Working notice from job that went from full to part time after maternity?

mickym

My wife has worked for her employer for around 10 years.

After 3 years we started a family and had two children, each time she took a full year maternity time off work, but returned to work in a part time capacity (two days a week).

After the first instance of full year maternity leave when she went back to work her new working duties were outlined, however we do not recollect her getting a new contract.

We remember them saying at the time that as she had taken the full 'extended' 12 month maternity leave (rather than the standard maternity leave) they didnt have to take her on in exactly the same job role, even though she ended up doing very similar to what she did before.

The notice procedure set out in her 2007 contract says she must give 1 week notice for every year worked, does this mean she has to give 10 years notice, even though that original contract was based on full time working?

We weren't sure returning to work part time meant she didn't have to give as much notice as if she had worked full time?

Thanks

Ozzuk

Ask HR/line manager to confirm, they may be willing to reduce it. Sounds like continuous service though, which I guess she would prefer as it could impact benefits (pension, holidays etc).

TBagpuss

I don't think the fact she works part time changes the notice requirements. It's normally based on continuous service, and she has been an employee for that whole time, even if she was employed in different roles during part of that time.

However, if she wants to give less than 10 weeks notice then as Ozzuk says, she would need to speak to her manager and ask whether they would be willing to agree a reduced notice period. They may be willing to agree, depending on how easy the role is likely to be to fill.

General_Grant

I have known employees think they had to give the "one week for each completed year of service" notice but had read their terms and conditions of employment incorrectly. That is the notice required in law to be given by an employer (up to 12 weeks notice) and it may be the same for the employee according to the contract but not necessarily. Could be worth checking.