Notice Period

jimmurt

Hi,

I moved positions within a company 13 months ago. The contract I signed at the time states that I'm obliged to give 3 months notice. This as far as I'm aware is standard so I signed. By law someone with my time in the company has to give at least 2 weeks notice (for 2 to 5 years service).
I've interested in a job with another company who can only wait 6 weeks at the longest.

So, am I bound to the contract or does the law trump it? Where I work, people have left before with 4 weeks notice but because of our current work load I feel they will demand 3 months should I decide to leave.

Also, even if by law I can leave with 6 weeks notice I don't want to leave on bad terms.
Has any been in a situation like this before or have any information they can share?

Irish_Elect_Eng

This is a tricky one, here is some general info.....

Notice
The big one! By far and away, notice is the subject that most of you write to us about and indeed, it can be a grey area full of loopholes, discretionary responsibilities and prone to differences in interpretation. And this applies even where there is a written contract of employment!

Before we examine some of the more ambiguous issues, a typical employment contract should refer to the following points:

the amount of notice you have to give to your employer, usually expressed in weeks or months
whether you will continue to be paid during your notice period and how much
whether your employer can ask you to leave before the end of your notice period and whether they will pay you if this happens
Strictly speaking, you are normally expected to work through your notice before leaving the company. However, in many cases, either you or your employer will want to cut short the notice period so that you can leave more quickly.

From your standpoint, once you've given notice you may be so excited that you want to join your new company as quickly as possible. Alternatively, you may detect some resentment toward you and feel that it is better to complete the handover process immediately so that you can go.

Conversely, your employer may not see you as a team player any longer or in certain situations, feel that it may affect the morale of the remaining staff if you stay. In this scenario, you will soon be asked to leave the office more quickly.

Regarding salary, the general (although by no means universal) rule is that if you ask your employer if you can leave before your notice is up, you should not expect to get paid for the part of your notice you don't serve. It follows that where your employer asks you to expedite your departure, they would have to pay you for the full notice period. Remember though, that this is a general rule only and you will have to refer to your own contract to confirm this.

Notice and Holidays
Another potentially confusing aspect of notice is with regard to holidays. Let's imagine that your notice period is 4 weeks and that you've calculated that you have 5 working days (1 week) holiday to take before you leave the company. What should you do? Will you be forced to take that week's holiday in your notice period? If you don't take it, will you lose that holiday entitlement or will you get paid in lieu for the days you didn't manage to take?

Typically, if you have holidays left over when you hand in your notice, your employer can force you take your holiday in this time. You would not be paid any extra, after all, you've taken all your time off now and the holidays have been accounted for. If your boss asks you to take your holiday and you refuse, they may be able to withhold any money in lieu of holiday that you would have been entitled to.

If your boss does not force you to take your holiday allocation, you have 2 options. The first is to take your holiday (if allowed) as part of your notice period. A lot of people who are resigning book their holiday for the last few days of their notice period especially if they are planning to start their new job as soon as they've served their notice. The remaining holidays provide an effective break between your old and new employment.

Alternatively, if you don't want to take your holidays (or are not allowed to), you may receive a monetary payment in lieu of holiday.

Again, your employment contract should confirm exactly what the procedure is. If in doubt, ask your boss or your HR department for clarification.

But a lot depends on your relationship with your direct boss. Is it good?

jimmurt

Thanks for the information.

Can I just ignore the 3 months in the contract because it's a pretty long period.

I signed it at the time because it was standard and not many people would be able to leave this or any other company if they had to give 3 months notice. Fair enough if I was in a managment position but 3 months is unreasonable as far as I'm concerned.

Irish_Elect_Eng

I doubt that you can just ignore the notice period, at least it would be unprofessional. I can see that you think that this notice period is unreasonable, but you can look at this from the employers point of view:

(1) Have they invested in your training?
(2) Are you in a important position, hard to replace?

I have previously worked with a company where my notice period was 3 months and I know of one particular person in a key position in a small company who's notice period is 1 Year.

I am no lawyer, but I believe that you are bound by the contract. However, all may not be lost. If you hand in your notice and give six weeks notice the company may not insist on you working out your notice.

Why do companies insist on people working their notice?

If there is a direct business cost or other impact, expect to be asked to work your notice, remember it's not personal their responsibility is to the business.

Why do companies not insist on people working their notice?

(1) They do not want someone on the way out grumping around the office, badmouthing them or singing the praises of the destination company, this can be unsettling to the remaining team.

(2) In jobs with sensitive or competitive information then often people are walked to the door and paid for their notice period, when they give notice.

(3) They are reasonable folks and they want to stay in your good books as much as you want to stay in theirs.


Also, to reduce the notice period, It is normal practice to take outstanding holidays at the end of the notice period. However you may not have any due :-(


What can I do about my long notice period?

To be honest, the best advice I can give is:

(1) Speak with your direct boss, tell him that you are considering another job-offer and that you need to make a decision quickly. If you are moving to the new job just for money,they may consider upping your wages to keep you, most companies will not, but if they are you should at least consider staying as this would be a good sign that they value you and that you job is safe for some time.

(2) Then write out a very carefully worded resignation letter, almost like the covering letter that would go with a CV. Thanking them for the time that you were employed by them, complimenting the company on the opportunities that they offered you, prehaps complimenting your manager also. State your end date, 4 weeks from the date of the letter, no need to state "4 weeks notice" specifying the exact end date. (Not mentioning the 3 month period, leave it to them to bring this up, they may not do so).

(3) If they respond citing the 3 month notice period, reply again in writing, acknowledging any issues that they raise but, offering the same 4 week notice period, but also offering 3 months of "telephone and email support" to ease the transition of your tasks to another resource. Keep all communication complimentary and professional.

(4) If they respond insisting on the 3 month notice period, reply indicating that unfortunately you have already committed to the new position and the longest period notice that you can offer is 6 weeks, but you will stand by your offer of 3 months of "telephone and email support".

This shows that you are being reasonable in relation to your notice period and they will be under a little pressure to respond in kind.

Eoin

The law only sets the minimum notice period. This means that your contract can't set a lower notice period. It can obviously set a longer one.

However, 3 months is a long notice period, especially if you're not in a management position let alone a senior management position.

I had the exact same problem in my last company. Again, other people had left with giving less notice.

This is what I said in a very similar thread today:

Eoin wrote: »

I had to negotiate a shorter notice period as well a few years ago, so obviously the main concern my manager had was that I could complete my work and hand over anything else to one of my colleagues. So before I handed in my notice, I had a rough plan in place to show that he would not be seriously inconvenienced by my leaving. I'd recommend you do something similar - try and pre-empt any concerns your manager has.