Not giving full notice

[confusedlittleone]

What if anything can a company legally do if you don't give them your full contracted notice period (i.e 1 months notice instead of 3) circumstances mean more notice isn't possible

You are in breach of contract.

It probably depends on what the circumstances are but your best bet is to speak with them and negotiate

Legally, they can take you to court for beach of contract. They could get awarded costs for their losses for whatever it costs them to cover your post while they find an alternative employee for the duration of your notice period. If you've taken holiday in excess of your Pro-rata entitlement, you will have an overpayment which will need to be deducted/repaid (as long as your contract allows). In reality, rarely is this all done.

Speak with them first - in reality they will probably do nothing as it's hardly in their interests to have a disgruntled employee on their hands who is only "going through the motions" till they can walk out the door.

However, in the interests of having an amicable exit it's best to approach your manager and explain that you wish to leave before your contracted notice period. Obviously offer to make as smooth an exit as possible - complete all work, leave behind any written instructions for unfinished work, How To notes for your successor etc. Have you any annual leave left that you can use up as well?

In most cases the chances of them taking any legal action against you are slim, because normally their losses aren't sufficient to make it worthwhile. However clearly you are likely to wave goodbye to a decent reference from them, which for most people would be something to be concerned about.

Most references for established companies only state your name, job title and dates of employment.

It’s possible to negotiate most of the the time, I have done so before.

Most of the time if you explain politely that it will be difficult for you to work full notice and can you agree a shorter finish (and whatever else you can do to make things smoother, handover notes etc) you will be able to shorten your notice period without affecting your reference or majorly pissing anyone off.

I think if you present it as a fait accompli without discussion, the pissing-off factor will be much higher.

Yes in theory they can take you to court for losses but I've never seen this happen,

I have seen it happen but only once but it did cost them a lot if money as they defrndant had to pay recuitment costs plus the extra it cost for suit term agency cover as it was simply the business could not run without someone with her qualifications and she was so gleeful that she could leave them in the lurch (i think it was her attitude that made the company chase her more then anything)

There is invariably a back-story involving poor relations eg leaving the company in the lurch, attendance/timekeeping issues during the employment period, which would influence a company's decision to pursue for losses associated with not completing a notice period.

If you do it the right way, which is to propose a leaving date and enter into a dialogue, then you stand the best chance of being released. Also bear in mind that being released in 9 weeks when on a 12 week notice period isnt an unreasonable request, but being released in a week when on a 4 week notice period probably won't go down well.

If your new employer tries to put you under duress to join them sooner than your notice period ends, then be firm but polite in reminding them of your contractual obligation to your current employers.

Im staggered when I hear of companies putting pressure onto their new recruit to join quicker even though they are told the candidate's notice period. They wouldn't like it if the boot was on the other foot and their employee "walked" earlier than they should!

Just to clarify that the person isn't going to be moving into a new job for many years so reference isn't on their mind. They can't disclose the exact reason why they need to leave as the HR person is known for gossiping and the situation hasn't been disclosed to all family members yet (person in question has a child that's been diagnosed with a terminal illness)
They will be handing in notice tomorrow as it's their bosses first day back.

And they have a job that several others in the company can do (and those other people have multiple people who can cover for them if needed)

They're asking for a month- notice period is 3 months

If it was me I'd find someone in the company I trusted not to gossip (if they can't trust the boss). I'd then put the situation to them and ask them to let you off the notice period on compassionate grounds. I am pretty sure that most people would be more than reasonable. If I didn't trust HR I would calmly state that too.

However, if the person goes and leaves them in the lurch they may decide to make an example of the employee and take them to court (to discourage others from doing it). Negotiation with a statement of the facts with someone trusted is far, far better than leaving 2 months earlier than the notice period allows and hoping they don't see the employee in court. The employee may think you have a watertight case and there are others that can do the job - however it's what they can prove in a court, not necessarily what the reality is. I have been a COO and been party to a number of industrial tribunals.

They could ask for a month parental leave and a month unpaid compassionate leave...