Probationary period 2026: duration, renewal and lawful termination

Quick answer. For an open-ended contract, the probationary period is capped at 2 months for manual and clerical staff, 3 months for supervisors and technicians, and 4 months for executives (article L1221-19). It may be renewed once only if an extended industry-wide agreement allows it, up to 4, 6 or 8 months. Since 9 September 2023, no agreement may set a longer duration than the statutory caps. Termination is free, but requires a notice period of 24 hours to 1 month depending on length of service.

The probationary period lets the employer assess the employee's skills and the employee evaluate the role. During this phase, either party may end the contract without justification or severance, which makes it a flexible — but tightly regulated — tool.

Law No. 2023-171 of 9 March 2023 (the "DDADUE" law) ended a long-standing tolerance from 9 September 2023: industry agreements concluded before 26 June 2008 could keep probation durations longer than the statutory caps. That is no longer possible. The Labour Code's maximum durations now prevail, in line with EU directive 2019/1152, which limits probation to six months in principle. In practice, an employer still relying on a longer "industry duration" is applying a partly unlawful probationary period.

Article L1221-19 of the Labour Code sets three initial durations by professional category. Renewal, where allowed, doubles them.

A probationary period is never mandatory: it must be expressly set out in the employment contract or engagement letter. Without a written clause, the employee is deemed hired without probation, and any termination falls under the dismissal procedure.

Renewal is never automatic. Article L1221-21 of the Labour Code makes it subject to three cumulative conditions:

1. An extended industry-wide agreement must allow renewal;
2. The employment contract (or engagement letter) must expressly mention this option;
3. The employee must agree to the renewal, in writing, during the initial period (not on its expiry date).

Renewal may take place only once. A unilateral employer clause, or an employee's agreement given after the initial period has expired, is not enough: the renewal would be unlawful, and any termination after the initial term would be reclassified as dismissal without real and serious cause.

During probation, termination is free: no grounds, no dismissal procedure, no severance. But this freedom has two important limits.

First limit: the notice period. When the employer ends the trial, it must notify the employee within a period that depends on length of service (article L1221-25).

When the employee terminates, the period is shorter: 48 hours, reduced to 24 hours if they have been present for less than 8 days (article L1221-26).

Key point: the notice period does not extend probation beyond its maximum duration. If the employer gives notice too late, so that it would run past the end of probation, it must pay compensation equal to the salary and benefits the employee would have earned until the end of the notice period.

Second limit: no abuse. Termination must not be discriminatory (health, pregnancy, origin…) nor diverted from its purpose (ending the trial for an economic reason unrelated to assessing skills). An abusive termination entitles the employee to damages.

• Fixed-term contracts: the probation of a fixed-term contract is calculated differently — one day per week of contract, capped at 2 weeks for a contract of 6 months or less, and one month beyond (article L1242-10). Clients running back-to-back short contracts often forget this; see our fixed-term contract rules for 2026.
• Hiring after an internship: when the employee is hired at the end of an end-of-study internship that is part of an academic programme, the internship duration is deducted from probation (up to half of it, or all of it if the job matches the intern's activities), under article L1221-24.
• Agency work then hiring: if the company hires someone who held the same role on a temporary assignment within the previous three months, the assignment time counts against probation.
• Transfer within a group: no fresh probation applies when the employee changes role without their contract being terminated.

1. Stop relying on a longer "industry duration" than the statutory caps: since 9 September 2023 it cannot be enforced.
2. Put the trial in writing in the contract. No written clause, no probation.
3. Obtain the employee's written agreement to renewal before the initial period ends, never after.
4. Anticipate the notice period: trigger termination early enough for the notice to fit within probation's maximum duration.
5. Count the period in calendar days: a probation expressed in months runs from date to date, with no suspension at weekends.
6. An employee absence (illness, leave) suspends probation and extends it accordingly: recalculate the actual end date.

In our payroll and HR support work for small and mid-sized businesses, probation is the most frequent source of avoidable disputes. We saw a manager end an executive's trial in the fourth month, believing he had "six months thanks to the collective agreement": that industry duration, inherited from an old agreement, had been invalid since 2023. The termination, occurring after the four-month statutory cap, was treated as dismissal without real and serious cause.

Our view: probation is a genuine legal comfort, but one earned through formal rigour. A written clause, a renewal conditioned on a verified industry agreement, a dated employee agreement, an anticipated notice period — these four reflexes are enough to secure the essentials. We recommend keeping a schedule of probation dates per employee, built into your payroll software, so you never overrun a deadline by accident.

Hayot Expertise advice. Before each hire, check the probation duration applicable to the role's category and whether your collective agreement contains a renewal clause. Write the exact duration into the contract, and mark in your calendar the probation end date minus the notice period. If you hesitate on the professional category (clerical or supervisor?), settle it before signing: it determines the cap.