Ten Things About American Labor Law（9）No Probation Period in the United States?

When I Hear Conversations Like This, I Can't Help But Think:

Yes, you heard right. None of the 50 U.S. states has a legal concept of "probation period" in employment law.
"Wait, what?" Does that mean employees become permanent staff from day one? No flexibility at all? How do American companies hire then?
Today, let's demystify the "probation period" in the U.S. employment context.

10 Things About U.S. Labor Law: Stories Between Employers and Employees
I'm Attorney Liu from Silicon Valley, providing in-depth analysis of the legal logic behind entrepreneurship.

1. Why the U.S. Has No Probation Period?

To understand this, let's compare Chinese and American employment systems:

China's For-Cause Employment
Even non-legal professionals know the "N+1" rule:

• Employers must compensate employees (1 month salary per service year) when terminating without cause

• Immediate termination allowed only for employee misconduct

U.S. At-Will Employment

• Employers may terminate employees at any time, with or without cause

• No severance required (exceptions to be discussed later)

This creates a balanced system:
🇨🇳 Strict hiring (probation) + Strict termination (for-cause)
🇺🇸 Flexible hiring (no probation) + Flexible termination (at-will)

Probation periods and severance pay are two sides of the same coin. Notably, all U.S. employers must still comply with labor laws regarding minimum wage, rest breaks, and overtime pay.

2. Benefits Unlocking After 90 Days

Some may argue: "But many benefits start after 3 months!"
True, but these are statutory requirements regardless of probation terms:

For example, for paid sick leave, employees can only start accumulating paid sick leave after working for 30 days. For every 30 hours worked, one hour of sick leave can be counted, and employees are entitled to use the accumulated paid sick leave after completing 90 days of work.

For another example, for welfare plans, such as health insurance, the boss can stipulate that employees must wait 90 days before they can start to enjoy it.

These timelines are mandated by law, making probation periods legally irrelevant.So, let’s go back to what we said before. There is no probation period in the United States.

3. The "Probation Period" Paradox at Major Tech Companies

Despite legal absence, Major companies still use 90-day probation clauses:

Why do they do this? To protect company-specific benefits:

• While California mandates 10 weeks unpaid maternity leave

• Facebook offers 12 months paid leave – but only after probation
  This prevents potential abuse of generous corporate benefits while complying with minimum legal requirements.

Therefore, bosses who start businesses in the United States should stop blindly using the concept of probation period, thinking that as long as the probation period is written in the labor contract, they can lower wages and lay off employees at will. Of course, I think the audience here will definitely not think so, because you are following Lawyer Liu and you are the founder who changed the world.

10 Things About U.S. Labor Law
Authored by Attorney Liu, Silicon Valley Corporate Law Specialist