working my full notice period

tornado310

Hi All

I've got a bit of a dilema...

I've got offered a new job in Late December but was putting off making a decision, until now....I handed my notice in to my current employer on Thursday 8th Feb, I stated in my resignation letter that I wanted my last day of work to be Friday 24th Feb, they accepted my letter but stated my "official" last day of work would be the 8th March - 1 months notice

I've told my new company I would start on Monday the 27th Feb, and come what may, that's the day i will start

what are my options? just walk out on the 24th as per normal and don't say a thing? (luckily the 24th is my monthly payday!) TELL them that the 24th is my final day and there's no negotiation ? go off "sick" for the 2 weeks?



any advice you have would be greatly appreciated

thanks, Paul

tizerbelle

Obviously they can't physically force you to work your notice but if you don't you will be in breach of contract. There is a chance (very slim but a chance nonetheless) that they may sue you for any costs caused by your breach of contract e.g if they have to get a contractor to cover your work for the remaining notice period.

The likelihood is that if you ever need a reference off them it will be mentioned that you failed to serve your notice period. Its also likely to colour the rest of the reference as well so what may have been a good reference may become less than satisfactory.

Personally in my opinion behaviour of this sort is unforgivable. Why should the terms of notice not apply to the employee when if the employer said we're only giving you half your notice, every one would be up in arms

Going4TheDream

It is unlikely that your company will take legal action as such if you don't work the full notice if you are only obliged to give a month but it is a very small possibility and dependant upon costs they incur as a result I think it is worth considering have they given a reference already for your new employer and what period does the pay your receive on the 24th cover - if it covers up to the end of the month then you will have to pay back the overpayment. Really its down to how comfortable you feel about not going back as it seems that you are determined to start on the 27th but perhaps need to consider the above points. Is there no compromise with either employer ie finish old earlier or start new one later

I wouldn't put a sick note in as I think it would be very obvious what you were doing and as ssp is paid by the government would probably be illegal to be getting ssp but actually be working for another employer!

Perhaps you should have considered all this a while back...December is a long time ago and effectively you are leaving your current employer in the lurch!!!!

Mrs_Arcanum

Have you got any annual leave outstanding? If so you may be able to include this within your notice period.

tornado310

many thanks for the feedback tizerbelle,

however, there's more to the story than I first wrote..

fisrtly, I'm a 44 year old and I've only worked for 3 company's my whole life, my current company I've work for for just 3 years and during that time I've been lied to many times [as an example - 3 months after starting my employement they decided to close the facility i was working at and relocate all the staff to another plant 20 miles away, hmmmm.....forgot to mention that in the interview!]

anyway, the final straw was the 2011 annual bonus [and no, it's not a bankers size bonus], normally paid in the January [2012] pay packet, then told February, now March.....

Can I sue them for breach of contract for non-payment of my bonus?????

tornado310

Mrs_Arcanum wrote: »

Have you got any annual leave outstanding? If so you may be able to include this within your notice period.

I've accrued 5 days holiday so far this year - 4 days short!

DCFC79

tornado310 wrote: »

many thanks for the feedback tizerbelle,

however, there's more to the story than I first wrote..

fisrtly, I'm a 44 year old and I've only worked for 3 company's my whole life, my current company I've work for for just 3 years and during that time I've been lied to many times [as an example - 3 months after starting my employement they decided to close the facility i was working at and relocate all the staff to another plant 20 miles away, hmmmm.....forgot to mention that in the interview!]

You thought that maybe the move wasnt even on the cards when you joined.

With you leaving earlier it could leave you with a bad reference for your next job eg the job after the 1 your moving too

t0rt0ise

You can't take annual leave in your notice period unless they agree anyway so you will have to do some negotiating.

I should imagine your writing in your notice letter that you intend to leave on a certain date has got them riled. Had you said that you're giving your month's notice but would like to leave earlier if at all possible then it might have been looked on more favourably.

tornado310

DCFC79 wrote: »

You thought that maybe the move wasnt even on the cards when you joined

yes it was, can't prove it though - the word "conned" springs to mind
I went from a 11 mile commute to 32!

Googlewhacker

tornado310 wrote: »

yes it was, can't prove it though - the word "conned" springs to mind
I went from a 11 mile commute to 32!

and yet stayed another 2 years 9 months...can't have been that bad!

tornado310

Googlewhacker wrote: »

and yet stayed another 2 years 9 months...can't have been that bad!

if you hadn't noticed the job market is a bit "tight" at the moment