But I gave 8 months notice?

LegacyUser

OK, so I have posted here before about problems I was having with managers. Over the past 4 months things got worse and worse. So I decided that it was time to take leave of the company. So I handed in 8 weeks notice (4 was all that was needed from my contact). However the company have come back and said they are only giving me 4 weeks of that. I rang Nera (very unhelpfull and rude)and they said the company are within their rights to do this as my contract only states 4 weeks notice is due. So basicly I am left in the lurch 4 weeks early with 4 weeks less pay.

Can anyone tell me if this is so and if it is, is it now the company giving me notice? In that I can now claim job seekers? Very confused over this.

eth0_

NERA are not rude and unhelpful, you just didn't like what they told you. I've dealt with them before and they were a godsend.

Yes your employer can cut your notice down to 4 weeks but only if you're there <1 year I believe.

As you are voluntarily leaving your job you may not be entitled to jobseekers allowance and if you are, you will have to wait a certain number of weeks before you are entitled to any payments. Which isn't a great situation for you, given the massive backlog in all the social welfare offices right now.

MagicMarker

What did you think was going to happen when you gave 8 weeks notice?

Sleipnir

You can't claim job seekers benefit while you're still employed by the company and getting paid for your notice period.
I don't know where you got the idea that you can claim as soon as you hand in your 4 (or 8) weeks notice. (**EDIT** - Sorry, I may have misinterpreted what you meant here)

Your contract probably states that notice of 4 weeks must be given by either side. You think that you can give 8 weeks and they have to accept that? No, you're wrong; you gave 8 and they said "it only has to be 4 so it's 4"
Do you think that you can give, like, 28 weeks notice and they have to put up with that?

CiaranC

I dont think you really thought that through.

leeroybrown

You made the mistake of trying to be nice to an employer in a situation where you'd been having problems and they mightn't have been too unhappy that you were leaving. I can image that you were eager to give them the two fingers but it's cost you in this case. Lesson learned there! As other posters have pointed out NERA are only there to deal with your legal rights so they've done their job.

Unfortunately for you, your notice can't be retracted and they are only contractually obliged to pay you for four weeks. If you had a job lined up to start in eight weeks time then I could imagine the social welfare office being understanding and paying out early but I get the impression that you don't so they probably won't.

Jo King

It seems to me that the employer has given you notice. That is the only way they can reduce it to four weeks. That should preserve your unemployment benefits.