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 am an employment lawyer. Six months is not that uncommon- especially in a business which may want to protect against competition- it is easier to enforce than a restrictive covenant after termination. But the notice should be reciprocal in that case- which your’s isn’t if they can terminate your employment with 28 days PILON or widely without notice. There may also be other “tricks” in there so a check by a lawyer would be a good idea. Two other points: if the takeover was through a share purchase it’s unlikely be TUPE so you wouldn’t have extra protections. But otherwise TUPE protects your T&Cs and can mean any additional obligations eg extra restrictions including notice, could be unenforceable. In any event even if you signed the contract whether the employer would seek to enforce six months would likely depend on where you were going. As I allude above, if it’s a competitor they may insist you work or put you on garden leave to give a period where they can secure relationships etc. but if you are not, then the only loss they may have is if they incur extra recruitment costs because they have to cover you at short notice. I’ve never known an employer actually sue for this - though I’ve seen them threaten it. But they may play silly buggers over your reference so I’d get that sorted before you advise them you’re leaving or not serving full notice!

Thanks so much for this detail. The company I work for was acquired around two years ago. My contract was in original company name but the new one is the group company name and states it supersedes and extinguishes all other agreements. The way it reads, they don’t even have to performance manage or support if work quality were to deteriorate - they can just terminate. I have no concerns over my work quality but there’s been an enormous shift in culture and this kind of thinking, if I’m interpreting correctly, is symptomatic of the broader shift. So I really want to get it looked over for anything that didn’t jump out at me but ought to be on my radar. They have lost several staff to one competitor in particular so that stacks with what you’re saying about their reasoning. Thanks again for taking the time. It is truly appreciated.

Wonder if it is the same company? The one I am thinking of ultimately has a PE US owner.

The thing is they can write whatever they like but if it isn’t legal it’s unenforceable. They have to abide by the law. If they have performance concerns they still have to follow a reasonable process before termination, irrespective of what terms they’ve written in your contract, or be faced with the possibility of an unfair dismissal claim. You can’t sign away your employment rights. I think it’s difficult to justify a six month notice period at your level. As people become more senior, organisations who want to hire them are prepared to wait three or six months or even a year.

I’ve known 6 months in senior positions but it has usually been taken with gardening leave. So it’s just a way to get people out of competition for a while.

You’re absolutely right, and I think I’m far too close still to be thinking objectively. I need to get clearer on where employment rights sit, adjacent to whatever the contract says. Hopefully will have obtained some advice by next week. Thanks ever so much for the sense check!

Your contractual and statutory rights are different things and give different ( but overlapping) remedies. So the fact that the contract says they can terminate quickly does not mean that they can do so fairly, just that they will not breach your contractual rights. You could still claim unfair dismissal (or discrimination etc if that is a factor) as those are statutory rights. The tribunal would expect a fair performance management, disciplinary or redundancy process ( as appropriate) to avoid a finding of unfair dismissal. As compensation for unfair dismissal is primarily calculated based on loss of earnings you tend to find that if you have not been paid for a long notice period, the value of any claim may be higher. It’s capped atm, but won’t be from Jan 2027. That’s not to say that I wouldn’t challenge the imbalance in the notice, but just to reassure you that the contract is not the be all and end all for you.

This is incredibly helpful, thank you so much for giving your time. Having read over the contract in more detail I’ve also noted a non compete clause so between that and the notice period I couldn’t work in the industry for 9 months. Unfortunately I think I’ll end up resigning and taking a drop in salary to move elsewhere to a lower ranking position for the time being.

Definitely ACAS some of those terms seem really dodgy!