People

Probation

Confirm, extend or end a probation — and what happens when the date passes with nobody deciding.

An undecided probation that runs out confirms the employee

In most jurisdictions silence confirms: the person is confirmed by operation of law, on ordinary notice, with ordinary protection. A system still showing them as awaiting a decision states the opposite of their legal position — and invites somebody to reach, months later, for probation terms that expired.

So an elapsed probation is reported as lapsed: something that has already happened, with the consequence spelled out, rather than a task sitting in a queue. Both states are notified — ending soon, because the window closes on a date, and just lapsed, once, the day after. Repeating something irreversible daily trains people to ignore it.

The decision is a record, not a flag

Confirming, extending or ending writes a dated decision with the person who made it and their reason. It captures the end date it was deciding against, so a later extension cannot leave the record no longer saying what it decided.

Confirming or ending clears the probation date, so leave rules stop applying probation terms. A lapse keeps it, as the record of when it ran out.
A late decision is accepted and recorded — refusing it would leave the register showing nothing, which is worse. The status still reports the probation as lapsed, so a back-dated entry cannot misstate the position.
An extension to an earlier date is refused, because it would move the date backwards and could retroactively lapse somebody.
The decision is HR-administrator only. Confirming changes somebody's notice period and dismissal protection, which is an employer decision; the manager's view is an input to it.

Ending a probation notifies nobody

That conversation is had by a person. A notification arriving first is the worst possible way to learn it.