Change of notice period

[FloBot7]

Hi all,

My DH has been asked to extend his notice period from 1 month to 3 months. At the moment, he only needs to give them 1 months notice and they need to give him 3 months notice. They've had some problems with employee retention in his area and rather than fix it, want more time to get new staff in. The new set up will be 3 months notice on both sides. If he refuses to accept it, can they change his contract anyway?

They haven't offered anything in return which makes me wonder if they are asking with the knowledge they can force the change on anyone who refuses. Otherwise it would be a bit like your landlord or your gym asking if you'd mind changing from one months notice to three months notice (who would do that for no benefit?).

Following with interest

They can’t unilaterally change a contract, I can’t see any upside to him agreeing either. But it is very unusual to have unequal notice periods, if it were the other way around, I doubt it would be enforceable.

I should have mentioned he has been there for 13 years. Everyone who has been there for over a decade is being asked to change but only in his area of the company (IT).

They used to offer the unequal notice period as an incentive for quite a competitive area. These days new employees gets 1 month or 3 months on both sides.