Handing in notice

[Stumpy54321]

Hi. I’ve worked for the same company for 15 years and planning on leaving within the next 6 months. The length of notice period is minimum of 4 weeks then add on a week for every years service to a maximum of 12 weeks. This is for all staff not just management. I feel this is acceptable for managers but for staff it’s just too long. Will a new place of work wait 12 weeks for you to start a new job? Also what would happen if I didn’t give the required notice? I’m not a skilled worker or management so my role would be easy to replace.

Highly unusual. Employer notice is legally minimum of 1 week pa, max 12 weeks. Is this in your contract/statement of particulars?

In my industry it’s always 12 weeks so new employers expect it. Sometimes we then also have covenants on our contracts which prevent us working for competitors or clients for a further period of time after the notice period. My last one was a further 3 months but they can be 6 months or longer.

Hi. Thanks for the reply. I always believed it to be 4 weeks notice but found it changed some years back. It’s stated in the employee handbook. Just seems a very long time for a new employer to wait for someone to start a new role.

Three months is normal for senior roles. Not so common for junior roles but it shouldn't faze a good company.

If you're on good terms with your manager you can probably negotiate down to a more standard 4 weeks.

Well that's the same basically: max 12 weeks.

OP, 3 months is relatively common for anything above front line service work eg checkouts, hospitality etc . It is particularly common in hard to recruit sectors.

Tell your new employer about the policy and tell the old one you'd like to depart earlier if they're happy to let you. They will highly likely say yes as having someone coasting for three months is a PITA for everyone.

Can you take your annual leave as part of it?

Defo worth trying to negotiate an earlier exit. If it’s an easy-to-fill job there might not be an issue. Also add in outstanding annual leave.

Fairly standard and usually negotiable to some extent. Employers expect it.

Hi. I work in hospitality not a senior role at all. I didn’t think about using holidays so this could be an option. When the time comes I will see if I can leave earlier.

In that case 12 weeks seems extreme, is that what's in your contract?

It’s just stated in the employee handbook not sure where my contract is 🤦‍♀️

3 months is pretty standard in lots of industries now tbh. Lot of employers increased their notice periods during the "great resignation" period post COVID.**