Notice period... can i ask for a shorter one?

[happysadgirl1986]

I work for the CS/HMPPS and hate my job and have a few interviews coming up. My contract states that I have to give a months’ notice but my last day has to be the end of the month. So if I gave my notice in on 15/11/20 I would have to work until the end of December.
Just wanted to know if anyone has successfully asked for their notice period to be shorter than specified in their contract? If so how did you convince your employer ?

Yep that's a pretty common request and quite often granted, although I can see that starting a new job in the middle of December might not be the best. As to how to persuade them, the underlying consideration for a manager is (on the pro side of letting someone go early) is that it's rarely a good thing to have someone who really wants to leave hanging around longer than they want to be, they usually are not particularly productive, it can delay starting new projects etc (as you don't want one person starting the project then having to hand over) and if the person is particularly pissed off they may even hold a grudge against the organisation or may just choose to leave anyway (and legally you can't really stop them doing that). On the con side, ideally you would want to recruit a new person and have them in in time to receive a handover or some training from the old person, which is virtually impossible if you agree a short notice period. That being said even 4-6 weeks is pretty short for CS recruitment and given the time of year unless it was an internal appointment or managed move they probably wouldn't get someone in the time anyway even if you did a full 4-6 weeks.

As to how to present it, I don't think you really want to imply you'll be pissed off or uncooperative if they don't agree particularly if you need a reference from them, so I think I'd just simply ask, give a particular reason if you like (e.g. wanting to start before Christmas) - the worst they can say is no. You don't say where your interviews are but they are much more likely to agree if it's a CS job than external...

Thank you so much you have really helped my inner turmoil, now it just need to actually get another job. Lol
I know starting mid-December wouldn’t be ideal and not very realistic either, but I would rather give my notice in and sit at home not being paid for a couple of weeks rather than be where I am .
Both my interviews are CS one internal and one external.
I know with internal roles your given a start date and then you make you organisation aware to suit, as my current role was internal CS/ MOJ. I just really hate this job and am giving myself any hope I can

You can ask for whatever you like, the question is will you be granted your request. There is no template for how this will go, for every person that has had a shorter notice period agreed there will be another that hasn’t.

Whether your employer agrees will depend on things such as current workload, likelihood of recruiting a replacement quickly and how much of a handover is required.

You can always ask. Our contracts have 3 months but we normally try and get people to freedom at around a week or instantaneously!

Good luck!