The probation period (período de prueba) is the stretch of the contract in which either party can end the relationship without paying severance or giving notice. It is governed by Art. 81 of the Labor Code (Código de Trabajo) and lasts two months. Ending the contract during probation does not wipe out the proportional benefits: the laws on aguinaldo (the year-end bonus), Bono 14 and vacation each provide for proportional payment under their own rules. This page brings together the rules that apply, each with its article.

Quick summary: In an indefinite-term contract, the first two months are a probation period (Art. 81), unless a shorter period is agreed. During that time the employer can dismiss you, and you can leave, with or without cause and without liability: there is no severance (Art. 82) and no notice (Art. 83). But when it ends, you are owed the salary for the days worked, and the laws provide for proportional aguinaldo, proportional Bono 14 and proportional vacation pay. A pregnant or breastfeeding worker has job protection (Art. 151), and the article makes no exception for probation.

What Art. 81 says

The Labor Code, in the Ministry of Labor’s edition dated October 2024, says that «En todo contrato por tiempo indeterminado los dos primeros meses se reputan de prueba, salvo que por mutua conveniencia las partes pacten un período menor» [in every indefinite-term contract the first two months are deemed a probation period, unless the parties, by mutual agreement, set a shorter period]. The article was amended by Article 2 of Decreto 18-2001.

Four rules follow from that text:

  1. Two months at most. A shorter period can be agreed; the article does not mention a longer one.
  2. It applies to indefinite-term contracts. That is the case covered by Art. 81. For a fixed-term or specific-project contract, the Code has a different rule (Art. 84): whoever ends it early without just cause pays damages, and if it is the employer, at least one day’s wage for each month of continuous work.
  3. Neither party is liable. The text says that «cualquiera de las partes puede ponerle término al contrato, por su propia voluntad, con justa causa o sin ella, sin incurrir en responsabilidad alguna» [either party may end the contract, of their own will, with or without just cause, without incurring any liability].
  4. Simulating it is prohibited. The same article prohibits «la simulación del período de prueba, con el propósito de evadir el reconocimiento de los derechos irrenunciables de los trabajadores» [simulating the probation period in order to evade recognition of workers’ non-waivable rights], and the rights derived from the indefinite-term contract.

What you are owed if the contract ends during probation

ItemPaid?Legal basis
Salary for the days workedYesThe salary must be paid in full in each pay period (Art. 93)
AguinaldoYes, proportionalDecreto 76-78: aguinaldo is per year of service «o la parte proporcional correspondiente» [or the corresponding proportional part] (Art. 1); when the contract ends, the proportional part is paid (Art. 5)
Bono 14Yes, proportionalDecreto 42-92: if the relationship ends «por cualquier causa» [for any reason], the proportional part from the previous 1 July (Art. 3)
VacationYes, proportionalArt. 133: when the worker leaves before completing one year, «cualquiera que sea la causa» [whatever the reason], the proportional part is paid in money
Severance (indemnización)NoArt. 82: applies to the contract that ends «una vez transcurrido el período de prueba» [once the probation period has passed]
Worker’s notice (preaviso)Not requiredArt. 83: prior notice applies once the probation period has passed
Employment certificateYesArt. 87: when any contract ends, for any reason, the employer hands over a document with the start and end dates, type of work and wages for the last pay period

About vacation. Art. 131 requires a minimum of 150 days worked in the year for the right to vacation; Art. 133 orders the proportional part to be paid in money when the worker leaves before completing the year. The Code does not say in those articles how they combine in a two-month contract; if your employer does not pay that part, the Inspección General de Trabajo (Labor Inspectorate) answers workers’ questions about how the laws apply (Art. 279).

Example (hypothetical, calculated by days, Bono 14). Someone earning Q5,000 a month started on 1 August 2026 and was dismissed on 25 September, within probation. Because they started after 1 July, their Bono 14 time counts from their start date: 56 days. 56 days out of 365 is 15.3% of the year; applied to Q5,000 that gives Q767.12 of proportional Bono 14. Using the same day-based method, proportional aguinaldo comes to the same figure. For your own case use the Bono 14 calculator and the aguinaldo calculator; the full exit calculation is in Final settlement (liquidación) calculation.

Special cases

Pregnancy and breastfeeding. Art. 151, subsection c) prohibits «Despedir a las trabajadoras que estuvieren en estado de embarazo o período de lactancia, quienes gozan de inamovilidad» [dismissing workers who are pregnant or breastfeeding, who have job protection]. The only exception is a serious fault that the employer proves before the labor courts, with the court’s express written authorization before the dismissal takes effect. The article makes no exception for the probation period. To be protected, the worker must notify the employer of her condition (from that moment she is provisionally protected) and provide a medical certificate of pregnancy within the following two months (subsection d). If the employer dismisses her without that authorization, the worker can seek reinstatement and the wages she did not earn in the meantime.

Promotions. The probation period also appears in Art. 79, subsection j): if a worker is promoted to a position with different duties, the employer, within the probation period, can return them to their original position if it establishes their manifest incompetence in the new post. This is the exception the same subsection makes to the rule that demoting a worker is grounds for constructive dismissal (despido indirecto).

Repeated contracts. Art. 81 prohibits simulating the probation period to evade the worker’s rights. The October 2024 Ministry of Labor edition of Art. 81 that we read does not list examples of such simulation; if you suspect you are being hired for two months again and again so that you never reach severance, that is a question for the Inspección General de Trabajo.

If you are dismissed during probation and not paid

  1. Ask in writing for what you are owed: the days worked, proportional aguinaldo, Bono 14 and vacation, and the Art. 87 certificate.
  2. Go to the Inspección General de Trabajo. Under Art. 278, you do not need a lawyer before the inspectors, and conciliation agreements approved by the Inspectorate are enforceable (título ejecutivo). The procedure is in File a labor complaint with MINTRAB.
  3. Do not let the deadlines pass. Rights that come from the contract expire four months after it ended (Art. 263), and rights that come directly from the Code expire in two years (Art. 264). The full table is in How long do I have to sue my employer? (Spanish).

Sources

About the legal text: we quote the Labor Code from the Ministry of Labor’s edition dated October 2024, and checked Art. 81 against the Organismo Judicial (CENADOJ) edition updated to 30 April 2014. Reforms after those dates may not be reflected.