Getting a reduction in my notice period.

pauliebdub

Im currently employed in a job where I must give two months notice if i wish to resign. I have been in this job for quite a few years and signed a contract when the economy was booming and the company found it difficult to recruit and retain staff.

However now I wish to leave and it is proving to be a stumbling block as I look for a new job as most other applicants can only give one months notice or less. My job isnt business critical and it should not be difficult to recruit a replacement.

How do I approach my employer with a view to altering my contract? I dont really want them to know i wish to leave before I have something suitable lined up but it is common for employees to seek to change notice period as i described?

Many Thanks,

tatli_lokma

Yes it is quite common for people to negotiate a shorter notice period.

First off I would advise not taking any holidays if you can avoid it. This means you will also have AL come into play and your employer might allow you to use some of it against your leave period.

Secondly, if you want to leave at less than the contracted notice, make sure you have an exit plan before you approach management. What I mean by this is a plan of what work you will get through before finishing, any project unfinished before leaving have another person who can take over, and make sure all handover documents and any procedural notes etc are in place. This will make the negotiation to reducing the notice period easier for you as you can show how you are going to do your best to ensure that you don't land them in it.

I wouldn't actually tell them before securing an offer if you feel this could be detrimental. However if you have an understanding boss, then it might be fairer to tell them sooner rather than later, but only you can know which is the right way to go with that one. But realistically, if you are missing a few hours here and there over the next few weeks/months, are arriving in more dressed up than normal etc then there is a very good chance that they will cop on to the fact that you are looking elsewhere, in which case it might have sounded better coming from you without them having to ask than for them to have to ask you.

From an employer point of view, whilst a month is normal, we do also accept that some companies want longer, and if I were really impressed by a particular candidate I might be prepared to hold out for them til they finished 2 mths notice.
From a recruitment point of view, it usually goes like this:
employee notifies they are leaving in 1 mth.
Ad for their replacement goes up - usually needs to be live for at least a week, possibly longer.
Interviews commence - again this can take up to a week (at a minimum)
Possible second interviews - maybe a further week (again this is a minimum, factoring in other work committments, possible interview times etc)
Successful candidate will be either available immediately or will have their own notice period to work.
so you can see that an absolute minimum for getting a new staff member is usually 2 weeks and more likely 4-6 weeks or even longer.
But you are planning on being gone in 4.
So when do you get to hand over/train your replacement? At best you can give 1-2 weeks training, and that is if the recruitment is very very fast paced.

So this is probably why 2 mths is listed in your contract.

At the end of the day, although it is in your contract for 2 mths, they can't really do anything to enforce this. The only recourse they have is to take you to court, which is unlikely to happen as it is a road to no real gain. But of course if they feel you landed them in it then you won't get a great reference from them.

If I were you, and if it is possible in your current role, I would start subtly training others in some of your tasks. If there is someone that covers for you when you are on holiday, I would sound them out as to when they are planning on taking hols etc. If you can do your best to make sure your leaving does not correspond with their holidays then all the better.

pauliebdub

Many Thanks for that Little Ted.

I have an understanding boss but I'm a bit wary of letting people at work know about my intentions.

They know I wish to change careers and that I am studying part time in the field I wish to move into so I suppose they have an expectation that I wish to leave in the none too distant future. Any handover would be very smooth as my job is not really that complicated.

I might have a chat with my manager about it.

monkeypants

You can always hint that you're going to work for a competitor and they may then want you out the door sooner.