TO:             University Faculty and Staff

FROM:           Richard Brown

DATE:           October 30, 2002

SUBJECT:        Probationary Period Policy Revision


Over the past year, human resource officers have been working with
supervisory staff to develop a probationary period policy that:

1.      Provides new employees with an opportunity to have their performance
evaluated early enough to make corrective actions if needed, prior to the
end of the probationary period.

2.      Provide managers with an extended period to evaluate an employee’s
skills.

To this end, the following policy changes, which have been endorsed by the
President’s staff, have been enacted  effective September 1, 2002:

1.      The evaluation period is extended from three (3) months to six (6)
months.

2.      The probationary period policy applies to newly hired regular exempt and
non-exempt staff employees.

The full text of the revised probationary period policy is accessible
on-line at: http://admin.tennessee.edu/hr/policies/135pol.html


Please note the probationary period policy is applicable only to regular
staff hired AFTER September 1, 2002.  Current UT Employees who change jobs
within the University will not be impacted by this policy. Personnel
Services will continue to send reminders along with Probationary Period
evaluation forms to supervisors of newly hired staff about five months after
the hire date.  Supervisors should provide feedback regarding performance
throughout the probationary period and should provide reasonable and
appropriate assistance to new staff in meeting performance expectations.

If you have any questions regarding these changes, please contact Dan Webb
in Personnel Services ([log in to unmask]).