When a new state employee is hired, they serve an initial probationary period of six months. The initial probationary period is a time for the employee and management to determine if the job is the best fit and whether they have the skills necessary to become a permanent state employee.
Our union contract allows management to extend the original probationary period for up to an additional six months for limited reasons, including concerns about the employees performance. If management elects to extend an original probationary period for performance reasons, the reasons must be given to the employee in writing with specific performance improvement requirements. Our contract states that in the absence of an extension, the original probationary period ends after the initial six month period.
Sometimes, management does not properly extend a probationary period, which is exactly what happened to NAPE/AFSCME member Rachel Hartgrave (DHHS, O’Neill). Rachel was provided a letter extending her probation and was told she would receive a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP), but the PIP never came. Rachel assumed she completed her initial probationary period, however, months later, DHHS terminated her employment without due process.
Rachel contacted her union representative, who filed a grievance on her behalf alleging her employment was terminated in violation of our contract because she was not a probationary employee and was entitled to written notice of allegations and a pre-disciplinary meeting prior to her termination.
The case proceeded to a hearing before the Nebraska State Personnel Board, which eventually determined that Rachel’s grievance was not timely because she should have raised her contention that her probationary period was improperly extended within 15 work days of receiving the deficient extension letter.
NAPE/AFSCME appealed to the District Court arguing that probationary employees need not take any action to end a probationary period. Instead, management must properly extend the probationary period by providing the reasons for the extension and the performance improvement requirements in writing.
Lancaster County District Court Judge Darla Ideus agreed, ruling in Rachel’s favor, and remanded the case back to the Personnel Board for a hearing on the merits of the case. DHHS could choose to appeal the case to the Nebraska Court of Appeals, so while the case is pending, we encourage any probationary member to contact their union representative immediately if their probationary period is extended.