Contrat Notice - Longer Period?

Hey,

I shall be making a move abroad, quite possibly after Christmas, and i've been thinking about the notice period i will have to give.

Currently employed by a Local Authority and my contract states i will have to give your standard one month's notice. I have been contemplating handing it in soon, stating i intend to leave on such a date in January 2017.

As this would be more than a month's notice, more than my contract agreement requires, could they legally get rid of me after four weeks? I'm hoping to secure a casual contract with them, thinking a longer period of notice would give more time to discuss this option...

Would my employer's HR be able to advise me on this?

Thanks ")
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Comments

  • If you're planning on leaving in January why say anything until you have to?

    If you handed your notice into me now then I'd expect you to leave after a month, not when it suited you
  • sangie595
    sangie595 Posts: 6,092 Forumite
    A local authority will not attempt to get rid of you any quicker, and will doubtless appreciate the additional notice. There is no reason not to give them more warning - especially if you are hoping for them to do something for you!
  • TELLIT01
    TELLIT01 Posts: 16,366
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    I'm no expert on the subject, but from the employer's viewpoint my thought process would be -
    I know x is leaving in January.
    He has given us more than one month notice
    I should start recruiting, or training somebody for the job, now
    If I have somebody in place before the proposed leaving date I will let / make them leave early.

    Whether they can do that if they initially accept your notice as leaving in January, I don't know. It would be a concern for me.
    You may also find that public sector organisations will not re-employ people, even on a casual contract, for a period after they left. My niece fell foul of that issue. She had worked for Royal Mail and left about 3 years ago. She moved area and applied for a job in the new area. The recruitment company told her she had been successful, but a few days later she received a letter apologising and she couldn't have the job because of the date of her previous employment.

    Bottom line, I would only hand my notice in when I had to.
  • sangie595
    sangie595 Posts: 6,092 Forumite
    TELLIT01 wrote: »
    I'm no expert on the subject, but from the employer's viewpoint my thought process would be -
    I know x is leaving in January.
    He has given us more than one month notice
    I should start recruiting, or training somebody for the job, now
    If I have somebody in place before the proposed leaving date I will let / make them leave early.

    Whether they can do that if they initially accept your notice as leaving in January, I don't know. It would be a concern for me.
    You may also find that public sector organisations will not re-employ people, even on a casual contract, for a period after they left. My niece fell foul of that issue. She had worked for Royal Mail and left about 3 years ago. She moved area and applied for a job in the new area. The recruitment company told her she had been successful, but a few days later she received a letter apologising and she couldn't have the job because of the date of her previous employment.

    Bottom line, I would only hand my notice in when I had to.


    That may be what you would do. I can tell you for a fact that it is not what a local authority will do. They will not dismiss early. Not unless you do something to warrant it. They are risk adverse when it comes to tribunals, and that would be unfair dismissal without a doubt. They are also chock full of processes to stop this sort of thing happening. It would take so long to dismiss that they wouldn't get around to it until next March!

    Local authorities often employ former employees. In fact it is common. There are some regulations around redundancy / retirement in some authorities, but that does not apply here. If they have good business grounds to take the OP on as a casual, they will. If they don't, they won't.
  • Undervalued
    Undervalued Posts: 8,839
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    sangie595 wrote: »
    That may be what you would do. I can tell you for a fact that it is not what a local authority will do. They will not dismiss early. Not unless you do something to warrant it. They are risk adverse when it comes to tribunals, and that would be unfair dismissal without a doubt. They are also chock full of processes to stop this sort of thing happening. It would take so long to dismiss that they wouldn't get around to it until next March!

    Local authorities often employ former employees. In fact it is common. There are some regulations around redundancy / retirement in some authorities, but that does not apply here. If they have good business grounds to take the OP on as a casual, they will. If they don't, they won't.

    True. However the other downside to giving notice early would be if, however unlikely, the OP's plans were to change. Some unexpected family emergency or war breaking out in the country he is moving to perhaps! If that were to happen he would need the employer's agreement to cancel his notice and it is always possible they might refuse.
  • sangie595
    sangie595 Posts: 6,092 Forumite
    True. However the other downside to giving notice early would be if, however unlikely, the OP's plans were to change. Some unexpected family emergency or war breaking out in the country he is moving to perhaps! If that were to happen he would need the employer's agreement to cancel his notice and it is always possible they might refuse.
    True. But, as you say, unlikely. It depends on what the OP thinks would change their mind. - they could simply inform them now without actually handing in their notice as long as they are careful with how they word it, but I wouldn't leave it all to the last moment if they are hoping to even try to negotiate a "favour".
  • ohreally
    ohreally Posts: 7,525
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    Provide your contractual notice or you could be on the receiving end of an early exit.
    Don’t be a can’t, be a can.
  • sangie595
    sangie595 Posts: 6,092 Forumite
    ohreally wrote: »
    Provide your contractual notice or you could be on the receiving end of an early exit.
    Really? On what basis? People cannot be dismissed because they are resigning. It would still be unfair dismissal. Perhaps other employers act like this - although it would be a very risky proposition for them. But local authorities do not. Giving more than the required notice is far from unusual.
  • TELLIT01
    TELLIT01 Posts: 16,366
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    sangie595 wrote: »
    That may be what you would do. I can tell you for a fact that it is not what a local authority will do.

    I didn't say it was what I would do, I said it could be the employer's thought process. I also said I didn't know whether or not they could do it.

    I wonder how you can speak with such certainly for ALL local authorities.
  • sangie595
    sangie595 Posts: 6,092 Forumite
    TELLIT01 wrote: »
    I didn't say it was what I would do, I said it could be the employer's thought process. I also said I didn't know whether or not they could do it.

    I wonder how you can speak with such certainly for ALL local authorities.
    On this issue, easily. Processes for dismissal are nationally agreed and in accordance with the law. So, in order to dismiss they will need a reason that complies with a legally fair dismissal. They will need to convince HR of that. Then they will need to begin the process. Which, in itself, takes several weeks up. If they then get to a stage where the process is legally fair as a dismissal, then that would be beyond the point at which the OP is resigning. So the OP will be laughing all the way to the bank anyway, having got all that full pay AND notice pay on top of it. Of course if it isn't a legally fair dismissal, then the OP simply needs to start a tribunal and they will be laughing all the way to the bank even more.

    It's very simple really. Local authorities can be stupid employers. They can be bad employers. But they are a long way off being on another planet! They will not dismiss someone for resigning! On the other hand, the OP is hoping that they want him or her enough to throw some more work their way. They aren't likely to be inclined to do that when someone drops the bomb that they are packing up and leaving at the end of the month. Yes they knew for months but decided to say nothing at all. Is that likely to be conducive to the OP continuing an emptying relationship with them?
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