given notice whilst in 'retainer period' should notice be at full pay or half pay??

[wickedwitchofwestfield]

I have been working as a temp nanny, this morning my boss called me up to tell me that the old nanny, who was on maternity leave, wants to come back early (september - baby will be 11 weeks old) so I she was giving me my one months notice

as my boss is a teacher, I am not required to work during holidays but instead get 1/2 my weekly pay.

she says that as the notice falls in the retainer paeriod, she only has to pay me 4 x 1/2 pay, I think that as the retainer is paid on the basis that there is a job to go back to, and there is now no job to go back to, I should be paid 4 x my normal pay

or is it just wishful thinking on my part

if it helps, the contract just says one months notice to terminate employment on either side

TIA x

You need to think of notice as time rather than money. Your contract says you should be given one month's notice of termination, which means that one month prior to the date your employment will terminate, your employer must tell you, and you should carry on getting paid as normal for that month.

There's no reason for you to be paid more during your notice period than you otherwise would be.

If your employer wants to terminate your employment straightaway and pay you in lieu of notice, she only needs to pay you the amount you would have received had you stayed employed for the whole month.

fair enough - does it make a difference that she wants to pay me at the end of the month?

No, not at all. She can either pay you straightaway for the money you'd normally get in the next month, and end the employment immediately, or she can just pay you as normal, presumably at the end of the month, and your employment will end in a month's time.

seems a bit unfair that I'm losing my job early and am only entitled to a months pay of £4.50 per hour but hey, such is life eh?

thanks btw x

But you wouldn't be getting full pay during that month normally anyway, and can presumably in theory find alternative work as well during that time as you are not required to actually work?

Such is life indeed, though!

yes but I would have been getting paid for another 3 weeks after that and then would have had a job to go back to - decent nanny jobs are slim pickings at the moment!

ah well.