Manitoba's Employment Standards Code does not create a formal probation period for most employees. The number that matters is 30 days: until an employee has worked that long, neither of you owes the other notice to end the employment, and the only place "probationary" appears in the Code is a section about union collective agreements.
I get asked "how long is probation in Manitoba" almost every time I help someone make their first hire, and the honest answer surprises most owners: there is no such thing, not the way people mean it. What exists instead is a 30-day threshold on notice, a set of wage, hours and holiday rules that apply to a new hire from their first shift, and paperwork you need before that shift happens. None of this is legal advice, it is what the official pages state, sourced below. For a ruling on your own situation, Manitoba's Employment Standards Branch takes calls at 204-945-3352 or 1-800-821-4307.
Is there a probation period in Manitoba law?
Search the Code for "probation" and it turns up exactly once, in section 62, "Exceptions to notice requirements." It lists situations where the general notice rule in section 61 does not apply, and the first one, quoted directly: "the employee's period of employment with the employer is less than (i) the probationary period specified in a collective agreement that applies to the employee, if that period is one year or less, or (ii) in any other case, 30 days." Read plainly, a defined "probationary period" exists only where a union collective agreement sets one, capped at one year. For every other employer, the exception is a flat 30 days, not a status you can name or extend.
Employment Standards' own Termination of Employment fact sheet says the same thing more plainly: "Employers and employees do not need to give notice of termination when the employee has been employed for less than 30 days." It adds a line worth sitting with if you were planning to write your own longer probation clause into an offer letter: "Employers are not allowed to extend or change this period unless it is negotiated in a collective agreement with a union." A private offer letter is not a collective agreement, so calling something a "90-day probationary period" in one does not push your notice obligation past day 30. The fact sheet also flags what it does not cover: "there is also civil employment law covering termination issues," a separate body of law (common law reasonable notice) that neither it nor the Code addresses. If you are worried about a specific dismissal, that is a lawyer question, not a blog post question.
What notice you owe, and when
Past the 30-day mark, section 61(2) sets a notice schedule for the employer by length of service. It is a floor: an employer "cannot give less than the notice periods described," and any agreement for less is not valid outside a union collective agreement.
| Period of employment | Notice the employer owes |
|---|---|
| Less than 30 days | None required (Code s.62(1)(a)) |
| At least 30 days, less than 1 year | 1 week |
| At least 1 year, less than 3 years | 2 weeks |
| At least 3 years, less than 5 years | 4 weeks |
| At least 5 years, less than 10 years | 6 weeks |
| At least 10 years | 8 weeks |
Source: Employment Standards Code s.61(2), mirrored on Employment Standards' Termination of Employment fact sheet.
An employer can let the employee work out that notice, pay wages in lieu of it, or split the two. Either way, "employers must pay out all wages the employee has earned up until the last day worked," due "within 10 business days of the last day of work." Going the other direction, section 62.1 of the Code requires an employee to give at least one week's notice before quitting if their service is under one year, and two weeks if it is one year or more.
What you need to set up before day one
A first hire is paperwork too, and most of it has a hard deadline.
A CRA payroll account. The Canada Revenue Agency is specific about timing: "You have to register for a payroll account before the first remittance due date," which is "the 15th day of the month following the month in which you began withholding deductions from your employee's pay." Before that first pay, CRA also says to get the employee's "social insurance number" and "the completed TD1 forms."
WCB registration, if it applies to you. The Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba states that if you employ workers in Manitoba, you are grouped with similar businesses for coverage, and that certain sectors, listed on its site as agriculture and forestry, mines and quarries and oil wells, manufacturing, construction, transportation and communications and storage, retail trade, service, and public administration, are "mandatory industries" where "everyone who works for your business is considered a worker and is entitled to WCB coverage regardless of the number of hours they work." If you do not employ workers in Manitoba at all, the WCB states you are "not required to have WCB coverage." The page does not state a specific number-of-days deadline for registering after your first hire, so I will not invent one.
Records, from the first day. Employment Standards' fact sheet on paying wages and keeping records requires employers to keep, for every employee, their "name, address, date of birth, and occupation," "the date the employment started," "the regular wage and overtime wage at the start of employment," and daily hours worked, for "at least three years." The same fact sheet requires "written pay statements" every time you pay wages, showing the wage and hours, any overtime, deductions with a reason for each, and the total paid.
The wage, hours and holiday basics a first hire triggers
A handful of numbers apply the moment someone is on your payroll, no matter how new they are.
Minimum wage is $16.00 an hour, effective October 1, 2025, per Employment Standards. It is set to rise: a Manitoba government news release states the minimum wage "will increase by 40 cents to $16.40, effective Oct. 1," 2026.
Standard hours and overtime. Standard hours are "40 hours a week and 8 hours a day," with an "unpaid 30 minute break after 5 hours of consecutive work," per the Hours of Work and Breaks fact sheet. Beyond that, the Overtime fact sheet is direct: employees are "paid 1½ times their regular hourly wage for each hour... worked during overtime."
Vacation. Under the Vacations and Vacation Pay fact sheet, employees "must receive at least two weeks of vacation after each of the first four years of employment," paid at 4% of gross wages, and "after completing 5 years of work with the same employer," that rises to three weeks at 6%.
General holidays. Manitoba has nine a year, per the General Holidays fact sheet: New Year's Day, Louis Riel Day, Good Friday, Victoria Day, Canada Day, Labour Day, Orange Shirt Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day. The fact sheet makes a point that matters for a brand-new hire: "the length of time employees work for an employer does not affect the requirement to pay general holiday pay," and gives its own example: "if an employee started to work for the employer one day before the general holiday, the employee would be entitled to 5% of the wages earned on that day as general holiday pay." There is no waiting period; it applies from day one.
What a written offer should contain
This part is my experience, not the Code's; I could not find a fact sheet or Code section that requires a written offer letter itself. Put the title, the pay rate, the start date, the hours, who they report to, and how you will handle their first check-in, in writing before day one, and get it signed. I have watched a verbal understanding about pay or hours turn into a dispute more than once, and a one-page letter both people signed ends that argument before it starts. One place the paperwork and the law do overlap: Employment Standards requires your records to show "the regular wage... at the start of employment," so whatever number goes in that offer letter is the number you are on the hook to have on file.
The three ways I can help, cheapest first
Start at the cheapest one that solves your problem.
Do it yourself on Quadrant. Quadrant writes the job description, posts it, and screens applicants with a DISC assessment, for a subscription instead of a fee. It is the tool I use myself.
Hiring Services, by the job or by the month. I write the posting, publish it, screen every applicant on Quadrant, and hand you a ranked shortlist with an interview guide. One Hire is $2,999 per role. Always Hiring is $1,500 a month for up to three roles, or $2,999 a month for up to ten, three-month minimum, then month to month. Full details on the Hiring Services page.
Contract Recruiting, the full search. You give me the job description, I run the whole search end to end, and you stay as involved as you want. That is 15% of first-year salary, $5,000 minimum per role, charged once, no retainer and no subscription. Full details on the Contract Recruiting page.
Worth reading before your first hire: how to write a job posting that gets applicants, how long it actually takes to hire, and what a bad hire costs a Manitoba business. The paperwork in this article only matters once someone has said yes.
Questions owners ask first
Does Manitoba law have a probation period?
Not the way most owners mean it. The Employment Standards Code uses the word "probationary" exactly once, in section 62, and it applies only to a probationary period set out in a union collective agreement, capped at one year. For every other employee, the number that matters is 30 days: the Code's own exception to notice requirements says notice is not owed when "the employee's period of employment with the employer is less than... in any other case, 30 days."
How much notice do I owe an employee I let go?
It depends on length of service. Under 30 days, none. From 30 days to one year, one week. From one to three years, two weeks. Three to five years, four weeks. Five to ten years, six weeks. Ten years or more, eight weeks. These are the minimums set out in section 61(2) of the Employment Standards Code, and Employment Standards' own fact sheet confirms an employer can pay wages in lieu of notice instead of having the employee work it out.
Can I just write a longer probation period into the offer letter?
Not to get out of the 30-day notice exception. Employment Standards' Termination of Employment fact sheet states employers are not allowed to extend or change the 30-day period unless it is negotiated in a collective agreement with a union. A private offer letter is not a collective agreement, so writing "90-day probation" into it does not lower your notice obligation past the 30th day.
Does a brand-new hire get paid for a general holiday?
Yes, from day one. Manitoba's General Holidays fact sheet is explicit that the length of time an employee has worked for you does not affect the requirement to pay general holiday pay: if someone started one day before a general holiday, they are still entitled to 5% of the wages earned on that day as holiday pay.
Is this legal advice?
No. This is a summary of what Manitoba's official Employment Standards pages and the Employment Standards Code state, current as of September 2026, not a legal opinion on your situation. For a ruling on a specific case, contact Manitoba's Employment Standards Branch at 204-945-3352 or 1-800-821-4307, or see gov.mb.ca/labour/standards.
If you want the done-with-you version, see what Hiring Services costs. If you want the whole search off your plate, see what Contract Recruiting costs.
Sources
- Government of Manitoba, Employment Standards, Termination of Employment, fact sheet, dated January 23, 2025: the 30-day exception to notice, the employer notice schedule, and wages in lieu of notice.
- Government of Manitoba, The Employment Standards Code, C.C.S.M. c. E110, consolidated version current as of September 4, 2026: sections 61, 62 and 62.1 on notice of termination and its exceptions.
- Government of Manitoba, Employment Standards, What is Minimum Wage?, fact sheet, dated April 1, 2026: minimum wage is $16.00 per hour effective October 1, 2025.
- Government of Manitoba, Provincial Minimum Wage to Increase to $16.40 on Oct. 1, news release, April 1, 2026.
- Government of Manitoba, Employment Standards, Hours of Work and Breaks, fact sheet, dated April 14, 2020: standard hours and the unpaid break requirement.
- Government of Manitoba, Employment Standards, Overtime, fact sheet, dated September 29, 2022: the 1½ times overtime wage rate.
- Government of Manitoba, Employment Standards, Vacations and Vacation Pay, fact sheet, dated October 19, 2020: vacation length and vacation pay rates.
- Government of Manitoba, Employment Standards, General Holidays, fact sheet, dated August 14, 2025: the nine general holidays and the day-one entitlement to holiday pay.
- Government of Manitoba, Employment Standards, Paying Wages and Keeping Records, fact sheet, dated July 8, 2020: required records, retention period, and written pay statements.
- Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba, Register a business for WCB coverage, accessed September 7, 2026: who must register and the mandatory industry list.
- Canada Revenue Agency, Determine if you need to register (payroll account), page dated February 27, 2026: the deadline to register before your first remittance due date.
- Canada Revenue Agency, Set up and manage employee payroll information, page dated January 2, 2026: getting a new employee's SIN and TD1 forms before their first pay.