention to extend the probation period is proposed. The latter is the legal element for proposing to extend the probation period, which must be proposed before the expiration of the probation period. If the probation period expires and the extension of the probation period is proposed again, it is the second agreed probation period, which violates the mandatory provisions of the Labor Contract Law. Second, if the employer and the employee enter into a labor contract and both parties agree that there is no probation period, either party may propose to the other party to increase the probation period before the date of employment. After employment, it is not allowed to propose to increase the probation period. The agreed probation period is not mandatory by law. After the employer starts employment, it indicates that it has given up the right to try the employee, and it is not allowed to ask the employee to increase the probation period. Third, the third paragraph of Article 19 of the Labor Contract Law stipulates that "a probation period shall not be agreed upon in a labor contract whose term is to complete a certain task or whose term is less than three months." Article 70 stipulates that "the parties to part-time employment shall not agree on a probation period." In these two cases, the employer shall not agree on a probation period, Of course, there is no such thing as extending the probation period. 3. The extended probationary period shall not exceed the legal period. According to the first paragraph of Article 19 of the Labor Contract Law, "If the term of a labor contract is more than three months but less than one year, the probation period shall not exceed one month; if the term of a labor contract is more than one year but less than three years, the probation period shall not exceed two months; if the term of a labor contract is fixed or not fixed, the probation period shall not exceed six months." When an employer and a worker conclude a labor contract, the probation period agreed upon shall not exceed the upper limit prescribed in this paragraph. If both parties to the labor contract agree to extend the probation period through consultation, the extended probation period shall not exceed the upper limit period specified in Paragraph 1 of Article 19 of the Labor Contract Law. For example, the employer and the employee entered into a fixed term labor contract with a term of three years. The probation period was agreed to be two months, and then the two parties agreed to extend the probation period by one month. The extended probation period was three months. There was no provision that the probation period should not exceed six months for labor contracts with a fixed term of more than three years or without a fixed term. 4. The extension of the probation period shall be in written form. According to the provisions of the Labor Contract Law, unless full-time employment is required, the employer and the employee shall use written form whether they sign a new labor contract or change a labor contract. If both parties to a labor contract reach an agreement on extending the probation period through consultation, they shall conclude a written agreement on the modification of the labor contract, which shall specify the content of the modification, and both parties shall sign and seal the text of the agreement. Secondly, the second paragraph of Article 35 of the Labor Contract Law stipulates that "the employer and the employee shall each hold one copy of the modified labor contract." The labor contract modification agreement shall be kept as an attachment to the labor contract, which has the same legal effect as the labor contract. In order to build a harmonious labor relationship and reduce labor disputes, the author suggests that employers should fully evaluate the required inspection period, agree on a relatively appropriate probation period and try to avoid extending the probation period afterwards when they first conclude a labor contract with workers, on the premise that they do not violate the provisions of the Labor Law, and according to the technical content of the jobs workers are engaged in. Do you understand this explanation?