to think a three months notice period is too long

[Buildmeup76]

I’ve recently been offered a great new job however my notice period is three months. My new job may not be able to wait that long for me to start. Am i unreasonable to think that one month is enough notice?

You may find it is negotiable with your current employer and depending how replaceable you are they may either let you go early without fuss or let you buy yourself out.

What is in your contract?

Depends what your contract says. If you took the job knowing it was 3 months notice that's what you signed up for. Mine is 3months.

Maybe this should have been a consideration when you signed your contract?

(Obviously you can't pop into a Tardis and change it)

What level of seniority are you?

Depends on the job and how easy it is for them to replace you I guess. My notice period is 8 weeks, which is fairly standard for the NHS.

Maybe you can negotiate with your current employer? Always good to leave on good terms and not burn any bridges, unless you're desperate to leave.

We have one month's notice for jobs that aren't critical or for people we aren't 100% convinced on. It takes 2-3 months minimum (usually more because of visas) for us to recruit into a role, and we'd expect the new person to be on 3 months notice too.

See if it's negotiable. It really depends on the job. In previous jobs 3 months has been the minimum (up to even two years non-compete for some senior positions) but depending on who you are and what you know they'd be willing to negotiate down.

Three months is pretty in my role.

• pretty standard

I think it depends what industry you're in.

If it's a pretty normal job where recruitment can be done fairly easily then yes 3 months is excessive. Whereas if it's a specialist role where they may struggle to recruit it may be the bare minimum for them to replace you.

Oh good god yes!!!! I’m currently working out my three months notice and it is hell on earth.

My job is 3 months standard. It depends entirely on what your profession is.

We have one month notice periods in work and it takes three months to get someone into place. It causes a huge problem as we are in a lone work, front facing situation and there is no one to cover for the person who is leaving. As such we are now looking at changing the notice period to three months, with it being negotiable depending on recruitment.

I can see both sides now because of this and I do think depending on the role it could be appropriate to have a longer notice period just to keep the service running and minimise the load put onto other team members, but I also accept it can make things very difficult if you are trying to move roles

3 months does feel like a lifetime when you want to go, but my boss resigned at Christmas and he's got to do a full 6 months! He bought six advent calendars in the January sales and is counting down...

Your employer might negotiate. When I last had to do 3 months they said they couldnt let me go sooner because there "too much project work" to get finished.

Do you mean you feel that you can only give one month’s notice? Then YABU... your contracted notice period is 3 months. However you may be able to negotiate something. Your current employer has no obligation to let you go earlier though, even if they hire a replacement sooner.

What’s your notice period in the new job? Also, were you asked about your notice period at interview stage or when you were offered the job?
Have they said they won’t wait?

If you are going to a competitor, don’t expect your employer to let you go early!

@Elephantina that's amazing I'm almost certainly now going to do this.

You really need to address this sort of thing when you sign a contract of employment. There's no point complaining about it now .

I have a countdown on my phone until the end of my last day. It’s currently set in hours. It seems easier to think how many hours I have left rather than days as these tick down quicker.

HR person here. Depending on the level of seniority 3 months is absolutely standard. Lower level roles are 1 month and very senior roles are 6 months, but 3 months is general rule

Have a conversation to see if you can leave earlier, perhaps if you have leave you have not taken.

”My new job may not be able to wait that long for me to start.”

Are they really saying they will withdraw the offer? Unless they have a very very close second choice with a shorter notice period that seems very unlikely.

”Am i unreasonable to think that one month is enough notice?”

Enough notice for what? To fulfil your contractual obligation? Doesn’t sound like it. To recruit a replacement? Probably not, in most cases. Conducting a recruitment campaign and then waiting for the preferred candidate to serve their notice will almost always take longer than a month.

I have a three months notice period due to the level that i'm at, it's fairly standard and most employers would be fine with it.

Those saying you need to negotiate when you sign your contract- would that actually work? If at taking the job, you said you only wanted to give one months notice wouldn’t your work just say no AND think you had no commitment to the role?

Did your new company tell you that they won't wait that long of are you assuming that they won't wait. More than likely they have a similar notice period for your new role esp if it's specialised so they should be understanding - you need to talk to your new company