Notice period while on probation

zzzLazyDaisy

Congratulations on getting the new job and good luck with it!

Do you have any holidays owing? If so you may be able to persuade your current employer to let you take them as part of your notice period (since otherwise they'd have to pay you for them when you leave).

The statutory notice is irrelevant as that simply refers to the minimum notice that must be given, and a longer contractual notice over-rides this. If your employer terminated your employment they would have to give you the contractual notice too (you say that you know that they wouldn't, but if they failed to give you notice, or to pay you the money that you would have earned if you had worked your notice, then you would enforce the payment through an employment tribunal).

If you don't work your full notice, then they could take you to court for their losses. As another poster has said, that is only the additional costs - so if you are paid £100 a week, and an agency person costs £150 a week, you could be liable for the extra £50 for the two weeks you didn't work. But they would have to take you to court, and as the amount is less than £5k, it would be a small claims court case, so you would not be liable for their solicitor's fees. Of course if your work went to an existing employee, there would be no additional cost for them to claim. It is not unheard of for an employer to pursue an action like this, but for the sake of two weeks it is very unlikely, so in your case the risk is probably not high (though only you can know this employer well enough to assess the risk of them taking it further).

Regarding how you would pay the amount if they did take you to court - frankly I am appalled that the person on the end of the ACAS telephone helpline gave you that advice! No-one can know if the judge would let you pay in installments, as it depends on your circumstances at the time, and to some extent, what mood the judge is in.

HTH, Dx