To think six month notice period is wild?

[ThatRubyRaven]

Looking to sense check something please. I’m a junior director in a property management company. That isn’t quite the title but trying to retain enough anonymity. There are directors and managing directors above me. My job is essentially team leader but has started to expand into a more KPI driven role. The company was bought over and regrettably I have almost no access to a support structure but carry a great deal of risk and responsibility. I worked my way up from an entry ish level position but once promoted 18 months ago I was given next to no support to step up to the role and quickly expected to just know and handle things. It’s become uncomfortable and unsustainable. The business doesn’t seem to want to acknowledge that this is happening. I’ve just been issued with a new contract changing my notice period from two months to six months and a blasé “let us know if you have any questions” but not alluding to the specific changes much, other than that there may be some for alignment purposes. I’ll get an enhanced remuneration package in exchange. It really feels like I’m being trapped into staying put rather than them just making sure good people are adequately supported (I know many feel like that at work now) and want to work there. To me, only experts in their field need to give six months notice - I’m literally a team leader with some focus on growth and income. The job has been affecting my well-being and the six month thing was jarring. I feel it makes me unemployable as businesses can’t often wait that long - not for just a team leader. I know there are much worse problems to have, but please can you tell me what you think of a six month notice period in this context? Is it reasonable? More common than I realise? The new standard? Bonkers?

I'm a recruiter specialising in fairly senior level professional services type roles and I can't help in regards to the legalities of the contract as I'm not HR or Legal, but I can say that 6 months notice is VERY unusual unless you are at Director / "C" level and even then it's uncommon (I work with big Tech/investment banking/Pharma etc).
It will definitely go against you when applying for jobs. The only time a client will wait is if the person has a very specific skill set or reputation, and usually in more of a headhunt situation.
Definitely unreasonable.

As I feared: completely asymmetrical. I am not an employment lawyer but I'm willing to bet this is not legal. You are well within your rights to push back.

It’s quite normal in senior positions

3-6 month notice periods are the norm in my sector (HE) but pretty much unheard of elsewhere unless very senior.

The second appearance of "wild" in the last ten minutes. Oh god. New buzzwords 😱
It isn't wild. It may be unnecessary, unacceptable, illegal or just inconvenient but what it certainly isn't, is wild.

IME it's a thing in really senior roles (where a transition of leadership would be difficult) and business development ( where there's a possibility you'd run off with clients and contacts).

Sometimes employers are willing to negotiate at point of resignation. Especially if relations have broken down and the leaver being there for the notice period does more harm than good.

This is all completely normal for a director level service agreement (although the pilon should align with the notice period)

This is really helpful insight from a perspective I didn’t consider I could access. Thank you so much for taking the time to post.

Different sector, but this is the case for those working in teaching in England, as teachers in state schools are bound to the following:

Resign by 31st October to leave on 31st December
Resign by 28th February to leave on 30th April (or end of the spring term if moving to another teaching role)
Resign by 31st May to leave on 31st August

This means that if a teacher hands in their notice on 1st June, they are contractually obliged to remain at the school until 31st December. They may be able to negotiate early release from their contract, but this isn’t guaranteed, especially in shortage subject areas. There are clear and understandable reasons for the regulations, but they were written at a time when it was very rare for teachers to leave teaching to pursue an alternative career, and cause real issues for those seeking employment in a different sector as very few companies or organisations are willing to wait for a teacher to work their notice period, particularly during the summer months.

This is incredibly interesting. Thank you! Measured reasons, reasonable timeframes and understandable caveats! All of the feedback is really helping me form the basis of possible discussion with my employer.

I really appreciate you raising the point for me to go and check. Because I only found out today, I think I’m too close to it to zoom out and measure the situation fully right now.

I once got asked to change my notice from 1 to 3 months about 6 months after I got promoted. I was already in a place wheee they’d have to give me 3 months given how long I’d worked there, so the obvious question was “what’s in it for me”, they went away to look into it and never came back.

I have a 6 month notice period in my job. I'm just administrative, so nowt senior about my role. However it's a company of 2, so if I left it would cause problems

You can access legal advice through your household insurance

Tysm, I’ll look into this. Had no idea. Feeling very much like not a real grown up right now 😅

Excellent 😂👏🏽 Also thanks for sharing another perspective for me to draw from. I’m genuinely so grateful. It’s a company that two years ago I never dreamed of leaving, and under the previous owner would’ve happily signed up to a six month notice period. So I’m finding this a lot to navigate.

OP can you clarify whether you've actually signed this new contract?

Well only if you have legal expenses insurance and even then only for certain types of matter.

Oh great point. No I haven’t signed. I received it this lunch time.

You’ll be okay.

4 weeks is standard for entry-mid level positions and 3 months for senior positions - 6 months is taking the piss!

They can it's happened to me on three occasions, once with a crappy Wearhouse job and twice with a large insurance company. It's an accept them or quit situation. Yes you could take them to court, but at what cost

It's a two way street - you get six months notice. Which if you are put on gardening leave can be nice.

Also, if you really warrant such a notice period then you should be dealing with companies that can recruit with 6 months lag time (i.e. they will wait for quality).

All of which being said, the last 20 years have seen all companies try to treat all employees with asymmetric benefits.

Can’t help with the legalities of this, but I do wonder if this property management company begins with the letter L, in which case you have my sympathies! I’m on the other side of the fence so so speak but since their new ownership everything there seems to have gone to hell in a hand basket.

Very interesting. There are several property related companies sitting within a wider group and there’s an L in there - all same owner.