Not working notice

[LeavingNoNotice]

Context, worked in organisation between 18-24 months in a senior leadership role
My boss sits on exec committee

For multiple genuine reasons I will be leaving this role as soon as possible. I am awaiting final outcomes from promising new opportunities.

Has anyone ever not worked their notice? Did anything happen? As a senior leader who has managed many teams and people I would expect to simply stop.pay from the day the person stopped work but has there been any further consequences to anyone?
This job is seriously impacting my mental health in many ways and as soon as I have a new position I am out, (assuming new role can take me earlier vs my current 12 week notice)

Can you be signed off sick rather that not work your notice which might be a contractual obligation?

Signed off sick means no pay unfortunately, this organisation has no benefits to speak of. And even if hand notice in and then go off sick- some companies may not pay sick pay in notice period if if discretionary.

Contractual obligations- thats what I am trying to dig into. Yes my contract states 12 weeks but what actually happens if you dont work it?

Legally they would be entitled to employ cover and you would be financially liable for that.

You know them, would they do that?

100% no,

So once you have an offer of a new job, you give in your notice, and tell them they can either agree that your last working day will be the end of the week/next week/whatever you want ( but enough time for them to sort out a temp and you to leave transfer notes) or you will get signed off sick as from tomorrow as the job is making you stressed and ill.
If they are not going to pay you for that time, start the new job. The fact that you are signed off from working in their toxic stress-making company doesn't mean you can't work anywhere. It's like if you broke your leg, it might preclude you from being a driver making deliveries, but it wouldn't stop you working online remotely.
They might argue that you are in breach of contract, but so what? If you are sure they won't pursue you, then they have no remedy, other than being difficult over holiday pay etc. If you are signed off sick, then you're not in breach of contract.

Depends on how vindictive they are and if they want to punish you. As pp stated they could come after you for cover costs but I know a few people who have just left and had no consequences.
DP resigned and walked out of a job. His manager called and said she wanted him back on Monday because she didn't accept his resignation. He reminded her that she didn't own him and never went back. There were no consequences.

Speak to them as done companies can be flexible.

Be wary of leaving long gaps in employment with things like death in service benefits!

Are they able to withhold your final pay if you don't work notice?

It's not about being vindictive. If she walks out, they're a member of staff down which impact on a whole raft of things including the workload of her colleagues. It's unprofessional, thoughtless and selfish. Also, the OP has signed a contract and therefore should expect to fulfil it.

OP, just be a grown up about it and talk to them, negotiate an early exit. If you do walk, you'd be in breach of contract so, if they wanted to they could cause problems for you. You also need to consider your references. Not just for the role you're going to but for the one after that too, (most organisations take references up on your previous two roles). I wouldn't risk breach of contract coming up in my references.

Ex HR, out of God knows how many people who don't work their notice (probably hundreds in a few different organisations) there has been 1 case when they were sued for affecting the business. It was a high level employee and they could show that their departure seriously affected the business.
Keep that in mind but I would say it's not likely at all.
All contracts say it could happen but in reality it generally doesn't.

She will be if her contract prohibits other employments without consent. They often do.

I did this only once in my long career. Actually just walked out. I may have said " who are you going to report me to, the notice police?"
Like you 3 months in the contract. Never had a problem. The Head Office just put start and end dates in the reference

I worked 4 instead of 12 weeks notice and while I don’t think they were thrilled, nobody said as much and they didn’t do anything to stop me. I think it’s better all round - if someone wants to go, let them.

I left earlier than my notice period would have been, but could show I would have completed all my work by then and there was no point in me taking anything else on. They made noises, but once I presented it like that, they agreed to my plan.

Thanks all. I will seek to negotoate the notice period down in the first instance.

I guess it depends on how small your industry is and if you want this reputation formally, it may crop up in a reference or verbally shared or teams will talk and it could get to your new employer. I wouldn’t look too keen on this as the new employer unless I was aware of the environment. If it was that bad you could leave citing these reasons but the fact you continue to work would be interpreted, rightly or wrongly, it’s not that bad, or go on leave now, raise a grievance formally or informally.

it is however very hard for an employer to sue you for breach of contract due to time and resources, you may get a nasty letter but they can’t force you to work so comes down to reputation and respect.

I moved into this industry from another, and I will be going back to my old industry and never work in this one again. I've worked in recruitment all my life and now work for an estate agents,
Ill be going back to recruitment where I have a strong network and have new job opportunities that I am working through with my contacts.

I wont be handing my notice in/leaving until i have secured a new role and the reason why ive stuck it out for nearly 2 years is because i wanted that timeframe on my cv,

Thanks everyone for your comments it seems pretty clear the risk of anything actually "happening" is low if you dont work your notice.

This has to be some of the worst, ill-informed advice I've ever seen online. Well done!

If you've worked in recruitment all your life, how do you not know the basics of contract law, notice periods and the need for references?

The examples were illustrative only so not to be outing, probably should have highlighted that

you give in your notice, and tell them they can either agree that your last working day will be the end of the week/next week/whatever you want ( but enough time for them to sort out a temp and you to leave transfer notes) or you will get signed off sick as from tomorrow as the job is making you stressed and ill.

This is terrible, terrible advice. You can't say "I'll claim I'm sick, but if you do x for me, I won't be". That quite obviously proves you're not actually sick. She might need a reference from this employer. It could be a small industry where everyone knows each other, so her shit attempts at blackmailing would spread around. It might put their backs up enough that they actually make things difficult with her notice. There's consequences to bad-faith actions.

I didn’t work my notice in return for not taking them to tribunal for disability discrimination,

no consequences.

it was rather a heated conversation though

Theoretically, they could sue you for breach of contract, but I would say it's pretty unlikely that they would follow through on this in practice - probably not worth it from their perspective.

Definitely negotiate, use any accrued holiday so you can secure the reference you’ll need now and in the future