To work these notice periods are ridiculous?

[Duckingella]

Company DH works for has a new owner;new order has issued new contracts.

DH has read new contract after receiving it this morning and found that the new owner wants a notice period of 6 weeks for employees who have been there less than one month and 12 weeks for those there more than one month.

I personally feel a 12 week notice period basically make it impossible for anyone to get a new job as not many potential employers would be prepared to wait 3 months to fill a position once a job offer is made.

As above 6 weeks is still a long time to wait.

I think a more reasonable notice period should be 1 week for less than a months service and 4 weeks after that.

I have a 12 week notice period and did in my previous role too (both local govt). I don't think it's unusual and people do expect it to take a while to get newly recruited people on board. I wouldn't worry about it.

My notice period is three months, and I’m quite junior.

Remember, it works both ways…

Standard in my industry. BUT one time I was held to it and immediately put on ‘gardening leave’ so got paid for doing nothing for 3 months and the 2nd time I asked to be allowed to go after 6 weeks and was allowed to.
Employers spend a lot of time and money recruiting the right person, sometimes months and months - so waiting 3 months for the right person is ok.

Tell him to contact union

It’s very normal, and more senior roles have even longer periods.

It works both ways though, think of it as added protection should anything happen with his job. (Redundancy etc).

2-3 months notice is pretty standard in my industry. It can take a long time to recruit and get people in post so all appreciate the time to do that usually.

I have known people negotiate shorter and longer notice periods but it's only approved when it benefits the employer.

I used to always have a standard 1 month notice and get that it feels like a long time if you're not used to it.

I have only had a month's notice when i was relatively junior. My last few jobs it's been 3 months, but last time i negotiated it down to 1 month.
The new employer i was going to has similar notice periods and were prepared to wait even if i couldn't get the notice period negotiated down.

I guess it all hangs on if you are highly employable or not? What is usual in his industry?

6 weeks in the first month is strange. So they take on someone who is terrible and they still have to give the person 6 weeks notice and pay?

Same here and it's not even a highly paid job, though I do need a specific degree.

I am junior and it has always been a month.

I'm currently working my 12 week notice period. 5 weeks to go. It's a normal amount of notice for my position. More senior staff have to give 6 months.

3 months is normal. I currently have 2 weeks which is bizarre but is so they can fire people. 3 months means they also have that to pay you if anything were to happen - I prefer long notice periods

Three months is really normal . It takes that long to recruit and bring a replacement in , so there's not a gap

It takes longer than 3 months if everyone has to give 3 months notice.

As others have said, 3 months is not unusual but can often be negotiated down as one can do a lot of damage if not happy / engaged in those three months. It's very good news if the owner restructures and makes redundancies ...

I am on 3 months notice…some people negotiated down, others have used leave or been sick leave (stress of the job or personal circs - not skiving!) to reduce it. In our case it is to avoid people going straight to competitors - so if you were going to work in an unrelated industry they seem to be ok to negotiate to a shorter term.

I do remember a previous employer narking on about the need to start on a certain date as they had induction training planned…then they ended up taking about 6 weeks to get a contract out to me - no way was i resigning before I’d received and reviewed a contract, so missed it anyway!

One benefit of a long notice period is that the firm would have to pay him for it if he were to be made redundant.

Mine is four months. Doesn’t bother me. I’d be a pain to replace!

DH has a 3 month notice period too. It's the standard for all management positions in his company.

3 months is fairly standard in many professions including skilled and semi skilled occupations. The more senior roles are 6 months and in some cases extend to 12 months - so no not unusual

Mine is 4 months, my mother had to give a years notice when she retired. 3 is fairly standard I think.

How can you possibly recruit if the people you recruit have to give a years notice?? It would take about 18 months from start to having someone in post, ridiculous.

Going against the grain here. Unless you're management (and mostly even if you are unless SLT) it's not fair. Why would anyone wait that long for a new hire if someone else only had to give a month?

I've written on here recently that I gave a month on my three months notice contract. Waste of everyone's time.

After I reached about £40k I have been on 3 month notice periods, it's fairly common. Unless his salary is below that I'm not sure you can push back.