AIBU to ask what your notice period is at work?!

[Upset2021]

Would anyone mind telling me what their notice period is at work, meaning the notice they have to give their employer? Asking because I'm being made redundant and looking to start a new job from around July time, is it too early to be looking now and are employers going to want someone who can start earlier? Hope that makes sense! Not sure if most people have a month's notice, but have heard that some people have 3 months. Thanks!

Mine is 2wks in my job

3m and standard in my line of work.

Six months.

Here in the US the standard is two weeks for any employer I've worked for.

Are there repercussions for not working out your notice period there? I've seen threads about this before, but they can't make you work any period of time, can they? In theory, you could just stop showing up, couldn't you?

Technically it's 12 weeks -a minimum of 4 weeks plus a week for every year of service up to a maximum of 12 weeks (or something like that) but in reality they tend to only make people work the minimum 4 weeks.

but they can't make you work any period of time, can they? In theory, you could just stop showing up, couldn't you?

Yes, but you wouldn't get paid. Prospective employers will be expecting you to have a notice period to work out and actually its usually a relaxed few weeks of being paid to show up and hand over any remaining work.

Also in my industry notice is usually unofficially negotiable, but anyone who refused to work the required period would get a bad reputation that would absolutely follow them.

@steff13 in theory you would be in breach of contract but what employers are really going to take you to court to fight it. I think the potential repercussions are really reputational damage or a bad reference/no reference. In the OPs case though she would lose her redundancy pay.

I'm Civil Service as well. If I leave and go external, its two months. If I transfer internally, my current department can hang on to me for up to 10 weeks!!

Mine is 4 weeks but anything is normal up to three months. My last job had a two month notice period and I was worried that would put employers off, but for most professional jobs a longish notice period is often expected so I needn't have worried.

3 months but I’m pretty senior and in a specialised field

but they can't make you work any period of time, can they? In theory, you could just stop showing up, couldn't you?

It would be a breach of contract, so your employer could sue you if they wanted. The chances of that happening though are probably quite slim.

However, you probably want a reference from your employer so it's best not to piss them off. While they can't give a false reference, they can give a negative one if it's accurate and true. They would also refuse to give a reference at all, which speaks volumes.

Even if you apply for something that closes this week, shortlisting, interview, offer, references probably take you to the end of the April. Most employers will wait two months without thinking twice. Get applying!

4 weeks, which is unheard of in my industry. Every other job I’ve had has been 3 months, with gardening leave.

Whether it's too early to apply depends on what kind of role you're applying for - most jobs will have tht vacancy now but there are different expectations on availability by employers. Very senior - up to a year, Mid - 3 months, typical - 1 month and casual - a week. There are nuances e.g for short term contract work the expectation will be immediate.

Assuming you're in a role that expects availability between 1-3 months you're ok to apply now, the recruitment process itself takes time ie apply, invite to interview 1/2, offer consideration etc etc usually takes a few weeks itself.