Short answer: India has no single law that fixes your probation period. The Model Standing Orders under the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946 treat a worker as a probationer until three months' service is complete, while most private appointment letters set three to six months. Three things start on day one regardless of that: your PF contribution, your gratuity clock, and the notice period written into your letter — commonly 15 to 30 days while you are on probation, against 60 or 90 days after confirmation.
That gap is why the first 90 days matter: the terms are cheapest to fix before you sign and most expensive to discover in month four.
How long is probation in India?
There is no statutory maximum. That surprises people, because everyone has heard "three months".
The Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946, read with the Central Rules, applies to industrial establishments with 100 or more workers — 50 or more where the Central Government is the appropriate authority. Its Model Standing Orders define a probationer as a workman provisionally employed to fill a permanent vacancy who has not completed three months' service (IESO Act, 1946, Schedule I, Model Standing Orders, paragraph 2).
Private employers are not bound by that three-month figure. Khaitan & Co's India employment Q&A puts the market range at three to six months and notes that the law places no ceiling on the period or on an extension (Khaitan & Co, Terms of Employment: India).
Extensions are where it gets uncomfortable. In Khazia Mohammed Muzammil v State of Karnataka, (2010) 8 SCC 155, the Supreme Court accepted that an appointment letter can confer a power to extend probation without naming a maximum. Courts still intervene when the extension has no factual basis or runs absurdly long — in Durgabai Deshmukh Memorial Senior Secondary School, a probation stretched to five years drew a compensation order.
So: three to six months is normal, twelve is a warning sign, and "until confirmed to the satisfaction of management" with no outer date is a clause worth questioning before you sign rather than after.
Did the 2026 labour codes change probation?
They changed the paperwork around it, not the concept. The four labour codes took effect on 21 November 2025, and the final Central Rules under all four were notified on 8 May 2026 (KPMG, GMS Flash Alert 2026-127, 22 May 2026).
The change worth knowing: an appointment letter is now a statutory requirement rather than a courtesy. The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 requires employers to issue a letter of appointment to every employee (OSH Code, 2020, section 6(1)(f)). If you are three weeks into a job with no letter, that is no longer only sloppy HR.
Does probation count for PF and gratuity?
Yes to both — and most posts on this get it wrong.
Provident fund starts in month one. Coverage under the Employees' Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 follows employment in a covered establishment — 20 or more employees — not confirmation (EPF Act, 1952, section 1(3)(b)). A first payslip with no PF line, explained as "PF starts after probation", is not a rule that exists. Check your passbook on the EPFO member portal; a missing contribution is much easier to fix in month two than in year two.
Gratuity months count from day one too. Gratuity is payable after five years of continuous service (Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972, section 4). Continuous service is defined in section 2A as uninterrupted service, expressly including interruptions from sickness, accident and leave. Probation is service. A six-month probation therefore does not delay the five-year clock — it sits inside it.
One genuinely new rule: fixed-term employees now qualify for gratuity after one year, on termination of the contract period (Code on Social Security, 2020, section 53).
What notice period applies during probation?
Your appointment letter decides — usually in the employer's favour.
The common Indian band for a probationer is 7 to 30 days, with 15 days the most frequent figure; confirmed employees typically move to 60 or 90 days (Khaitan & Co). State shops and establishments Acts also impose minimum notice requirements that apply whether or not you are on probation.
The Model Standing Orders go further in one direction only: under paragraph 13(2), no probationer is entitled to any notice or pay in lieu when the employer terminates. Read that again — the asymmetry is the entire risk of probation, and it is the reason probation exists as a legal category at all.
Can you resign without serving the full notice?
Sometimes, and there is a 2022 judgment worth knowing. In Paras Khuttan v GAIL India Ltd, 2022 LiveLaw (Del) 920, the Delhi High Court held that a probationer who could be terminated at any point without notice could not then be held to the three-month notice that GAIL's rules required of confirmed employees. He was allowed to resign immediately and got back the money he had deposited in lieu of notice.
Do not build a plan on that. It turned on the wording of GAIL's service rules, and your letter may say something different. The narrower takeaway: if your contract gives the employer no notice obligation, a 90-day notice obligation on you is worth challenging in writing, clause quoted, before you resign.
The 240-day line that changes the rules
This is the most under-discussed number in Indian probation.
Under section 25B of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, a workman who has actually worked 240 days in the preceding twelve calendar months is deemed to have completed one year of continuous service. Once that is true, section 25F applies: the employer must give one month's written notice stating reasons, pay 15 days' average pay for every completed year of service, and notify the appropriate government.
Santosh Gupta v State Bank of Patiala (1980) applied it to a probationer whose services were terminated for failing the confirmation test — the Supreme Court held that was retrenchment, so section 25F had to be complied with. Kalyani Sharp India Ltd v Labour Court (2001) went the other way where the termination happened before the probationary period expired.
The difference between those outcomes is the 240 days. In practice: "we can let you go at any time during probation" is roughly true in month two and considerably more arguable in month nine.
Will confirmation happen automatically when probation ends?
No — and the letters usually say so explicitly. The standard Indian clause is that service will not be deemed confirmed at the end of probation in the absence of a formal order of confirmation.
That single sentence is why people find themselves on probation notice terms eighteen months in. Ask for the review meeting at the start of month three, and ask for the letter the week it is due. It matters for three practical things beyond pride: your notice period drops, banks and landlords treat a confirmed employment letter differently, and internal role changes usually require confirmed status.
The first 90 days, month by month
Month one — read the letter properly. Find the probation end date, the notice clause that applies during probation, and the confirmation clause. Check payslip one for the PF deduction, and compare the CTC figure in your letter against what CTC actually includes — probation pay is what you will live on for six months. Then ask HR one question in writing: what does confirmation require?
Month two — build an artefact. Probation files are assembled from documents, not impressions. Ship one thing that survives you: a checklist, a fix, a handover doc with your name on it. Also confirm how often your manager actually reviews you, because an unreviewed probation is how extension surprises happen.
Month three — ask on the date, in writing. Request the confirmation review in the week it falls due. If the answer is an extension, ask for three things in writing: the reason, the new end date, and the specific measures you will be judged on. An extension with a named end date and named criteria is a plan. An extension without either is a holding pattern, and repeating it is what courts have treated as unreasonable.
If the job is wrong
The cheapest exit from a bad job is before confirmation, while your notice is 15 days rather than 90. Resigning during probation still needs the formality: a written resignation, the notice the letter specifies, a proper handover, and a relieving letter you keep. If your next employer asks you to join sooner than your notice allows, the buyout arithmetic is in notice period buyout explained.
Does probation count as experience?
Yes, for employers and for Naukri — the answer below covers how to date it.
FAQ
Is probation period counted for gratuity in India?
Yes. Gratuity requires five years of continuous service under section 4 of the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972, and continuous service under section 2A includes uninterrupted service with breaks for sickness, accident and leave. Probation is part of that service, so a six-month probation sits inside the five-year clock rather than before it.
Can a company extend probation in India?
Yes. Indian law sets no maximum probation period and no cap on extensions, and the Supreme Court has accepted extension clauses that name no outer limit (Khazia Mohammed Muzammil v State of Karnataka, (2010) 8 SCC 155). Courts have intervened where an extension had no factual basis or ran unreasonably long. Ask for the reason, the new end date and the criteria in writing.
What is the notice period during probation in India?
Whatever your appointment letter says. Most Indian letters use 7 to 30 days during probation, commonly 15, rising to 60 or 90 days after confirmation. Under paragraph 13(2) of the Model Standing Orders, a probationer is not entitled to notice or pay in lieu when the employer terminates, so check the resignation side of the clause separately.
Can I resign during probation?
Yes. There is no law preventing resignation during probation — only the notice obligation in your contract. Send a written resignation naming your last working day, serve or pay in lieu of the notice, complete the handover, and collect your relieving letter and full-and-final settlement.
Is PF deducted during probation in India?
Yes, from your first salary, if the establishment is covered (20 or more employees). The EPF Act, 1952 covers employees, not confirmed employees, so probation status does not defer the contribution. If your payslip shows no PF line, ask HR in writing.
Does probation period count as experience on a resume?
Yes. State the role with real dates and add "probation" in brackets if you like. Background verification checks joining and relieving dates, so a stretched tenure is a verification failure.