Increased Notice Period With Promotion

Lifesrichpageant

Hi there,

I was recently offered a promotion in work that I have verbally accepted. I received the official offer letter today. All is fine, however I noticed my notice period was increased from 1 month to 2 months.

I'm not sure how to feel about this. It wasn't discussed beforehand, so I was surprised to see it.

I am looking forward to the role, however am not keen on the increased notice period. I don't expect to leave the company soon, but like many, I like to keep my options open; if the right offer came along in the right area, I would certainly consider it - and am concerned this increased notice would put off potential employers down the line.

I have spoken to the former manager (who's role I will be taking) and his notice was not increased when he took the role a few years ago (it was a month). Recent senior members of staff left the company too; they all left after a month.

I am known to be a pretty agreeable person (probably too much so) and I'm concerned I'm being taken advantage of. Or is this standard practice and I should just get on with it?

A few further questions:

Is it acceptable for me to negotiate on the notice period? I was considering offering 5/6 weeks? Could this jeopardise the job offer?

Is a 2 month notice period a deterrent to potential employers?

Lastly, if I needed to accept the 2 months notice. Can a company legally do anything if you leave with less notice, i.e. a month?

Any help is much appreciated.

drunkmonkey

Did you get a new contract, anything about not working for a competitor for 3/6 mts if you leave?

The 2mts shouldn't put off a future employer, might be worth seeing can you wrangle a loyalty bonus, an extra payment if you don't leave every year seen as they want to hold onto you.

callaway92

Negotiating anything on your contract is fine (including notice period)

Don’t go signing for a 2 month notice period if you are not going to abide by it when leaving

Lifesrichpageant

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119137761#Comment_119137761

I haven't received an official contract, and nothing about not working for a competitor.

Interesting about the loyalty bonus. Good idea. I'll consider that.

Thanks very much for your reply.

Lifesrichpageant

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119137762#Comment_119137762

Thanks for above. All very helpful.

Strumms

not unusual… I went from a four week notice requirement to twelve weeks notice… it wasn’t a promotion just a sideways move to job on a higher grade, more responsibly and in order to advertise, hire, train and start the replacement twelve weeks was part of the requirements…

Mrs OBumble

Absolutely negotiate.

If the last person in the position wasn't on 2 months notice, then I see no reason for you to be on 2 months. It obviously wasn't difficult for them to recruit someone to fill the job!

witchgirl26

If you're moving up (whether internal or through an external move) an increase in notice period wouldn't be unheard of. Mine went from 1 month to 3 months with a move I made because of the nature of the work I was going to be doing.

You can talk to them about it but be prepared for them to say they're not changing it. Most companies now understand that people in higher roles have longer notice period than the standard 1 month.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119137788#Comment_119137788

On this - just because the previous one didn't have 2 months notice period doesn't mean that they haven't learnt from their leaving. Maybe getting someone in & trained up in the 1 month notice period wasn't enough time & the company feel that they need longer of a crossover or recruitment phase. Also you do mention that a number have left recently - maybe they are building in contingency should something like that happen again.

dennyk

It's not uncommon for more senior roles to have longer notice periods, as it would take longer to transition the more complicated duties to other staff when you leave. You can certainly try to negotiate, and it's possible they might be willing, but there is a small risk that it could put the idea in their heads that you're planning to use this promotion purely to beef up your CV and are thinking about changing jobs in the near future, which could potentially sour them on the whole deal.

seamus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119137788#Comment_119137788

If they've seen a number of senior staff head off, then they may have found it very difficult to replace them within the month and decided two months was sufficient.

There's no issue with bringing it up. They might just say it was a mistake and fix it. Or they might tell you why they want it.

In terms of what they can do if you don't stick to your notice period, the short answer is "practically nothing". You can be sued for breach of contract and whatever costs may be incurred for the time that you're not around. But the legal cost of that is pretty high and will take years to get through the courts, so companies basically never do it. Less tangible consequences can be that the company gives you a very basic reference for future employers, or a blanket refusal to give a reference at all.

Lifesrichpageant

Thank you all very much for your help and advice. It made for interesting reading and is much appreciated.

We split the difference and agreed to 6 weeks today, which I'm fine with. Happier with that than two months. Saying that, I can see from the company's perspective they don't want a knowledge vacuum if I leave, so I do accept the increase from a month based on that reasoning.

I'd recommend that anyone in my position negotiates for a shorter period.

Anyway, now to do the job and not get fired...

Thanks again. :)