Advice required - Notice period

Ryanhughes89

Hi guys,

I am guessing that this type of question has been asked before but I couldn't find one with quite the same situation as mine.

I have worked at a small(ish) family run business for the last 9 years, from being an apprentice to now being a senior engineer. I am emigrating to Australia in 3 months and have been agonizing about when to tell my boss who is the owner of the business.

I know that it will take at least a couple of months to recruit someone to fill my role & replace me as well as being able to smoothly hand over the accounts I manage. I have never been given a contract to sign so I am assuming my statutory notice period would be one month. I decided to hand in my notice in this week giving just under 3 months notice.

What I want to know is if my employer is within their rights to enforce the 1 months statutory notice & force me to leave earlier than the 3 months hence leaving me without pay for a couple of months.

Any help/advice is appreciated.

Ryan

Masomnia

They actually have to give you 9 weeks notice as you have 9 years' service. Your notice period is 1 week.

I think in your situation I would have waited until the 9 week point to be safe, but I don't see how they can ask you to leave earlier. They'd still have to dismiss you for a fair reason, so I'm sure you're fine.

xapprenticex

Well maybe they will still dismiss him knowing he wont be hanging about to fight the case.

IMO wait till 9 weeks left, then tell them. If emotion gets the better of your boss there is no telling how he will react,.

TBagpuss

They could enforce the 9 weeks statutory period.
If you have not already handed in our notice then I would personally leave it to the 9 week point as you have to consider your needs.

That said, a lot depends on your relationship with the boss and how reasonable they are. If they are reasonable people, then you could say to them "I am going to be emigrating to Australia in September. I know that my notice period is only 1 week, but wanted to give you a heads-up that I will be handing in my notice so that you can start to plan ahead if you want"

If you think they will be reasonable, then you can have that conversation now, if not then have it 9 weeks before you plan to leave.

Undervalued

TBagpuss wrote: »

They could enforce the 9 weeks statutory period.
If you have not already handed in our notice then I would personally leave it to the 9 week point as you have to consider your needs.

That said, a lot depends on your relationship with the boss and how reasonable they are. If they are reasonable people, then you could say to them "I am going to be emigrating to Australia in September. I know that my notice period is only 1 week, but wanted to give you a heads-up that I will be handing in my notice so that you can start to plan ahead if you want"

If you think they will be reasonable, then you can have that conversation now, if not then have it 9 weeks before you plan to leave.

Nonsense!

In the absence of a contractual agreement, the statutory notice period to be given by an employee is only ever one week regardless of length of service.

It is only the employer who has to give one week's notice per year of service (up to 12).