Notice Help?

[ALittleLostt]

Hi all, I've only recently joined.

But my son is a little lost.

He has recently been searching for new jobs, but today he received an email giving him confirmation to start on Tuesday.
He's still currently employed and doesn't know what to do about his notice.

He understands the notice period in his contract, but his new job has said they require him to start on Tuesday for training.

Is there anything he can do such an leave with immediate effect or ask to go on gardening leave without pay for the notice period?

Thanks.

What is the notice period in his contract and how long has he been employed for?

Does the new employer know he is currently employed? Did they ask what his notice period was?

The notice period is one week for every year employed by the company, which is 2 years.

They do, however, training is required before officially starting in two weeks time.

How long is the training for? If it's a day can he book annual leave? How much annual leave does he have left (don't forget to pro rata it)? He could if his work agree book the last week as annual leave and then go straight into the new job. He could also ask to take the time unpaid. I think he needs to talk to them in the first instance.

Ultimately he could just not going back but they won't pay him for the time he doesn't work and they could try to recoup any losses. They may also mention it in a reference at this point or in the future.

To be honest if my current employer did not agree and new job didn't understand I wouldn't be thinking too highly of the new company.

The new employer needs to respect your DSs contractual obligation to his current employer, which hopefully your DS has highlighted.

They may try to pressure him to attend training before he actually starts the new role, but if they understand employment law they will know his current employers may hold him to his notice period. They can demand all they like, his notice period is what it says in his contract and they will have to reset their timescales accordingly.

If your DS can negotiate an earlier release, which his current employers are prepared to accept (and that's the key to all this), that could be the solution, but it's down to them to decide if they can manage without him (i.e. If they haven't found a replacement, they may have problems with shifting his workload to other people - which is the reason for having a notice period!)

Thank you very much, will pass the information on and update with the results.