Breach of contract. Probation period.

If you don’t need a reference, just give the statutory notice and leave. They won’t sue you for breach of contract. If you will need a reference, you will have to give the notice period more thought.

It doesn't matter if you are on probation.
If you don't need a reference, just tell them you will work one week's notice and leave.
There is nothing they can do.

Teepinaw wrote: »

I'm just worried about them chasing me for breach of contract in that case....
Argh!!

They won't. But they can continue to screw you over for a long time over the reference. Dont waste your money in a solicitor. If you have a job offer offer them a months notice -with any luck they will want you gone asap & look for only the minimum -a week. Ive never seen a place that wants to prolongue the exit longer than necessary - particularly at lower levels. But be nice to them - they can damage you with a poor or left us in the lurch reference for a long time.

12 months probation and 2 months notice.

Sounds like a **** hole. Very lob sided.

Agree with the above, I have never heard of any what you might term 'normal' employee being pursued for not honouring a notice period, it is simply not worth the hassle.

The only case where I could possibly imagine this happening would be if one was to move to a direct competitor, and leave the current employer in the lurch in that they have no time to transfer your knowledge and knowhow to your successor, because you have reneged on the notice period. In such a case they are going to be rightly pissed off, and you could find them pursuing it.

I am also of the opinion that when you sign up to specific conditions when you agree to join, then you should honour those conditions, unless there are exceptional mitigating circumstances.

You will certainly not get a reference of any practical use if you leave before the agreed notice period. Perhaps you do not need one. But please do not buy into this popular notion that references are not required these days, and that companies will only give the bare minimum in terms of dates worked etc. Yes, this may be true of the official reference in writing from HR, etc, but practically speaking many employers will want to get a genuine reference from somewhere that you have recently worked. I myself will not hire anyone who could not provide me with a number of someone who I could call to have a short informal chat. The keyword here is informal. It's very easy to find out from such a call what the former supervisor etc. really thought of that employee, without going into any real detail, or asking potentially incriminating questions.

I have some experience of moving companies and managing probationary periods.

From all the companies I have worked in, there has been a meeting around probation and there has to be sign off from 1) the employee and 2) the employer that probation has been passed satisfactorily and both parties are happy to proceed with permanent employement.

This has not happened and thus I would chance your arm when handing in your notice.

Give them 1 weeks notice and say nothing when handing in the notice. Leave after that week unless there is a discussion to the contrary in that period.

Make sure you send the email to your line manager and HR at the same time.

rock22 wrote: »

Many companies will limit references to dates of employment and possibly sick leave , if any. Any manager going outside those parameter would be subject to disciplinary action . That would include "informal" contacts.

Sure, I agree, concerning the official written reference.

I am not talking about getting something in writing though, I am speaking about a short off-the-record call with someone who the candidate has reported to recently. I have received such calls myself and have no hesitation in singing the praises of someone who performed well and who you would love to have back. You do not need to ask anything incriminating, a simple 'would you hire x again' is usually a simple way to get what you are looking for. For sure it may be against the formal way of doing things in this new-world-order, but it is still very much common practice.

Berserker wrote: »

No, don't agree with this. HR are there to act in the best interest of the company. If the OP ambles in and asks a question like that, it will be reported back to his or her line manager. Nothing an employee discusses with HR is discussed in confidence either.



It unusual and poor form on the part of the employer that the OP has not had a meeting to discuss it. Wondering whether or not they are using it as a way to save a few quid on a pension or such. I've seen that before.



Not sure how this works in smaller companies but I've used personal (quick phone call) references, along with official "X worked in ... from date X to date Y" HR references from my managers in larger firms.

I was thinking that re: pension and other benefits....in which case it would point to the fact that the OP is still within their probationary period.

I remember always having to sign a letter once probation was completed too. I assume that would still be the case.

OMM 0000 wrote: »

I have very mixed feelings on the walking out idea.

On the one hand, I want companies to fulfil the obligations to me, so it seems hypocritical of me if I refuse to fulfil my obligations to them. For example, if someone posted something here about a company refusing to honour the notice period, there would be outrage. So I do think it should work both ways.

But saying all that... if a place is ****ed and you'll lose a good opportunity if you fulfil your notice period... and what's the worst the company will do (realistically), give you a bad reference?

It's a tricky one.

I guess the right thing to do is to fulfil your notice period. It's up to you if that sort of thing outweighs the job opportunity.

One of life's eternal battles

The other side is that companies will mostly be on the look out for the loop hole in their favour also

They'll look for notice period in full if you cant be replaced quick or lean on Irish labour law period of notice if they want you out
- I've seen several times where a company has had a line stating Irish labour law is applicable (i'm paraphrasing) which over ruled in particular notice period of a contract
Similar to "its only 15 min" when staying late
but a whole different timespan when going early

OP I'd check contract to see if they state that they'll inform you probation has ended
If you're concerned run the contract by a solicitor
After that its a decision you have to make whether you serve the full notice or not

If not a high level position i wouldnt be too concerned

Berserker wrote: »

No, don't agree with this. HR are there to act in the best interest of the company. If the OP ambles in and asks a question like that, it will be reported back to his or her line manager. Nothing an employee discusses with HR is discussed in confidence either.

Can't say this is my experience of them and I don't ever recall sharing anything in confidence about myself. OP is fully within their rights to talk to them especially on something pretty fundamental. If you look like you're just making a run for the door, yes there might be issues. If you ask a simple question to clarify your status that's really all it is, clarification. One way or another you are informed.

Thank god im coming up to retirement, in my time working if They tried to make it difficult to leave,
I’d tell them to stick it, life is too short!

micks wrote: »

One of life's eternal battles

The other side is that companies will mostly be on the look out for the loop hole in their favour also

They'll look for notice period in full if you cant be replaced quick or lean on Irish labour law period of notice if they want you out
- I've seen several times where a company has had a line stating Irish labour law is applicable (i'm paraphrasing) which over ruled in particular notice period of a contract
Similar to "its only 15 min" when staying late
but a whole different timespan when going early

OP I'd check contract to see if they state that they'll inform you probation has ended
If you're concerned run the contract by a solicitor
After that its a decision you have to make whether you serve the full notice or not

If not a high level position i wouldnt be too concerned

If it's a large corporation making serious profits and you feel hard done by with the way you've been treated it's quite difficult to feel any guilt, and not really a two way thing as big corp holds all the cards!
Particularly if it's a position that's seen huge turnover in staff.

Equally if it's a family company and you've been treated well then try do the decent thing re notice etc
Depends on context.