Notice Period

zw101

Hi there, I'm looking for some advice in relation to my resignation notice period and starting with a new employer.

I handed in my resignation on Tues 29th Dec via email around 2ish to my old employer after the bank holiday substitute for Boxing Day and requested a reduced 2 week notice period. My new employer is very eager for me to start in my new role on 11th Jan due to design projects that require immediate attention.

My old employer has said 11th Jan would not be an option and full notice will need to be served due to being a small company and wanting to do a proper handover. She also said that due to receiving the notice later in the day it would be counted in effect as the next working day. So I had to recalculate what I believed would be my last day with her.

She initially made out that I had to give 3 months notice. However, in my contract of employment that I signed in August 2014 it states 4 weeks for being with the company for under 2 years. Apparently it was agreed verbally after my first appraisal this had changed due to being a small company. Though my role is far from anything senior. Although I'm sure this was not the case, I disagreed being aware of this, and she admitted I hadn't signed nothing so she took the blame.

I've given up my two days holiday on the 30th and 31st Dec 2015 to start my notice period asap and begin with handover tasks. The way I had it worked out was if I began serving my 4 weeks notice on the 30th Dec, then my last day would be Monday 25th Dec, less 4 days holiday (2 days given up in Dec and 2 days new accumulated holidays in Jan when they get reset) so really my last working day would be 18th Jan and I could start with new employer on 19th Jan.

My old employer has now said I would need to give a full months notice NOT 4 weeks, making my last day 29th Jan less 4 days holiday so 25th Jan. Which is not what I thought it would pan out as, as 4 weeks is not the same as a month!

Am I in the right to say my contract states 4 weeks, and that is what I am sticking to giving?

The other option she gave which the new employer is also happy to do is 3:2 day split. So I would do Mon - Weds with old employer until notice period is served and start 2 days a week with new employer. But this drags out the notice period even longer. And ideally to do this I wanted Mon-Tues with new employer starting from 4th. But old employer wants it the other way around. And not sure if I can count weekends in this as don't usually work weekends and or not I'm counting 28 days or 31 days?. To note I currently get paid every 30th.

Hope all this makes sense. Been panicking a bit about it all over New Year, as I've been back and forth with both parties. I really want to start with my new employer asap and don't want to mess them around, but at the same time understand that it will take time for my old employer to find a replacement.

dacouch

If you old boss had wanted to make lay you off at Xmas as they were short of money but did not want to pay you your one months notice but give you two weeks notice you would not be happy

Takeaway_Addict

zw101 wrote: »

Hi there, I'm looking for some advice in relation to my notice period and starting with a new employer.

I handed in my resignation on Tues 29th Dec via email around 2ish to my old employer after the bank holiday substitute for Boxing Day and requested a reduced 2 week notice period. My new employer is very eager for me to start in my new role on 11th Jan due to design projects that require immediate attention.

My old employer has said 11th Jan would not be an option and full notice will need to be served due to being a small company and wanting to do a proper handover. She also said that due to receiving the notice later in the day it would be counted in effect as the next working day. So I had to recalculate what I believed would be my last day with her.

She initially made out that I had to give 3 months notice. However, in my contract of employment that I signed in August 2014 it states 4 weeks for being with the company for under 2 years. Apparently it was agreed verbally after my first appraisal this had changed due to being a small company. Although I'm sure this was not the case, I disagreed being aware of this, and she admitted I hadn't signed nothing so she took the blame.

I've given up my two days holiday on the 30th and 31st Dec 2015 to start my notice period asap. The way I had it worked out was if I began serving my 4 weeks notice on the 30th Dec, then my last day would be Monday 25th Dec, less 4 days holiday (2 days given up in Dec and 2 days new accumulated holidays in Jan when they get reset) so really my last working day would be 18th Jan and I could start with new employer on 19th Jan.

She's now said I would need to give a full months notice NOT 4 weeks, making my last day 29th Jan less 4 days holiday so 25th Jan. Which is not what I thought it would pan out as, as 4 weeks is not the same as a month!

Am I in the right to say my contract states 4 weeks, and that is what I am sticking to?

The other option she gave which the new employer is also happy to do is 3:2 day split. So I would would serve months notice Mon - Weds with old employer and start 2 days a week with new employer. But this drags out the notice period. And ideally to do this I wanted Mon-Tues with new employer starting from 4th. But old employer wants it the other way around. And not sure if I can count weekends in this and whether or not I'm counting 28 days or 31 days?

Hope all this makes sense. Been panicking a bit about it all over New Year, as I've been back and forth with both parties. I really want to start with my new employer asap and don't want to mess them around, but at the same time understand that it will take time for my old employer to find a replacement.

If your contract says 4 weeks and nothing in writing that you have acknowledged says differently after then its 4 weeks but also your employer could refuse your holiday and pay you it at the end as well.

Your issue is telling your new employer you could start on the 11th when you clearly cannot.

anamenottaken

zw101 wrote: »

. . .

I handed in my resignation on Tues 29th Dec via email around 2ish to my old employer after the bank holiday substitute for Boxing Day . . .

. . . She also said that due to receiving the notice later in the day it would be counted in effect as the next working day. So I had to recalculate what I believed would be my last day with her.

She was wrong - insofar as it doesn't matter about the time of day you handed in your notice. Even if you had handed in your notice at 00:01 on 29 December the four weeks (according to your contract) would not start until 30 December.

Semple

4 weeks is 4 weeks. If it was a month your contract would say one month.

Did you not state when your resignation was effective from in your resignation letter?

Normally you'd have something like, this is my official notice of resignation effective of X-date. I will be working my notice period of 4 weeks making my last day Y-date.

Your current employer may also not allow you to use up your holiday allowance and instead opt to pay you for it.

Whilst it does seem a little petty, I guess if they are a small company then they do need to find a replacement in time.

If you do decide to leave early anyway, they do have the right to sue you for loss of income as a result of your early departure - something that's probably a little difficult to prove in a larger company. Also you'll risk burning bridges in the even you come back to this company or current management in the future.