Civil Service Probationary Evaluation Requirements

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By  Mirta Mendez, Director of UIC Employment Servicesand Patricia Barrera, Associate Director Medical Center Human Resources
An employee who has accepted a civil service (status) appointment shall serve a probationary period for no less than six (6) months and no longer than twelve (12) months.  If the probationary period is interrupted by a paid or unpaid leave of absence that exceeds more than five consecutive work days, a layoff, or a suspension, a comparable amount of time shall be added to the probationary period. If an extension is necessary, you will need to contact HR Shared Services to request this change.  


The probationary period begins on the date of the appointment to a status position and expires at the close of business on the last working day after the completion of six or twelve months of service, based on criteria of the job classification, regardless of the percentage of time of the employment during the probationary period.  Both a full-time and a half-time employee complete a probationary period within the same six or twelve month period.
The probationary period is an integral part of the examination process, and shall be used by the University for close observation and evaluation of the employee’s work performance.  It is used to determine whether there is an effective adjustment of the new employee to the position and to determine whether an employee demonstrates the ability and qualifications necessary to perform the job.  Periodically, throughout the probationary period, the supervisor should discuss with the employee his/her progress on the job. 
When the employee is hired, Human Resources will send a probationary period evaluation form to the employing unit to be used to evaluate the employee’s progress at the end of one (1) month, three (3) months, and at five (5) months of employment (before the end of the probationary period), and at additional regular intervals for employees in a twelve (12) month probationary periods.   If termination is deemed appropriate, the hiring unit should consult with the Human Resources Employment Officer as early as possible to discuss potential seniority rights or necessary steps to take for dismissal.  The Probationary Period Evaluation Form can be found at the following HR web page link, http://www.uic.edu/depts/hr/, under HR Forms.
The evaluator and the employee should sign the evaluation form at each interval in evaluations period.  These signatures indicate that the employing supervisor and the employee have met and discussed employee’s progress. It also serves to indicate the employee has received a copy of the evaluation.  It does not necessarily signify the employee’s agreement with the results of the evaluation.  Both the employee and supervisor are encouraged to include written comments to further address the evaluation. 
Upon completion of the final evaluation, the evaluator should give a copy to the employee, retain a copy for the department file and the signed original form should be forwarded to:  Human Resources Service Center, 715 South Wood St., Chicago, IL 60612 M/C 900.