what does this mean in my contract re termination

mjefmjef

Many thanks to you all.
As confusing as this all sounds, that can only be to my advantage, as the wording IS NOT Clear or Unambiguous as is required.
Life is never simple! just want that (sunny) island all to myself!

zzzLazyDaisy

Just to add to the argument ....

If someone wishes to make a claim to an employment tribunal, they have three (calendar) months in which to make the claim.

So, if they are dismissed on, say, 9th July, they have until 8th October to make the claim.

If they are dismissed on 9th February they have until 8th May - which is actually 4 days less because Feb and April are short months, but that's too bad, as the tribunals work on calendar months.

So on that basis OP's interpretation would be right. It's the 'ending on the last day of a calendar month' that gets me, as it reads as if any notice, whenever given must always end on the last day of the month (a bit like saying giving notice to terminate a tenancy must end on a rent day).

But I agree, it is confusing and that is in your favour - especially considering that even your employer doesn't understand it (on any reading it can't mean one calendar month plus 30 days!)

mjefmjef

just to add, we are still at loggerheads, and acas mentioned above only get involved after grievence proceedure breaks down....but there is no grievence proceedure in my contract!
The company has just 8 in the offices and no HR dept. They say a solicitor drew the contract up. well, its so poor and has so little detail in it. there is no supplementary booklet either.

zzzLazyDaisy

I suspect that a solicitor may have drawn the contract up at some point, but what happens is these things then friends do each other a favour and pass them on and then they get amended by people who don't understand the legalities or the practical effect that their changes have made.

tbh I am surprised that the employer is determined to hang onto to an employee who is so obviously disgruntled!

Re the grievance procedure - a GP should form part of your T&Cs, by law. So all you need to do is to write a short memo/email simply stating that you have taken advice about the confusion over your notice period and you have been advised to consult the company's grievance procedure, so could he please let you have a copy of this document by the end of the day.

He will either tell you they have no grievance procedure, or he will give you a copy. If he fails/refuses to provide info about the grievance procedure then you can't invoke it.

Debt_Free_Chick

My view is that you must give one calendar month's notice with that notice expiring at the end of a calendar month.

So if you want to give the minimum notice, you must do so at the first opportunity on the first day of any month (or the previous day to be absolutely sure). Your last day will then be the final day of that month.

If you choose to give notice on any other day of the month, then you are opting to give more than one calendar's month's notice.

This is an "old" clause and goes back to the days when payroll departments found it cumbersome to calculate pay for "odd" days and simply wanted to pay in whole weeks/days only. In the same way, it used to common for monthly paid employees to retire not on their birthday, but at the end of the month in which their birthday fell (when retiring at normal retirement age).

Of course, it never worked as payroll had to calculate and pay for odd days anyway, due to holiday owed but not taken.

Nevertheless, these clauses have persisted, although they are rapidly disappearing, hence they are not well understood these days (God, I sound old!!)

Savvy_Sue

If you look on the ACAS website you'll see what a grievance procedure should look like, so you can always start following it!

anamenottaken

I worked under an employment contract with a similar notice clause. It certainly did require notice to expire at the end of a calendar month and therefore someone handing in their notice on 7 May would expect their last day of employment to be on 30 June.

That was back in the 1970s in a medium size construction company.

anamenottaken

Debt_Free_Chick wrote: »

So if you want to give the minimum notice, you must do so at the first opportunity on the first day of any month (or the previous day to be absolutely sure). Your last day will then be the final day of that month.

I believe it should be on the last possible day of the previous month because, however early in the day the notice is given, the period starts running from the next calendar day.