Notice period?

MayoForSam

I have been offered a new job and they want me to start as soon as possible, i.e. in 4 weeks.

My contract of employment for my present job (of the last 4 years) however states I must give 2 month's notice.

What will happen if I only give 4 week's notice? I don't need a reference as this has been sorted already.

My original (permanent) position as outlined in my original contract no longer exists - my role and job description has changed significantly since then and my contract was not updated to reflect this.

Berty

Nothing to lose but ask. Contracts in this respect are generally not worth the paper they are written on.

You must, however, bear in mind that at some stage in the future you may need a reference from them so don't burn your bridges.

2 months is a long time. My current contract says one month but I only have 17 days left in my contract so thats essentially what I am looking at when I hand in my notice(in the next few minutes btw).

Berty

Berty wrote: »

when I hand in my notice(in the next few minutes btw).

You got a new job ? Nice one

OP, years ago I gave a company 1 months notice, they reckoned I was contractually required to give them 3, I told them that was horse sh1t and if they wanted to I would go off and prove it but that if I found out I could escape earlier than a month then I'd do that too. They agreed with my way of thinking

kmick

You should have told your new job you had a 2 month notice period. You will have trouble ever getting a reference if you wont work the 2 months and you may not need it for this job but sometime in the future on this small island it may return to haunt you.

Berty

In 2003 I was working for GE and they wanted one month and I gave them 2 weeks and they told me they would not give me a reference because that is their rule.

3 months later I rang up the lady in HR and asked her very nicely. She said

"That's what we are obliged to tell people but in your case because you worked here and basically I like you(not in that way) that I will give you a reference but in future you should always fulfil your contractual obligations because they will follow you for years".

GavMan

Your Staturtory obligations are laid out here

Fortune_Cookie

I was in this position before, a few years ago. I was offered a much better job than the one I was currently in but they wanted me to start in one week. If I couldn't I would have lost out on the job. I had to give a months notice in the job I had. The next day I went in to my manager's office and explained my situation. She was a little pissed off but she understood. I lost out on some holiday pay I was due because I didn't give them enough notice but I did leave on good terms with them because I was upfront and honest with them and they did give me a good reference.

MayoForSam

Thanks for the feedback folks.

Had a discussion with the boss today and he did bring up the fact that I should have given 2 months notice. In the end, we agreed that I would work 1 extra week if necessary (to be confirmed in the next few days) to hand over responsibilities to others within the company, seeing as how the Christmas holidays are coming up and that doesn't leave much time to get things sorted. My new employer is OK with this too.

Eoin

Glad to hear it's sorted - sounds like a good compromise.