What Is the Probationary Period and What Rights Protect the Employee?
The probationary period is the initial stage of an open-ended employment contract in Argentina, governed by Article 92 bis of the Employment Contract Law (LCT). During this stage, either the employer or the employee may end the relationship without seniority severance pay — but only if the employer registered the worker formally from day one and gave the legally required notice.
Duration, Notice, and Registration
Article 92 bis sets three core rules:
- Duration: the open-ended contract is deemed to be on a trial basis for the first months set by law or the applicable collective bargaining agreement.
- Mandatory notice (preaviso): either party must give 15 days' notice before ending the relationship (Art. 231 LCT). If the employer skips written notice, it owes 15 days' pay plus the days remaining until month-end.
- No repeat hires: an employer cannot use the probationary period twice with the same worker. Doing so voids the trial status from day one.
Employee Rights During the Trial Period
A worker on probation keeps every labor and social-security right of a permanent employee: the full collective-bargaining salary, retirement and health-insurance contributions, complete workers' compensation coverage (ART) for workplace accidents and occupational illness, and paid leave for non-work-related illness (Art. 208 LCT) through the end of the trial period.
What the Probationary Period Is Not
It is not unregistered ("off the books") work — the employer must register the worker with AFIP (Argentina's federal tax and social-security agency) from the first day. It is not a fixed-term contract — it is an open-ended contract with an attenuated early-exit clause that continues automatically once the trial months pass. And it never authorizes a discriminatory dismissal (pregnancy, illness, union activity), which remains void and triggers aggravated civil damages.
Unregistered Work Voids the Trial Period
If the employer never registered the worker and then dismisses them citing the probationary period, Argentine labor courts treat it as an ordinary unlawful dismissal: the employer owes full seniority severance under Article 245 LCT, notice pay, and the fines for unregistered employment under Law 24.013.
If you were let go during a probationary period and are unsure whether your registration was in order, our firm can review your hiring date and any dismissal notice — see our severance and dismissal services or, if you suspect you were never properly registered, our unregistered employment claims page.