How Long Should a Trial Period Be for Filipino Remote Workers

Let me be clear about something first.

A trial period isn’t a test to see if your remote worker is “good enough.” That’s what the interview was for.

The trial period answers a different question: Can this person do THIS job, in THIS environment, with YOUR systems?

Big difference.

Someone can be an excellent worker and still be the wrong fit for your specific needs. 

Maybe your communication style doesn’t match. Maybe they’re great at task A but you really need someone strong in task B. 

Maybe the hours don’t actually work as well as you both thought.

The trial period lets both of you figure this out.

I said both of you. Because here’s something most employers forget, your remote worker is evaluating you too.

How Long Most People Choose.

The most common trial period is 2-4 weeks. Quick, low-commitment, gets you an answer fast.

Some employers go 60 days. Gives everyone more breathing room.

And then there’s the 90-day option. Three full months to really know what you’re getting.

So which one is right?

Wrong question.

The right question is: What are you actually trying to learn during this trial?

When 2-4 Weeks Makes Sense

Short trial periods work great for straightforward roles.

Think of admin tasks.

 Email management. Calendar scheduling. Customer service for products you already know inside and out.

These are jobs where you can see results quickly. Either they can do it or they can’t. You don’t need months to figure that out.

Here’s what you can realistically assess in 2-4 weeks:

• Can they follow your systems and processes?
• Do they communicate clearly and on time?
• Can they handle the core tasks without constant hand-holding?
• Do they show up when they say they will?

What you can’t assess: 

How they handle complex projects. How they perform when things get stressful. 

Whether they’ll stick around long-term.

But for many roles, you don’t need to know that yet.

The Case for 60 Days

Two months gives you something a month can’t.

You see patterns.

Anyone can put on a good show for a few weeks. It’s like dating, everyone’s on their best behavior at first..

A 60-day trial works well when:

• The role requires learning specific tools or systems
• You need them to integrate with a team
• The work has natural cycles (like monthly reporting)
• You’re hiring for a role with more responsibility

Here’s an example. Let’s say you’re hiring someone to manage your social media.

Week 1-2: They’re learning your brand voice, getting access to accounts, and understanding your audience.

Week 3-4: They start posting, but you’re still checking everything closely.

Week 5-6: They’re finding their rhythm. You’re seeing what their judgment looks like.

Week 7-8: Now you can actually evaluate their performance with real data.

See the difference? You need that full cycle to make a fair judgment.

Plus, 60 days gives you time to provide feedback and see if they can adapt..

Why 90 Days Gets Complicated

Three months sounds like the safe choice.

More time to evaluate. Really get to know someone.

For complex, high-responsibility roles, they make sense. But you need to handle them carefully.

If you’re doing a 3-month trial, you need:

• Clear milestones at 30 and 60 days
• Regular feedback sessions
• Transparency about what success looks like
• A real intention to hire long-term if things work out

What you cannot do is use 90-day trials as a way to get cheap labor and then move on to the next person. 

That’s not a trial period. That’s exploitation.

The Paid vs Unpaid Debate (Spoiler: There Is No Debate)

Let me be crystal clear about this.

Trial periods must be paid.

Not “might be paid if it works out.” Not “reduced rate because it’s a trial.” Paid at the agreed wage from day one.

This isn’t my opinion. This is the standard in the Filipino remote work community. And if you try to do it differently, you’ll get burned.

Here’s why unpaid trials don’t work:

First, they’re seen as a massive red flag. Filipino remote workers share experiences constantly. Online forums, Facebook groups, Reddit. 

When someone posts about an unpaid trial, the responses are immediate: “Run. It’s a scam.”

And honestly? They’re usually right.

The employers asking for free work are often the same ones who were never planning to hire anyone. They just wanted free labor.

Second, you don’t get real performance during unpaid work. You get someone who’s doing the bare minimum while juggling three other actual paying jobs. 

You want to see what this person can really do? Pay them. Give them a reason to prioritize your work.

“But what if I want to test their skills first?”

Fine. Give them a small paid project. 2-3 hours of work. Pay them for it immediately. Then decide if you want to move forward.

Some platforms have even built this workflow directly into their hiring process; you can create a fully customized test project, assign it to specific candidates, review their submissions. 

Setting Up Your Trial Period for Success

The length matters, but it’s not everything.

Here’s what actually makes a trial period work:

Define what success looks like before you start. Write this down. Share it with your remote worker on day one.

Schedule regular check-ins. Weekly is best, especially early on. These don’t have to be long – even 15 minutes works. But they need to happen.

Give feedback immediately.  Don’t save it all up for some big evaluation at the end. That helps no one.

Remember they’re evaluating you too. Your best remote workers will leave the moment the trial ends. Or worse, they’ll stick around and do mediocre work because they don’t care anymore.

The Contract Conversation Nobody Has

Here’s something important that most articles won’t tell you.

Trial periods work best when there’s clarity about what happens after.

Are they moving to a permanent position? A long-term contract? Something else?

Some employers think they’re being smart by staying vague. “Let’s just see how it goes.”

That’s not smart. That’s anxiety-inducing.

Your remote worker performs better when they know what they’re working toward. 

When they understand that “passing” this trial means stability, better assignments, maybe even a raise down the line.

Before the trial starts, explain what success leads to. You don’t have to promise the world. But give them something concrete to work toward.

When to End a Trial Early

Sometimes you know within the first week that it’s not going to work.

Maybe they’re not showing up. Maybe the quality is nowhere close to what you expected. Maybe there’s a fundamental skill gap that’s unbridgeable in the timeframe you have.

If that happens, don’t drag it out.

Ending things early is actually kinder than stringing someone along. It frees them up to find a better fit. It frees you up to keep looking.

Just be professional about it. Pay them for the time they worked. Give them a brief explanation if they ask. Don’t ghost them.

And definitely don’t do what some employers do: quietly reduce hours or stop assigning work, hoping the person will just quit on their own.

That’s cowardly.

If it’s not working, say so. Everyone moves on.

What Makes Trial Periods Successful

Here’s what I’ve learned after watching hundreds of trial periods play out.

The length doesn’t matter nearly as much as you think it does.

What matters is whether you’re both trying to make it work.

I’ve seen 2-week trials turn into 5-year working relationships because both people communicated well and gave each other grace during the learning curve.

I’ve also seen 3-month trials crash and burn because the employer never gave clear feedback and the remote worker was left guessing what was expected.

Pick a length that makes sense for your role. Be clear about expectations. Give regular feedback. Pay fairly.

Do those things and the trial period does what it’s supposed to do: help both of you figure out if this is the right fit.