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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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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:

yellowsuninthesky · 01/04/2022 11:59

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

Yes they do but while I've heard of employers holding people to their notice periods, I've never heard of someone being successfully pursued in the courts for not working it.

yellowsuninthesky · 01/04/2022 12:00

@vivainsomnia

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.

I am not sure it would go in their favour as I've mentioned above.

IncompleteSenten · 01/04/2022 12:00

You are supposed to, as you know but can they make you?
Well no.
How does anyone think that would work?
Get the police round to drag the op into work in handcuffs?
Chain her within the workplace until the end of the notice period?
Put an armed guard on her at all times?

Of course they can't make her.

They can take legal action but the question there is would they bother and if they did, would they win and if they won, would it be a price worth paying?

VainAbigail · 01/04/2022 12:00

Can you explain how your boss seems to think you can leave in July when you said you gave the 2 months notice in March? Surely you’ll be leaving in May? How have they concluded that July is your leave date?

AlexaShutUp · 01/04/2022 12:00

No, they can't actually force you to work. They can take you to court for breach of contract, but it's probably unlikely that they would. Are you likely to need a reference?

doradoo · 01/04/2022 12:01

Do you have any annual leave you can take to effectively bring the end date forward?

BoredZelda · 01/04/2022 12:02

I would think that clause would fall under an unfair contract rule.

They can’t make you do anything. Just tell them no.

Gonnagetgoing · 01/04/2022 12:02

I'm not working my notice period (which is 2 weeks) but because I'd failed probation and was going to be dismissed I resigned (which is notice period of 2 weeks).

Because my work have handled things really badly re my being there, the probation period etc they've given me 1 month's notice pay.

I wouldn't say you could be forced to work your notice period which sounds ridiculous and would also look at getting signed off sick by your doctor.

BlingLoving · 01/04/2022 12:03

You posted this the other day. Did you not get the answers you wanted? You have the contract and it says you have to work. If you have physical issues then I think the only option is to get yourself signed off sick.

soupmaker · 01/04/2022 12:05

www.acas.org.uk/final-pay-when-someone-leaves-a-job/if-someone-leaves-without-working-their-notice

You can resign without notice but your employer could take you to court for breach of contract. This is however unlikely to happen.

Have you explained the situation to your new employer?

MissLucyEyelesbarrow · 01/04/2022 12:16

I would have thought that it was against public policy to make people work their notice periods

What do you think a notice period is? It is notice of your intention to leave. Do you want your kids' teacher to be able to walk out without notice? Or your hospital appointment to be cancelled because the consultant decided she didn't want to work out her notice? Or your bus to be cancelled because the driver got a new job and just left without notice?

Mummytobe93 · 01/04/2022 12:17

My DH did this and the employer deducted 2 weeks off his wage in lieu

AlisonDonut · 01/04/2022 12:19

@Mummytobe93

My DH did this and the employer deducted 2 weeks off his wage in lieu

The OP is not likely to be getting a wage, being that they are off sick.

So this is not comparable at all.

user1471447863 · 01/04/2022 12:21

@VainAbigail

Did you not read the OP? It's right there at the very start of the 2nd paragraph:

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.

daimbarsatemydogsbone · 01/04/2022 12:22

@BoredZelda

I would think that clause would fall under an unfair contract rule.

They can’t make you do anything. Just tell them no.

I would think that clause would fall under an unfair contract rule.

Under what law?

BlackAmericanoNoSugar · 01/04/2022 12:22

So the job is physically harming you and also causing stress related mental health issues. Make sure you document it well, take sick leave as you need it, refuse tasks if they are problematic. Reiterate that you can't continue much longer as the job is damaging you, in writing. Mention constructive dismissal, several times, because they know that your job is causing you harm and they are not making reasonable adjustments. Then leave and start your new job. If they threaten to sue for costs related to you not fulfilling your notice period then you have a pretty good case to show that you couldn't continue rather than that you chose not to continue.

You probably don't have a case against them for constructive dismissal, and it would be more effort than it's worth anyway, but all the evidence that you build up will go against them if they do threaten to sue you. If your wellbeing improves after starting the new job then it's more evidence that it was your current job that's the problem and not you.

BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz · 01/04/2022 12:24

Honestly I'd just contact the new employer and explain what's happened re the notice period, they may well be happy to push the start date back.

If they do, then immediately go on sick leave for the rest of your notice period and take the time to rest.

godmum56 · 01/04/2022 12:25

speak to ACAS to find out what your options are.
Speak to your new employer regarding the situation and your options and agree a way forward.

lalaloopyhead · 01/04/2022 12:26

They can't force you to work your notice and it is unlikely that they will persue breach of contract, but they obviously don't have to pay you for the notice period.

I believe you can be signed off work for one job, but be fit for work for another so that should affect your new start date.

DomesticatedZombie · 01/04/2022 12:29

@vivainsomnia

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.

I think in OPs situation I'd be thinking more about references and affects on future jobs than court, which is unlikely.

It sounds like you're in error here, OP. And you're breaching your contract if you don't work your notice.

BrightonBunny · 01/04/2022 12:29

No, they absolutely cannot make you work your notice period.

However, they can sue you for any associated costs if you don't work it. So this could mean the cost of cover.

Do you think they would bother doing that? It's quite unusual but legally they would be in the right.

If you continue to stay off sick then they can put you on SSP, depending on exactly what your contract says.

Are you a trade union member? Most support staff in schools are UNISON members.

BuanoKubiamVej · 01/04/2022 12:30

You can't be forced to work your notice but breaking a contract will have an effect on how people trust you in future.

If you are signed off from work for one employment for medical reasons it is perfectly allowable to start a new job during the notice period so long as the new job isn't something that makes a lie of your sick-note. So e.g. someone who had a job as a bus driver who started getting serious vision issues and could no longer drive could be signed off sick from a driving job and immediately start a different job that had no sight requirements. So if the new job is something that you know will not trigger your health issues then it is OK to keep being signed off as too sick for the old job and to start the new job during the notice period.

I would be open with your new employers - they are the ones who holdyour future after all. You need to disclose the health issues to them anyway, and you need to show them why they can be confident that you won't be signing off sick for long periods i your new job as they need to know they are hiring someone with the capacity to do the job (it is not discriminatory to decline to employ someone who doesn't have the physical/mental capacity to do the job that needs doing). You can also be honest with them about the notice period mix up and tell them that you are willing and able to start in May as planned but that you are aware that doing that might affect the quality of the reference that they receive from your current employers. It might be that your old and new employers can negotiate with one another in good faith to agree a transfer date that's a compromise?

Original poster

jobproblems672 · 01/04/2022 12:30

So ACAS said that it would be a breach of contract but they said it’s a very strange clause and that a notice period is meant to be effective from the date you hand it in. So it seems odd for it not to be effective for potentially another 3 months.

Plus I had another colleague serve 2 months when she handed in her notice in january.

They said I need to seek legal advice but it’s costly :(

OP posts:

Ohsugarhoneyicetea · 01/04/2022 12:31

You could probably negotiate an earlier finish, you would need an employment lawyer to draft an offer for you. Basically you need to say you are signed off sick until the end of the contract as the role has severely negatively impacted your health. You are willing to leave earlier if they are willing to terminate the contract earlier - basically leaving everyone better off. Or do as mentioned in a pp, apologise to new employers and explain their was a confusion with the notice period (rather unusual frankly) and stay off sick till then. It would be foolish not to release you early if you are not going to be there anyway.

flimsyexcuse · 01/04/2022 12:33

Just go off with work related stress specific to that work environment, then you're free to work elsewhere

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