Minimum Notice

Renno123

Hi, I work part-time (weekends). ive been there for 9 months now but its time to move on due to mis treatment. my employer told me that the minimum notice is 4 weeks however legally i only need to give 1 week.
as far as i am aware it does not state the four week rule in my contract, but does the fact he has orally claimed this period stand?
ideally i would leave at the end of march anyway

tony81

Renno123 wrote: »

ideally i would leave at the end of march anyway

That's 4 weeks away. Give 4 weeks notice, secure a good written reference before you leave, and don't look for trouble!

tatli_lokma

exactly - if you know now that you want to leave, then what is the problem with giving 4 weeks notice? you have obviously already discussed this with your employer, and he is requesting that you work 4 weeks notice. you can do that without annoying anyone.

I don't really understand the problem to be honest - what were you planning to do, say nothing for another 3 weeks and then a week before you want to leave formally serve notice? I'd understand if you said you want to leave next week, but since you are not planning to leave until the end of March anyway, its all a bit of a non-issue really.

Renno123

Little Ted wrote: »

exactly - if you know now that you want to leave, then what is the problem with giving 4 weeks notice? you have obviously already discussed this with your employer, and he is requesting that you work 4 weeks notice. you can do that without annoying anyone.

I don't really understand the problem to be honest - what were you planning to do, say nothing for another 3 weeks and then a week before you want to leave formally serve notice? I'd understand if you said you want to leave next week, but since you are not planning to leave until the end of March anyway, its all a bit of a non-issue really.

what i mean is i am in a position to get a different job at the end of march. due to changes in personal circumstances.
If i give my notice now then i might not have a job by the end of march. however what i need to know is if when i apply for a job they will not want to hang around for 4 weeks for me to start.

tatli_lokma

depends on the job - most places are understanding of the notice period. If they want you, they might be prepared to wait. It is quite normal for a company to require 4 weeks notice and so other companies are accommodating of that.

Why not job hunt now, rather than wait until the end of March?
to be quite frank, chances of you walking out of one job and into another within a week or two are slim anyway.

Also if you have any annual leave due to you, you can ask that this be used against any notice period.

At the end of the day, your current boss is unlikely to take you to court for not giving 4 weeks notice. However if you leave early without their approval you are unlikely to be able to use them as a referee. If having them as a referee is not a concern, then just give as much notice as you can and leave it at that. If it's not in your contract, the legal minimum is 1 week. Nothing your employer can do about it (except give you a bad reference).

seamus

Renno123 wrote: »

as far as i am aware it does not state the four week rule in my contract, but does the fact he has orally claimed this period stand?

No. If it's not in your contract then they can't force it on you. You will need to actually check your contract though.

Tabnabs

1 week is the legal minimum. If you give less than in the contract, the have to take you to court over this etc. etc. The vast majority of companies won't do this, especially over junior level employees. You will burn your bridges though.

tatli_lokma

Tabnabs wrote: »

1 week is the legal minimum. If you give less than in the contract, the have to take you to court over this etc. etc.

they don't have to take you to court, There is no requirement. They can chose to do so but 99% of employers wouldn't waste their time or money doing so.

Tabnabs

Sorry, I was unclear. If they want any comeback, then they have to take the individual to court. Otherwise it's just not worth the trouble as you rightly say.

tatli_lokma

ah ok, got ya! the 'have' is what threw me!

the_syco

Renno123 wrote: »

but its time to move on due to mis treatment.

I believe respect is earned, not given. If the current job us mis-treating you, give them the same respect when you decide to leave, but understand you won't be able to use them as a reference if you leave without notice.

TBH, look for a job now, and only give your notice when you get the job. If it's "only" a weekend job, you may be able to work both jobs (though inadvisable) if the other job is a Monday to Friday job, for a week or two.