Probation reviews in the Bahamas: don't wait until day 89

If your company uses a 90-day probation period, the employee shouldn't reach day 89 wondering how they're doing. Source: illustrative company policy, not a statutory period.

Their manager shouldn't be figuring it out that late either.

A useful probation review starts much earlier. Explain what the job requires, check how the person is getting on, raise concerns while there's time to address them, and follow through on the decision.

The meeting near the end brings those conversations together. There should be very little in it that comes as a surprise.

The day count means something different to each person

I've sat in rooms with HR teams and managers working through how probation reviews should run in Workzoom. The discussion gets very practical, very quickly.

When should the manager start? When does the employee see the assessment? What happens if someone hasn't done their part?

Take a company using a 90-day probation period. As an illustration, starting the formal assessment on day 75 leaves 15 calendar days to finish it, have the conversation and get any required decisions reviewed. That time goes quickly if the manager is away or another person needs to contribute. This is a planning example; use the dates that apply to the employee's terms and legal requirements. Source: illustrative company schedule and calendar-day arithmetic.

And that is just the formal review. If the employee first hears about a performance concern on day 75, you've left very little time to explain it, provide support and see what changes.

The manager is thinking about the work: can this person handle the role, where are they struggling, and what do I need to discuss with them? HR needs to know whether that discussion is happening in time. The employee needs to understand where they stand.

One concern that came up in a review discussion was the order in which people see the assessment. If an employee sees a disappointing rating before sitting down with their manager, they arrive trying to understand a judgement that's already been put in front of them.

We talked through keeping the manager's preparation separate from releasing the assessment to the employee, with the conversation happening before it's finalized and shared. That's a sequence to agree and configure during implementation. An annual review that starts with employee self-assessment doesn't necessarily need the same sequence as a manager-led probation review.

Then there's the unfinished task. If the review is late, who has it? How long has it been sitting there? Who needs to follow up?

That was another practical part of the discussion: use the overdue information to get the responsible people involved. An unfinished assessment shouldn't quietly become an employment decision made by the system.

Even access came into it. If someone can't log in, another notification doesn't get the review moving. Someone needs to help them get access.

Those are the details I want to work through with a team before the process goes live.

What are you actually trying to find out?

Probation gives both sides a chance to understand whether the working arrangement is right. For the employer, that means looking at the work the person was hired to do. For the employee, it means finding out whether the job, support and expectations match what they understood when they joined.

I'd start with three questions. Can they do the work? Have we given them what they need to do it? And are we seeing progress?

Those questions matter for the team too. If colleagues keep correcting the same mistakes or covering work that hasn't been done, leaving it unresolved has a cost. So does losing someone who could have succeeded with clearer instructions.

You need enough detail to tell the difference.

Before the meeting, get past “they're doing fine”

If a manager says someone needs to be more proactive, ask what that means in the person's actual work. Take a role that involves checking supplier orders and flagging changes to delivery dates.

Did a delivery date change without anyone telling the warehouse? Was the employee shown where to record it? Did they know who needed to hear about it? Were they waiting for approval from someone else?

Before the review, the manager should pull together the job expectations, a few examples of completed work, previous feedback and any training or support agreed. Include work that went well. One difficult afternoon shouldn't become the whole assessment.

If attendance is part of the discussion, check the record and the explanation, including approved leave, before drawing a conclusion.

Then ask yourself: have I already explained the concern to this person clearly enough for them to act on it?

Probation review questions that get you beyond yes or no

You don't need to ask all of these in one sitting. Use these questions to choose what helps you understand the person's work.

1. “Which parts of the job can you now handle on your own?” Ask for a recent example. You'll learn more than you will from a confidence rating.
2. “Where do you still need someone to step in?” This helps separate a normal learning need from a responsibility the person still can't manage.
3. “Talk me through what happened with this order.” Use a specific piece of work. Let the employee explain before deciding why something went wrong.
4. “Is anything different from what you expected when you took the job?” Check whether the role itself was explained properly.
5. “What instructions, access or training are you still missing?” A manager needs to hear where the employer hasn't followed through too.
6. “When you're unsure, do you know who to ask?” Having a policy available doesn't establish that someone knows how to get help during a shift.
7. “Since our last conversation, what have you changed?” Look for progress against feedback already given.
8. “What do you think we should work on next?” Give the employee a chance to contribute to the next step.

Leave room for the answer. If the manager does all the talking, a useful part of the review has been missed.

Make the next step clear enough to check

For someone handling supplier orders, “communicate better” doesn't give either person much to work with.

An agreed next step could be:

For the next two weeks, record supplier delivery-date changes in the order log and notify the warehouse lead before the end of your shift. Your manager will walk through the process with you tomorrow, then review a sample of updated orders with you next Friday.

Now the employee knows what to do. The manager has made a commitment as well. Both know when they'll look at the work again.

Choose something relevant to the role and achievable within the time available. Record the employee's explanation, the support agreed and who owns each action. If they disagree with the assessment, capture that accurately too.

At the next conversation, check whether the work changed and whether the promised support was delivered.

Deal with concerns early

There's a useful idea behind “fire fast”: don't keep avoiding a decision when the problem is clear.

But speed depends on doing the work early. If a concern appears in week three, raise it in week three. Explain the expectation, hear the response and establish what happens next. Waiting until the last few days leaves very little room to understand or address it.

Sometimes the employee is improving and the right decision is to keep investing in them. Sometimes a serious concern needs prompt escalation. Sometimes the working arrangement isn't right and ending employment needs to be considered through the proper process.

The manager should involve HR or the responsible decision-maker early, especially where a concern could lead to dismissal. A serious misconduct allegation needs its own appropriate response; don't leave it sitting until a scheduled review.

An approaching date shouldn't be what finally forces everyone to pay attention.

How easy would it be to replace them?

Recruitment comes into this too. A well-known employer might have applications coming in without advertising. Another team might struggle to find even a few suitable candidates.

That changes how a manager feels about losing someone. With candidates waiting, replacing the person can feel straightforward. With a thin pipeline, the manager is thinking about covering shifts, training someone new and how long the position could sit empty.

Those are real business considerations. They deserve their own discussion alongside the assessment of the employee's work.

I'd ask: are we seeing enough progress to keep investing in this person, or are we putting off a difficult decision because recruiting again feels harder?

And where applications are plentiful, have we given this employee clear expectations and a fair opportunity to succeed?

The recruitment pipeline helps you plan coverage and replacement. The review still needs to stand on the person's work, the support provided and the employment requirements that apply.

What does Bahamas law say about probation?

You won't find a universal 90-day probation period in the published Employment Act. Check the employee's contract, any applicable industrial agreement and the legal requirements that apply.

Ninety days does appear in section 15(2), which concerns pro rata vacation pay when employment ends during an incomplete year. Section 29 separately addresses minimum termination notice and pay, including a service threshold of six months. Neither provision creates a general right to dismiss someone before day 90.

The Act also addresses unfair dismissal in sections 34 to 40. Summary dismissal is a separate matter under sections 31 to 33, including the employer's evidential obligations concerning misconduct and investigation. Calling someone probationary doesn't replace those requirements. Employment Act, Parts IV, VII, VIII and IX.

For the wider context, read Amanda Coulter's explanation of Bahamas employment changes. There are proposals to watch. The government's October 2025 labour-reform recommendations proposed probation limits and an extension framework. That document is a proposal, not proof of an enacted entitlement or power to extend probation. Confirm enacted wording and commencement before changing your policy. Government labour-reform proposals, section 19.

Before a dismissal or extension, get advice on the particular employment arrangement. This article provides general information, not legal advice.

Make the probation review process visible

The manager owns the conversation. HR needs a reliable way to see whether the process is moving.

Workzoom performance policies can be configured with the activities and participants appropriate to the review. The Performance Review Progress report helps administrators see where reviews are in the process and who holds the action items.

During implementation, a configured onboarding step can also generate a probationary review against the selected policy. The employer still needs to establish the appropriate dates, participants and responsibilities.

I'd want to walk through one new hire with your team. Follow the review from the first manager action through the employee conversation and the agreed follow-up. Check that you can tell the difference between an assessment submitted and the process actually completed.

That's a useful process to map together on a call.

Start with the next new employee coming up for a probation review. Ask their manager what the employee already knows about how they're doing. If the answer is unclear, have that conversation now.