Reviewed: 10 October 2026. This is general information. Official sources are linked below; individual cases and applicable rules should be checked with the relevant authority or a qualified adviser.
Probation must be expressly agreed
Article 21 requires probation to be expressly stated in the employment contract. Its ordinary maximum is three months. The law allows up to six months for occupations specified by a ministerial decision; this exception is not a general permission to extend every employee’s probation.
Check the actual occupation and applicable decision before relying on a period over three months. The same employer cannot place the same worker on probation more than once.
Official sources: Bahrain EDB: Labour Law for the Private Sector, Law No. 36 of 2012 (English text with listed amendments)
Ending employment during probation
Under Article 21, either party may end the contract during probation if continuing is unsuitable, with notice at least one day before termination. Preserve a written record of the decision, notice and intended last day.
Do not replace this with an unsupported three-day rule or assume that a probation label resolves every dispute over termination.
Official sources: Bahrain EDB: Labour Law for the Private Sector, Law No. 36 of 2012 (English text with listed amendments)
Keep pay and entitlements separate
Probation is part of the employment relationship. Review outstanding wages, accrued leave and the applicable end-of-service arrangement rather than assuming there are no entitlements because service is short. Article 116 provides proportional treatment of fractions of a year in its scope.
Article 65’s statutory sick-leave entitlement has a three-consecutive-month service condition and medical-certification requirements. Do not promise the full statutory sick-leave allowance from the first day solely because probation has begun.
Official sources: Bahrain EDB: Labour Law for the Private Sector, Law No. 36 of 2012 (English text with listed amendments) · SIO: end-of-service gratuity for non-Bahrainis
Record the review before the period ends
Keep the start date, contract clause, agreed objectives, feedback and decision date together. This is a practical recordkeeping step, not a requirement to invent a new probation period or automatically change the contract’s duration.
If the employee continues, review the existing contract and ordinary notice rules. Do not assume that all leave, benefits or service calculations start again after probation.
Official sources: Bahrain EDB: Labour Law for the Private Sector, Law No. 36 of 2012 (English text with listed amendments)
Related guides
- Bahrain employment law: a private-sector checklist
- Bahrain employment contracts: terms and documents
- Bahrain working hours: ordinary limits, breaks and rest
- Bahrain overtime pay: day, night and rest-day work
- Annual leave in Bahrain: entitlement and unused balance
- Sick leave in Bahrain: eligibility, certification and pay
- Ending employment in Bahrain: notice, reason and settlement
- Bahrain gratuity calculations: service, salary and SIO
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