Do I need to work my 3 months notice?

[PinglePongle]

12 months ago I was transferred by TUPE to a new owner and working life has been horrendous, I have suffered from depression and anxiety since the take over due to bullying from my new boss.

I have never taken time off sick for this and instead put all of my efforts in the last 12 months in to finding a new job in order to get out of there, I have finally been offered a great position elsewhere and I now need to get out of this toxic environment.

In my contract I have a 3 month notice period, this is inherited from my previous employer before the TUPE and no one else in the new company has this length of notice. I do not have a senior position nor high salary to justify the notice period.

I have asked my boss if I can compromise and work 11.5 weeks instead which I thought was a fair compromise given my role, they have point blank refused and told me I will be working 3 months (13 weeks)

The problem is that I already gave the 11.5 weeks notice date to my new employer and they have drawn up a contract, I could go back and ask them to revise this but at the same time I feel that my loyalty now lies with my new employer and they want me to start as soon as I can. This paired with me absolutely hating getting up and going in every day is getting me stressed again.

Should I get my new employer to push back my date or should I confirm in writing that I will only do the 11.5 weeks with some sort of written reason with the current employer.

I dread going back in on Monday because the bullying situation is going to get worse now I'm leaving

Are you owed holiday which you could take at the end of your three month period to effectively shorten it ?

Bear in mind that you could get signed off sick for stress if the situation at your current employer is really unbearable. Might be worth considering? Do you need a reference from them?

Yes I will be owed around 2 weeks (ideally wanted to take in the middle of my notice as otherwise I'm not going to spend any time with my kids until August hols now which means I'll have worked 8 months without a day off)

I do get full sick pay so that is playing on my mind a bit but I wanted to try and be reasonable about the situation, I don't need a reference from them

Ok so you don’t need a reference, that puts you in a reasonably good position. I think you should tell them you are taking the holiday you’re owed at the end of the notice period, so that means you know for sure you’ll be ok to start at the new employer on the date you’ve given them. Then see how it goes at work and if you need to get signed off for some time, do. Can you activate the bullying procedure with HR? Might be worth considering now that you’re on the way out.

But tbh unless your new employer needs you urgently it may be easier to simply let them know you made a mistake with the dates and push back your start date.

I would suggest that you could book the last two weeks of notice period as leave, and negotiate a short holiday with you new employers eg around May half term. I really do not know why employers behave as your existing one has, you have stuck it out under pressure and taken no time off sick and found a new job. It sounds like pure spite not to release you a bit early form the notice period.

Thank you for all of your replies, I can't start anything with HR as there isn't actually a department sadly.

I think I will go back regarding the holiday but I did read somewhere that the current employer can dictate when you take the annual leave, should I try anyway?

I had a months notice period at a previous job and walked out after two weeks because they treated me so horrendously. Nothing happened, just didn't get paid for it. Spoke to my new employer and started there the next day.

You can actually walk out they cant force you to stay

I have asked my boss if I can compromise and work 11.5 weeks instead which I thought was a fair compromise given my role, they have point blank refused and told me I will be working 3 months (13 weeks)

Your current employers are holding you to the letter of your contract. Yes they are entitled to do so, but pragmatically they are being spiteful and petty.

I'd just work your 11.5 weeks and don't return, and start your new job on the date you've agreed with your new employer. Send an email to your manager over the weekend after you've left stating you won't be returning as you will start your new employment on Monday. Let's face it, if they haven't secured a replacement person for you to hand over to, sometime within the 11.5 weeks' notice you will have served that's bad planning on their part. Not.Your.Problem.

Sometimes you just have to take a calculated risk in life to move forward to a better place. The chances of them taking legal action against you is minimal. Onwards and upwards.

I wouldn't do anything to rock the boat with your new employer, by going back on the start date you've agreed. Be brave and bold. Stick to your guns and soon you can put the nightmare behind you. You can bet your old employer will have forgotten about you about a minute after they know you're not coming back.

Thank you so much for your replies, I think my confidence is just quite low at the moment to fight back but I am going to try my best. With my bullying boss It's like being trapped in a bad relationship and not being able to leave even though I've finally found a way out.

You can always take the time off sick. I wouldn't feel guilty about it after the way you've been treated and not having any sick leave all year! Also, you can self-certify for a week, so you wouldn't even need to see a GP to get signed off for one week. I would push back the holiday to the end of your notice period (and take some time off sick to spend with your children) or if they won't allow the holiday, then either just go off sick or just don't turn up as other posters have said! You have a new job and you're starting with a new company so all good.

I find it a bit strange that you are prepared to work 11.5 weeks' notice, but you would consider breaching contract, damaging relationships, negatively impacting a future reference (I know you say you don't need one now, but you never know) and perhaps provoking some unpleasant correspondence (even if no actual legal action is taken), just to avoid an additional week and a half.

If your new employer was saying they can only wait a month, otherwise you'll lose the job, or similar, I could understand it and would advise you that the risks are fairly minimal. But if the new employer is comfortable with 11.5 weeks, they aren't going to suddenly withdraw their offer for the sake of an additional 10 days!

But if the new employer is comfortable with 11.5 weeks, they aren't going to suddenly withdraw their offer for the sake of an additional 10 days!

That's as maybe, but the OP has for whatever unfathomable reason set an expectation with the new employer that they will start their new post on x date. Altering the date now is ill advised whatever the reason was. It will just make the OP look flaky. If there's a choice to be made between upsetting the old employer or giving a negative impression to a new employer I'd pick the former. I doubt it will affect a reference. They'll probably do what most companies do nowadays - dates and role title minimal stuff. It's hardly a heinous crime to leave 2 weeks before the end of such a long notice period and its sounds like it's an inappropriate duration anyway.

The reason I chose 11.5 weeks is because for some reason I thought 3 months was 12 weeks and my boss hadn't been around for the week leading up to me speaking face to face (and I thought half a week wasn't that unreasonable)

My point is that if you’re going to “choose” a notice period less than what’s in your contract, at least, surely, make it worth while doing so!

I’ve no idea how your new employer would react- it depends what reason you gave them for it being 11.5 weeks in the first place I suppose.

Risks are pretty low but just seems bonkers to go through that for the sake of 10 days that’s all!

I reissue contracts for date changes all the time and I expect the first date suggested to be ‘draft’/best guess. But annoying if you’d given the impression that was definitely the date confirmed by current employer rather than ‘here’s a rough estimate’ but I wouldn’t bat an eyelid. What will your notice period be in the new job?

Nobody can make you stay there against your will. Just decide when you want to leave and tell your boss that's when you're going. They will deduct from your salary any days you didn't within your final payroll period. But they also have to pay you for any accumulated paid holiday not taken.