Leaving beyond contractual notice period

Pricivius

zzzLazyDaisy wrote: »

..... In English, what this means is that OP could give three months' notice if he wished, even though the contract states 4 weeks - the employer could not enforce the 4 weeks and terminate the contract then, as this would amount to an unfair dismissal....

Apologies for snipping this section out, but it is not necessarily the case. As I suggested earlier in the thread, the OP should check their contract on whether they can give excess notice. For example, my contract states that I am not entitled to give and the company is not obliged to accept notice in excess of X amount. If I give the company excess notice, the company may decide that my notice takes effect as X amount. This is precisely for the reasons stated in previous posts - so that I don't give 6 months' notice to spend on garden leave when I am only entitled to 1.

Uncertain

zzzLazyDaisy wrote: »

Sorry for the thesis, but I wanted to correct some of the misinformation that has appeared on this thread, for the benefit of others who may be reading it.

Quite!

As some of the regulars may have noticed I stopped posting on this forum at around the time SarEl was so appallingly treated and quite understandably walked away.

I greatly admire the time LazyDaisy and a handful of other well informed posters devote to the site. It is such a shame that their efforts are rather lost in the sea of misinformation and ignorance served up by many others.

Uncertain

Pricivius wrote: »

Apologies for snipping this section out, but it is not necessarily the case. As I suggested earlier in the thread, the OP should check their contract on whether they can give excess notice. For example, my contract states that I am not entitled to give and the company is not obliged to accept notice in excess of X amount. If I give the company excess notice, the company may decide that my notice takes effect as X amount. This is precisely for the reasons stated in previous posts - so that I don't give 6 months' notice to spend on garden leave when I am only entitled to 1.

Ummm....

This is a bit of a nonsense one. I wonder what would happen if, as a courtesy, you wrote to your company telling them that it was very likely that you may be handing in your notice in five months time?

It seems to me that you have a clause written by somebody who has not really thought through the implications.

You are not (normally) "entitled" to garden leave at all. It is something the firm may choose to impose if, for business reason, they feel it is preferable not to have you at work.

As an aside, unless your contract specifically provides for garden leave, the firm are technically in breach of contract by imposing it. OK, there aren't many situations where somebody will argue with being paid to not work but I think it has happened!

Anyway, my final post.

Evilm

Pricivius wrote: »

Apologies for snipping this section out, but it is not necessarily the case. As I suggested earlier in the thread, the OP should check their contract on whether they can give excess notice. For example, my contract states that I am not entitled to give and the company is not obliged to accept notice in excess of X amount. If I give the company excess notice, the company may decide that my notice takes effect as X amount. This is precisely for the reasons stated in previous posts - so that I don't give 6 months' notice to spend on garden leave when I am only entitled to 1.

I agree with you - I don't see why the employee should be able to force the employer to pay him more especially when they are expecting to be put on Garden leave. Completely unfair on the employer.

MrSnuggles

Evilm wrote: »

I agree with you - I don't see why the employee should be able to force the employer to pay him more especially when they are expecting to be put on Garden leave. Completely unfair on the employer.

There's no reason for the employer to allow garden leave. Just make the employee work for the notice period and if performance isn't up to standards then follow procedures to sack him/her.

Garden leave in my opinion is a personal favour, not a 'normal' working practice.

Pricivius

Uncertain wrote: »

Ummm....

This is a bit of a nonsense one. I wonder what would happen if, as a courtesy, you wrote to your company telling them that it was very likely that you may be handing in your notice in five months time?

It seems to me that you have a clause written by somebody who has not really thought through the implications.

You are not (normally) "entitled" to garden leave at all. It is something the firm may choose to impose if, for business reason, they feel it is preferable not to have you at work.

As an aside, unless your contract specifically provides for garden leave, the firm are technically in breach of contract by imposing it. OK, there aren't many situations where somebody will argue with being paid to not work but I think it has happened!

Anyway, my final post.

I apologise for misleading - my use of the word entitled with regard to garden leave was incorrect. Of course it is not an entitlement. However, in some jobs, confidentiality is very important and employees who have handed in their notice cannot remain on the premises. In such an instance, surely the employer must have a discretion to not accept excessive notice? Otherwise, I would be handing in 12 months notice and be marched from the premises to sit around at home on full pay for a year, when my notice period is only 1 month.

I do have a garden leave clause so there is no risk of a breach in this regard.

I am yet to hear of an employee advising a company of their intention to resign at some point in the future - but I guess it could happen. In such an instance, I would expect my company to meet with the individual, discuss the situation and work out where to go from there.

My point was that the OP may be in a confidential job whereby her contract may specify her notice in more detail and it's worth checking rather than presuming that she can give more.

zzzLazyDaisy

Pricivius wrote: »

Apologies for snipping this section out, but it is not necessarily the case. As I suggested earlier in the thread, the OP should check their contract on whether they can give excess notice. For example, my contract states that I am not entitled to give and the company is not obliged to accept notice in excess of X amount. If I give the company excess notice, the company may decide that my notice takes effect as X amount. This is precisely for the reasons stated in previous posts - so that I don't give 6 months' notice to spend on garden leave when I am only entitled to 1.

This is completely wrong information as a contract cannot over-rule statutory entitlement.

However I have no interest in entering into a debate about the law with random people on an internet forum.

For anyone else reading this - make sure you take legal advice before relying on the nonsense that is being posted on this thread.

I'm out!

MrSnuggles

Pricivius wrote: »

I apologise for misleading - my use of the word entitled with regard to garden leave was incorrect. Of course it is not an entitlement. However, in some jobs, confidentiality is very important and employees who have handed in their notice cannot remain on the premises. In such an instance, surely the employer must have a discretion to not accept excessive notice? Otherwise, I would be handing in 12 months notice and be marched from the premises to sit around at home on full pay for a year, when my notice period is only 1 month.

I do have a garden leave clause so there is no risk of a breach in this regard.

I am yet to hear of an employee advising a company of their intention to resign at some point in the future - but I guess it could happen. In such an instance, I would expect my company to meet with the individual, discuss the situation and work out where to go from there.

My point was that the OP may be in a confidential job whereby her contract may specify her notice in more detail and it's worth checking rather than presuming that she can give more.

No such thing. Until the employee actually leaves, s/he is still an employee and needs to work to full notice. Garden leave is NOT an entitlement. If you have a garden leave clause then you can possibly hand in two months notice but only take garden leave for the remaining four weeks. You'll be expected to work your notice before then. And any garden clause in a contract should be up to your employer's discretion. I doubt it actually says you're entitled to it.

browneii11

I've got a question guys, I've been with a company for 1 year and counting, I am now leaving my job. I have 1 week leave left, will that be included in my final pay packet or would that not be paid??

Also, when future employers ask for reference, what do they ask for? And do they give details about the job as per the job title and salary to the current employer?

Googlewhacker

browneii11 wrote: »

I've got a question guys, I've been with a company for 1 year and counting, I am now leaving my job. I have 1 week leave left, will that be included in my final pay packet or would that not be paid??

Also, when future employers ask for reference, what do they ask for? And do they give details about the job as per the job title and salary to the current employer?

If they do not allow you to take it then yes it must be paid.

A reference could be anything but typically is start date, end date and job title but they can say anything as long as it is factually correct

PS: You should really start new threads for queries rather than adding to an old one