Pay during notice period and giving notice

andygunner

Dear all,

I have just given notice to my employment that I will be leaving. Unfortunately it hasn't been well received and come as a shock, but thats something they will deal with in time I am sure!

I had been employed since 05/09/2011 and was still within a 6 month probationary period, with 1 weeks' notice required from either party to terminate the contract.

I found another job last week and so gave my notice. I hand delivered two letters - one to my manager and one to the Managing Director, to the office I normally work at (which is not the head office some 30 miles away), on Friday 27th Jan, thus terminating my employment on Friday 03rd Feb. I explained in my letter I felt it best for me not to attend work that day and expected they would not want me to work my notice (as I was joining a rival firm), but that if they wanted me to come in, I was very happy to.

I missed a call from my manager in the morning but then spoke with him at 09:30am. He offered no direction as to whether I needed to come to work. I then received a call from the Company Secretary asking me to come to head office for a meeting at 1.30pm to discuss my notice.

I attended this meeting where I was told the company did not want me to work my notice period despite my offer to do so, and that they would not be paying me for my notice period. I had already been paid up to and including 31/01/2012 and so they calculated the 'overpayment' from 27/01/12 (as this is the date they deem my employment to have ceased) to 31/01/12. They have asked me to pay back this defecit before they will issue my P45.

They cite their reason for this being that I failed to attend to work on 27/01/12 and could only assume I had 'walked off the job'. However, I spoke to my manager at 09:30am and my notice letter clearly states that should they wish me work my notice, I am happy to do so. In addition they cite I failed to give my notice to the correct office (I work in the Hove office, the head office is in Worthing, 30 miles away - I gave it to the Hove office as this is my normal place of work).


So my questions are:

1. Is my employer entitled not to pay me for my notice period?
2. Can they demand I repay them the 'overpayment' before issuing my P45?

Sorry this is very long, I just through it best to detail all the facts!

thank you in advance to anybody kind enough to read this and offer their advice!

getmore4less

You should have turned up for work on fri 27 as normal

If head office phoned you on 27th then they had recieved the notice
If you went into the office then you were working at least some of that day.

What does the contract say about notice.

What does the contract say about unauthorised absense(allthough I would reject hat you did not turn up if you went to the office and got told you need not work notice on the 27th)

Giving notice in writing to you manager would most probably be OK

Under normal surcumstances they should pay you your notice and any accrued but untaken holiday.

I think the response should be to reject their proposal as an illegal deduction of wages.

Thank them for not needing you to work your notice and that would they prefer to pay outstanding wages/holiday immediately as PILON or prefer you to be on garden leave.

Uncertain

The P45 is a bit of a red herring as you can simply fill in a p46 and give this to your new employers.

I suppose, strictly speaking, you should have turned up on the 27th in the normal way and waited for them to send you home. Whether they would really spend time arguing about this if you made a claim is debatable - but is it worth it?

A technical point (if you really want to argue). Does your contract give the firm the right to make a payment in lieu of you working your notice? If not, then technically they are in breach of contract. This is so seldom an issue as most people are quite happy to be paid and not have to work!
However, given that you offered them this option in your letter even this gets a bit weak.

If you are not bothered about any future relationship with this firm then you could tell them to get lost.

Equally, a polite letter explaining the misunderstanding may have the same result.

As stated above, do they owe you any holiday?

Given that you have the money and they have lost the opportunity to simply deduct it you are in a stronger position (practically - not legally!).

You could work out what you think is correct and send them this amount with details of how you calculated it in "full and final settlement" and see if they accept it.

Judith_W

I would refute that they could only assume you had 'walked off the job' as you provided a resignation letter and spoke to managers etc. on that day. I agree that you should have gone in as normal but you did speak to senior staff on the day so clearly you should not be penalised a whole week!

With giving notice to the wrong place, I would assume this would usually mean that the effective from date is later rather than void, so if the correct person didn't get the notice until Monday, then your notice wouldn't start until then.