Handing in my notice due to house move, not sure how to handle

Jenny.W

We are in the early stages of the selling. Basically in the last 3 weeks we have an offer on our house and have had an offer accepted on a house, however we are moving to another county so therefore will be leaving my job.

I have been there 10 years. We are a small firm and quite close, only 5 of us.

I feel I ought to tell them our plans and to give them a heads-up, so to speak, as I would feel bad going through the whole process and then just give them 4 weeks notice at the end. I think they would be disappointed that I couldn't say anything but at the same time I'm worried they'll let me go and then I could end up without a job or worse case the sale falls through and no job

The company is ticking over, we've had better years and my hours were cut 18 months ago as well as the 2 directors taking pay cuts. Things seem ok at the moment and I'm not worried that the company is struggling but worried that they may use the opportunity to let me go if they know I'm going to be gone in a few months time.

So I'm very confused as to what is the right and best thing to do?

marlot

Only you know whether they would take advantage of you letting them know. If you have any doubts then keep quiet.

mcfisco

Jenny.W wrote: »

Things seem ok at the moment and I'm not worried that the company is struggling but worried that they may use the opportunity to let me go if they know I'm going to be gone in a few months time.

So I'm very confused as to what is the right and best thing to do?

In that case, they'd have to pay you redundancy and give you 10 weeks notice or PILON.
I'd tell them if I felt there was reciprocated loyalty in the company, with a promise to update them as and when.
If you don't feel the love back from them, I'd simply give them the required notice at the relevant time.

Jenny.W

mcfisco wrote: »

In that case, they'd have to pay you redundancy and give you 10 weeks notice or PILON.
I'd tell them if I felt there was reciprocated loyalty in the company, with a promise to update them as and when.
If you don't feel the love back from them, I'd simply give them the required notice at the relevant time.

thanks mcfisco - is the 10 weeks notice because I've been there 10 years?

In that case then I feel better about it.

As a company, we've all been through a lot together, they've been good to me but likewise I've been a good, loyal employee and deep down I feel that been honest and open is the best thing.

So basically my "chat" with them would be to simply tell them of our plans and would not constitute as handing in my notice?

Our chat would be very informal, over a cup of tea - where on earth do I start? Just say "we plan to move to Somerset and I just wanted to give you a heads-up as I felt I couldn't go through the process without telling you blah blah blah.....and I promise to keep you updated as we along"

does that sound ok and at what point do I say that I will need to hand in my notice? This is the tricky part for me.

Takeaway_Addict

I wouldn't tell them until you have to as you never know what might change in the near future

Jenny.W

Takeaway_Addict wrote: »

I wouldn't tell them until you have to as you never know what might change in the near future

this is the problem, I don't know when that "right time" will be?

We all know the ups and downs with the moving process but If I wait until exchange and only have 2 weeks between exchange and completion then that will really mess things up

zugzwang

Your contract should specify the formal notice period. Dont give formal notice (ie written) until you have to.

If you are worried it will fall through, then perhaps you have outstanding holiday they will let you take (?) or you can B&B for 2 weeks.

This doesn't mean you can't tell them what you plan informally. Needn't be a big deal with tea and stuff. Just in passing you can say you are hoping to move to cider country.

It's best to leave on good terms of course. You may need them for a reference. They will appreciate time to retrain someone to do your job, arrange a handover or otherwise adapt to your probable departure. They may be happy to accept a short formal notice period if you talk it through.

So I don't see any drawbacks to telling them informally unless you expect them to behave in some vindictive way just because you are leaving. Seems unlikely if you say they've been good to you, but only you can judge.

Fluff15

I would hope that as you've been there so long, and you have a good working relationship with your employers, that if it all suddenly moves along that you must up sticks and leave within two weeks that they would understand.

You should just detail your concerns about notice period etc to them, as you have to us once you've explained you're moving as you'll no longer be able to work with the company and go from there. If your hours have been cut, it may be the case that you have to train up current staff to do your role, rather bringing somebody new in and this would work in your favour, as they wouldn't be pushing you out of the door.

Unfortunately only you know how well this will go with your employers, but I hope it's fine. I'm quite lucky to have a good boss who I know would be okay with what you're currently experiencing, but not everybody is so lucky. Just say how you've been really pleased to work for them, and you wouldn't be leaving if you didn't have to. Keep things on good terms in case you ever need a reference. Good luck.

Pricivius

I'm afraid I'm in the camp of not telling them.

Whilst i appreciate it's the nice thing to do, what can they actually do with that information? You're thinking of leaving and might be going in 2 months or it could be 3, 4 or 6 or even longer. They can't plan anything, just as much as you can't, so it's not as though they can start looking for your replacement or divvying up your work amongst others. Until you have date, I can't see how it helps them to know. In a way, it could make things worse for them as they might not know whether to include you in new work or projects, they might not want you to continue your relationships with clients/customers knowing that you might be off and that others will need to build up those relationships etc... Obviously it depends on what your role is and what the company does, but would it really help them to know that you might be leaving at some point in the next 6 months, maybe?

Jenny.W

My notice is minimum 4 weeks.

After reading the replies from zugzwang and fluff15, I was coming round to the idea that it would be a good idea to tell. THEN what pricivius said is also true so I can see good reasons for both scenarios.

I doubt they will replace me...I work 3 mornings a week and work isn't in abundance so I do worry how things will go over the next few months.

Part of me feels that to tell them is what I owe them but now, as pricivius says, I might not go for 3/6 months and this could just be hanging over everyone's heads.

And there was me thinking I'd get a definitive answer

claret_mike

Usually when you exchange contracts and complete they are withina short period of time. I seem to recall last time we moved it was same day.

How do you work that in with notice period?

Other thing- could you work remotely to keep your role and save them hassle.

What has prompted your move? Could you start dropping that into conversations now. "My partner is starting to look further a field for work" etc?