New job on maternity leave, do I have to "work" notice?

[emza78]

Hiya,

I'm on maternity leave at the moment, my current work won't let me go part-time so I've been job hunting. I was just wondering, if I find a new part-time job and hand my months notice in, can I start working for the new place straight away?

It seems a bit silly to have to "work" the months notice by sitting at home when I could be starting the new job..

(also posted in going back to work)

Thanks

Emma

I am afraid i dont know he answer but at a guess i would have thought that If you are already on maternity leave and told them you were not coming back I would not have thought they would give you a notice period as such as this is usually for the company to find a replacement. They would probably just terminate your employment.

The real argument is in reality are they going to find out / will they care.

Unless its a direct competitor and you have some form of company secrets/product info where longer notice periods are enforced I doubt they'd make you sit at home.

you can certainly hand your notice in and start working for the other company straight away - but you won't get paid for the month. Basically you hand in your notice 'with immediate effect'. If you give a month's notice and expect to be paid for it,then you are in breach of contract if you then work for another company in that time. If you're in breack of your employment contract you can be sued. If any future or current employer found out, they would view it pretty negatively as it's actually a form of stealing.