Employer refusing notice

[Jewlry]

I handed my notice in on 2nd October with immediate effect due to health reasons. I'd been on long term sick leave (work related) for a while and for me to give the required 4 weeks notice would only have been me remaining on sick leave for another 4 weeks anyway. Employer has now written to me to say that I have to give 4 weeks notice and therefore my last day with them will be on 30th October even though I've already started a new job! Don't understand this at all!

You won't be receiving any monies from them. Whilst you are right that they cannot force you to work they can sue you for breach of contract and also bring a claim against you for the additional costs arising from your breach. Yes it is unlikely, because you are unlikely have had a senior position or role if you are only required to give four weeks' notice, but it is a possibility and employers have done so before.

No flowery , my last day of enjoyment at job 1 was 2nd October. I've cut the ties and want nothing from them

No..... you gave your notice on 2nd October. Employer looked at your contract and saw you had 4 weeks' notice. So legally, your last day of employment is 4 weeks from 2nd Oct. You cna ASK them to waive your 4 weeks notice and they very well may agree to that given the situation, but you can't just walk away "with immediate effect" unless they agree to it.

I think you need to phone them tomorrow morning and ask how best to proceed, which may mean getting another sick note to cover the period.

That would be asking for trouble and fraudulent in my eyes

How so, bearing in mind you were on long term sick?

Because I work somewhere else now

Wouldn't be right to work at job 2 and call in sick to job 1 is what I mean.

What does your contract say about taking a second job?

I'm not sure what you are looking for here OP.
It is what it is. Others have explained many times and you are going to carry on with your new job and return any payment you may get from job 1.
You have been told there could be consequences but HR told you it was unlikely.
What else do you want anyone to say or what is your actual question?

Wouldn't be right to work at job 2 and call in sick to job 1 is what I mean.

Neither is resigning with no notice but that didn't stop you. Either play the game and call in sick which is exactly what you would do if you had given the correct notice, or don't. Your choice.

So after being on long term sick, you handed in your notice - and just so happened to get a job in the same week? Applied, interviewed, accepted? After speaking with HR last month about leaving.

Nah. You got a new job because you figured you could just walk away from your old one without consequence and now you're panicking because they're calling your badly-thought-out bluff.

Given that you're now AWOL from work, I suspect you'll find your employment will be terminated earlier than 30th Oct anyway, but it's going to be by way of dismissal during your notice period rather than resignation.

You seem to be ignoring the fact that legally you are in the wrong and your employers are correct. You may think you have the high moral ground here but that wouldn't stand up in court if your employers choose to take it further.

Doesn't seem to matter how many people tell you this...you aren't listening.

Was it financially motivated? As in you were not receiving any sick pay from your old employer as you had exhausted your entitlement to SSP and/or OSP that you may have been entitled to therefore by resigning immediately and starting your new job, you are back earning money again?

So you can't have a resignation of immediate effect as they've said no to it, hence the notice period. You want to cut off ties with them and not contact them to try to resolve it. You have another job (fine but that means f all to company 1 - they are still currently your employer). You're not working your notice when in hindsight you could have handed in your notice last month when you discussed leaving last month.

But calling in sick is unethical to you, even though you've previously stated about the possibility of getting another sick note to cover the rest of the notice period? Got it.

No point adding as OP happily putting fingers in ears & singing "la la la la la la la la la la la"

If the OP's ex employer prosecuted her, what would they get out of it? Don't they have to show that they have made some sort of financial loss? I don't think that they would have a leg to stand on considering that the OP doesn't want any further pay, would not have been able to work there for the remaining four weeks and they have made no effort since the beginning of her sickness to enable her to work for them. If anything, they gain by not needing to pay her sick pay for four weeks.

No flowery , my last day of enjoyment at job 1 was 2nd October

No it wasn't.

You gave notice on 2nd October. Your contract states that you must give 4 weeks notice. You tried to resign with immediate effect. Your employer does not have to accept that and they have not done so. You are therefore employed by them until 30th October. The fact that you are not turning up to work is irrelevant.

Instead of complying with your contract you have chosen to put yourself in breach of contract by failing to give the specified notice. Your old employer may decide to do nothing about this. They clearly won't pay you but, if they want to pursue it, they can go to court to recover any extra costs they have incurred due to your breach of contract. So, for example, if they have had to take on a temp at higher pay they could ask the courts to force you to pay the difference between your old pay rate and the temp's pay rate for the four weeks.

It is true that you can be unfit to work at one job but still able to work at another. But the fact you have started another job may well count against you if your old employer does choose to take you to court.

I know this isn't what you want to hear. I know you want to believe you can give notice with immediate effect. But you can't. Unless your employer agrees otherwise you must give your contractual notice.

I think most responses here are over-egging the pudding. Yes you are technically in breach of contract. But in practice it's very unlikely that your old employer will do anything about it, aside from refusing to give you a good reference (which seems irrelevant if you already have another job).

Was it financially motivated? As in you were not receiving any sick pay from your old employer as you had exhausted your entitlement to SSP and/or OSP that you may have been entitled to therefore by resigning immediately and starting your new job, you are back earning money again?

Ah - that explains it.

I don't think they would have a leg to stand on

It depends. If they already knew the OP was not going to return to work this month they may not be able to show any financial loss. However, if the OP's sick note ran out before the end of the month they may be able to argue that they have suffered a loss due to having to take on a temp to cover. That loss would, of course, be partly ameliorated by the fact they wouldn't have to pay the OP anything for this month.

I'm intrigued that you're so confident you're never ever going to need a reference from them.

You say your second employer knows the circumstances of you leaving your last role - do they know the truth or do they think your first employer accepted your resignation with immediate effect? There is a very big difference.

I do hope you're exercising better comprehension skills in your new job than you are on this thread. It's not good that your first employer wasn't helpful when you were ill, but that in itself doesn't release you from your contractual obligations.

So you left job 1 because you’re not fit to do the job and had a sick note.

You can do job 2 because it’s a different type of role.

Why can’t you get another sick note from your doctor for the remaining 4 weeks of your contract of job 1?

As long as you’re not claiming sick pay then I don’t see what the problem would be with you working at your new job whilst being off sick from your old one.

The worst thing job 1 could do is sack you surely?

I’m presuming you’ve already got a reference for job 2.

@Theromanempire empire has hit that nail firmly on the head!

You're so ridiculous it's laughable. If you worked for a huge company they may well sue you for breach of contract.

You DID NOT finish working for them 2nd October. Despite what you think/feel/say to the contrary

Jewlry, do you have a mobile phone on a contract? If you decided you didn’t want the contract any more, would you walk into the shop, hand the phone over, and say “I’m done, I’m not paying anymore” and expect them to say ok? Because that’s effectively what you’ve done. You’re contracted until 30th October. If they choose to let you go earlier that’s up to them, but legally you can’t just walk away.