Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Can I be FORCED to work a notice?

299 replies

jobproblems672 · 01/04/2022 11:33

Hi,

I posted recently about handing in my notice in a job I hate. I was recently signed off for burnout and back pain which is ongoing and all due to my job. I also have a really long commute and long story short I am struggling to continue at this job.

I handed in my notice in mid March thinking it was 2 months. I misread it and it said 2 months effective from either 30th December or 30th april. So that means I have to stay until 30th June.
I already told my new employer I can start in mid May. It took my boss a week after I handed in my notice to tell me that I actually need to stay until July. Since then I’ve been in limbo about a start date as nothing was confirmed.

So I literally just sent a huge email stating that I’m really sorry, that I’m happy to serve a 2 months notice but I physically cannot work until July due to my mental and physical well-being.
She’s disregarded it and sent a short email saying sorry, your end date is 1st July and I can’t make this any earlier.

I can’t even sign off sick for the duration as I’d start my new job in May and that’d be illegal.

Am I wrong in thinking you don’t have to work a notice period? I literally explained that I can’t and won’t, and she didn’t take it for an answer.

Thanks

OP posts:
Original poster
jobproblems672 · 01/04/2022 11:35

Also I’ve only been there 5 months and it’s not a senior role.

OP posts:
Original poster
jobproblems672 · 01/04/2022 11:35

Sorry 7 months*

OP posts:
BlanketsBanned · 01/04/2022 11:35

Is there an hr department or could ACAS help with this.

HesGotHisTrombole · 01/04/2022 11:37

You are not a slave; you cannot physically be made to do it, but there will be other consequences because you have breached your contract.

Original poster
jobproblems672 · 01/04/2022 11:38

No HR dept, it’s a tiny company. I could try ACAS but didn’t think I’d have a case if I’ve been there less than 2 years?

OP posts:
Original poster
jobproblems672 · 01/04/2022 11:38

I’ve reiterated so many times that I’m struggling, that I’ve been signed off and I am too poorly but it just gets overlooked

OP posts:
DifficultBloodyWoman · 01/04/2022 11:40

I have never seen a clause like that before.

I doubt that can be enforced. Call CAB and ACAS.

Original poster
jobproblems672 · 01/04/2022 11:41

I work in schools so it’s to do with terms etc but I’m not a teacher

OP posts:
Schoolchoicesucks · 01/04/2022 11:41

No, they can't force you to.

If you leaving early would cause them financial or other harm, they could bring legal action against you (for example to cover the costs of replacing you). It's unlikely that the costs of doing this (for them) would be worthwhile the potential benefits (to them). If you don't want or need a reference or there's no risk to them, for example, trying to get any professional accreditations you have, removed then you may decide to tell them again that you will not be attending or carrying out work from xx date and you do not expect payment from them after this date.

LittleOwl153 · 01/04/2022 11:44

How different is the new job to your old job? I'm thinking along the lines of if you old job was weightlifting a job your health now makes you unsuitable for and your employer can give you no alternative role but your new job is chatting to people on the phone that you are perfectly capable of (not great examples but you get the idea). Could your doctor help then?

Luckingfovely · 01/04/2022 11:47

It's really simple - what did the contract you signed say?

Nobody else can tell you what terms YOU agreed to when you took the job.

Read your contract and find the answer.

Can they force you to? Probably not, but as others have said, it depends on the terms and how much it would be worth to them to pursue you.

Sadly, how you feel about the job does not affect your employment status or any legal agreement you signed.

MissLucyEyelesbarrow · 01/04/2022 11:48

Of course you have to work a notice period - that's the whole point of them. If it was your boss giving you notice, instead of the other way round, would you expect her to be able to stop paying you after 1 month if the notice period was 3 months?

I agree with @Schoolchoicesucks that, in reality, they are unlikely to take any action against you if you don't. But, if your AIBU is: Is it unreasonable for an employer to expect an employee to work the notice period in her contract then, yes, YABU.

LittleOwl153 · 01/04/2022 11:48

Go back to your doctor. See if they will sign you off until the end of June. Explain the situation in that you have resigned your job but that they are insisting you work your notice which you don't feel medically able to do. If you can get your GP sign off they might be prepared to negotiate based on the fact that they won't have your time anyway but will still be paying you I assume.

nearlyspringyay · 01/04/2022 11:49

Contractually yes you are meant to work your notice period. They can't force you. You could walk away now they'll probably do you for gross misconduct and you'll be sacked rather than resign.

Very odd terms though, do you work in a school?

Mumdiva99 · 01/04/2022 11:49

If then option is you go sick for that time and the school has to pay to cover you vs they let you go now - then the latter is a better option for them.

However, will your back be any better in May when you want to start the new role?
And what would the impact on the children be?

user1497207191 · 01/04/2022 11:50

They can't make you physically work it but they can certainly take legal proceedings against you to recover their costs if you don't (i.e. the extra costs of employing agency staff etc to cover your notice period).

NippyWoowoo · 01/04/2022 11:53

@jobproblems672

I work in schools so it’s to do with terms etc but I’m not a teacher
I've worked in schools and the closest I've seen to that is a Half term's notice for teachers. I was a TA and it was 1 month.
MissLucyEyelesbarrow · 01/04/2022 11:54

@LittleOwl153

Go back to your doctor. See if they will sign you off until the end of June. Explain the situation in that you have resigned your job but that they are insisting you work your notice which you don't feel medically able to do. If you can get your GP sign off they might be prepared to negotiate based on the fact that they won't have your time anyway but will still be paying you I assume.
That is really not good advice. Firstly, she can't start the new job if she is signed off as generally unfit for work. Secondly, the new employer will probably ask for her sickness record as part of her reference. She'll then get sent for an OH assessment, and probably find her conditional offer of employment is withdrawn.
TheKeatingFive · 01/04/2022 11:54

I was in a similar position, though there wasn't clarity about whether I'd agreed to a notice period or not (it wasn't in the contract).

I was advised by an employment lawyer that while they could take me to court over the cost replacing my labour, they'd be very unlikely to do so because the costs wouldn't be worth it.

So it depends on how badly you'd need the reference. I stuck to my guns and left. And that was the end of it.

NeedAHoliday2021 · 01/04/2022 11:56

Can you speak to your new employer and move your start date? Then get signed off sick.

Anything else and you’ll be in breach of contract in the same way as if they’d terminate you. Finishing end of term is standard in schools with clear deadlines and notice period cutoffs. Replacing a school role with someone experienced usually means taking from another school so the terms are in place for that.

Many employers have 3 month notice periods (my contract is 3 months) as standard due to recruitment taking longer than 4 weeks.

CapMarvel · 01/04/2022 11:56

If push comes to shove they can't force you. Just don't go in. They are vanishingly unlikely to persue it beyond that.

And that is a batshit requirement for a notice period too.

yellowsuninthesky · 01/04/2022 11:57

@user1497207191

They can't make you physically work it but they can certainly take legal proceedings against you to recover their costs if you don't (i.e. the extra costs of employing agency staff etc to cover your notice period).
I don't know if there have been any cases on this, but I would have thought that it was against public policy to make people work their notice periods. While it's breach of contract, the OP is leaving for good reasons, so she could potentially counterclaim if it came to it.

Also, the courts are reluctant to make people actually do something (called specific performance). For example, they tend to award compensation for unfair dismissal rather than requiring an employer to take someone back.

OP it's really up to you whether you want unpleasantness but you can simply say you are not in a position to continue working for them, and while you are aware that this is an inconvenience for them, your physical and mental health come first. Do not, though, say anything which implies you know you are breaching your contract. Simply that you are not able to work your notice.

It might be worth asking MN to move this to the employment topic, because I actually wonder if this is a reasonable notice period outside teaching (I know you work in education). An employment lawyer might be able to advise.

AlisonDonut · 01/04/2022 11:57

Are they likely to actually take legal proceedings bearing in mind you are signed off and likely to be signed off for the rest of the time there?

If you have been there for a short amount of time, did you have a period of time for probabation, did this get officially signed off or just left?

If you sign off sick and start the new job, presumably they will sack you? So they are gaining nothing here.

vivainsomnia · 01/04/2022 11:58

You are breaching your contract by not honouring your notice period. They of course can't force you to do so.

Your risk is they employ an agency worker to cover you and they could legally take you to court to claim the extra costs the agency cost them.

This only very rarely happens, but legally, it would go in their favour if they opted to do so.

turfsausage · 01/04/2022 11:59

It's not as simple as saying 'read your contract and abide by those terms'. If a contract is unreasonable or goes against the law, then it can't be enforced. Speak to ACAS, they're good.