Does my employer have to honour my notice period?

shireknight

I've worked for my employer for 8 years and I know if they wanted to get rid of me they would need to give me 8 weeks notice and if I wanted to leave I would have to give them 8 weeks notice as well but what about the following scenario?

If I was to hand in my 8 weeks notice tomorrow could my employer then turn round and say "nah that's ok Shire we don't need 8 weeks notice you can pack your bags and leave at the end of this week" and rob me of 7 weeks pay or would they have to let me work my 8 weeks notice or pay me 8 weeks wages if they wanted me to vacate early?

specialboy

Unless its in your contract you only have to give 1 weeks notice.

getmore4less

They have to pay you for your notice either by you working it, garden leave(stay on contract but don't work) or compensation for breach of contract if they ask you leave early.

Check your contract for any terms on notice and using holidays during notice.

Andy_L

getmore4less wrote: »

They have to pay you for your notice either by you working it, garden leave(stay on contract but don't work) or compensation for breach of contract if they ask you leave early.

Check your contract for any terms on notice and using holidays during notice.

However they could come to an agreement with you to let you go early (if that's in your & their interests), in which case they wouldn't have to pay you notice

InsideInsurance

Its only by mutual agreement that the notice period can be shortened or if they pay you in lieu of giving you the notice

You are talking about the statutory notice periods which is the minimum by law that they can be. You need to check your contract to ensure that they arent longer than the statutory requirement

Gavin83

As said legally they have to pay you your contracted notice period, regardless of if you actually work this or not. If you work in a particularly sensitive role they may ask you to leave straight away.

This can, through agreement be shortened but both parties have to agree on this.

Undervalued

Gavin83 wrote: »

As said legally they have to pay you your contracted notice period, regardless of if you actually work this or not.

Yes, but is it contracted?

The OP doesn't make this clear. As he has worked there for eight years he is entitled to eight weeks notice. However, that doesn't work the other way round unless his contract says so. The notice required FROM an employee remains at one week regardless of length of service unless the contract says otherwise.

InsideInsurance

Undervalued wrote: »

Yes, but is it contracted?

The OP doesn't make this clear. As he has worked there for eight years he is entitled to eight weeks notice. However, that doesn't work the other way round unless his contract says so. The notice required FROM an employee remains at one week regardless of length of service unless the contract says otherwise.

But that still remains, they give their weeks notice the company cannot turn round and tell them not to come back after they leave today and then not pay them for the following week.

They give their notice, the longer of the contractual or statutory, they must be paid for that notice period unless they have mutual agreement otherwise.

Obviously when people have a longer notice period they dont always want to work it hence why people may want to negotiate a shorter period even if it means income loss.

shireknight

Thanks for the replies all, ok so I'll check my contract and then reply if I need further clarification :beer:

golddustmedia

As a word of advice I would be cautious of how you word anything you say to your employer about this.

As 2 examples;
I once gave my notice to an employer I didn't like working for as I had received another job offer. I said to them I'd be interested in going as soon as possible, expecting some negotiation possibly over garden leave as I had a 4 week notice period in my contract.
They said I could go at the end of the day and not return to which I agreed. WHen my final pay slip arrived they stopped paying me on the day I left.
I asked about the notice period and they said I had requested to leave early. In the end I agreed with them a payment of 2 weeks to end the matter on the basis we had no written agreement which detailed a final pay date etc.

Example 2:
I was called into an HR meeting and offered a package to leave with immediate effect. As this was not by choice I stood firm on my contracted notice period of 1 month and received that full months salary on top of the leavers package, however I was placed on garden leave and was not required to go back to that employer, despite remaining as an employee on paper at least for the following month.

So my advice is if you wish to give notice just keep it short, polite and to the point. Then discuss notice periods, but be prepared to compromise - after all if its your decision to go is it fair to expect your employer to pay you for time you don't work?

InsideInsurance

golddustmedia wrote: »

I once gave my notice to an employer I didn't like working for as I had received another job offer. I said to them I'd be interested in going as soon as possible, expecting some negotiation possibly over garden leave as I had a 4 week notice period in my contract.
They said I could go at the end of the day and not return to which I agreed. WHen my final pay slip arrived they stopped paying me on the day I left.
I asked about the notice period and they said I had requested to leave early. In the end I agreed with them a payment of 2 weeks to end the matter on the basis we had no written agreement which detailed a final pay date etc.

So you got exactly what you wanted and then complained about getting it afterwards? :huh:

Waiving your notice means waiving your pay. If you want to start your new job in 2 weeks time and want to be paid up until that time then dont say you want to leave as soon as possible but say you want to leave in 2 weeks time.