Garden Leave - Notice Periods

Crazy_Jamie

Putting a practical hat on for a second rather than a legal one, before you write to them talking of unfair dismissal or similar, it would be worth writing to them highlighting the discrepancy between the leave date in your resignation letter and the leave date in their letter, and clarifying their intentions. For all you know their letter could just have been a pro forma and/or produced on auto pilot, and when you highlight the discrepancy they may simply move your leaving date back and pay you for the additional two weeks.

Savvy_Sue

So, it looks as if you're going to 'lose' two weeks money, which you say you can't afford to do.

But you've got the next four weeks in which to do a money makeover.

And to ebay your worldly goods away.

And to do all the other things which people do when they are desperately short of money.

And you won't have any travel expenses, nor any need to buy coffee / lunch / takeaways because you're too tired when you get home to cook.

And once you start the next job, I do hope you're able to start to build up an emergency fund. Because !!!!!! happens, and this, frankly, is on the minor side of it.

Because even if you find some way to convince your employer to pay the extra two weeks, I'd be surprised if they gave up without a fight, which means you are highly unlikely to get it NOW, even if you get it later.

LawAbiding

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

So, it looks as if you're going to 'lose' two weeks money, which you say you can't afford to do.

But you've got the next four weeks in which to do a money makeover.

And to ebay your worldly goods away.

And to do all the other things which people do when they are desperately short of money.

And you won't have any travel expenses, nor any need to buy coffee / lunch / takeaways because you're too tired when you get home to cook.

And once you start the next job, I do hope you're able to start to build up an emergency fund. Because !!!!!! happens, and this, frankly, is on the minor side of it.

Because even if you find some way to convince your employer to pay the extra two weeks, I'd be surprised if they gave up without a fight, which means you are highly unlikely to get it NOW, even if you get it later.

Thanks for your constructive input

Undervalued

Crazy_Jamie wrote: »

Putting a practical hat on for a second rather than a legal one, before you write to them talking of unfair dismissal or similar, it would be worth writing to them highlighting the discrepancy between the leave date in your resignation letter and the leave date in their letter, and clarifying their intentions. For all you know their letter could just have been a pro forma and/or produced on auto pilot, and when you highlight the discrepancy they may simply move your leaving date back and pay you for the additional two weeks.

In my opinion, if the OP is going to dispute this, I would wait until the end of the 4 / 6 week period.

A key component of garden leave is that the OP is still employed can be called back in at a moments notice. If the employer has a mind to be difficult they can totally destroy any benefit of the garden leave. If the OP isn't available during working hours then they could argue he is in effect "absent without leave" and discipline accordingly. As I mentioned earlier they could be very difficult about outstanding holiday.

I stick with my view that the OP has a good chance of a successful claim for the two weeks money but, as Savvy Sue has pointed out, he has no means of forcing immediate payment.

Ultimately the OP knows his employer and how they may respond, we don't. If he is happy to burn bridges then he may be able to get most of his £1.7K at some point in the future but I would still suggest that the bigger picture needs careful thought.

LawAbiding

Lots to think about tbh.

What ever I do, I have to do it, as they are asking me to sign a document which confirms the arrangements, including the termination being 15th February.

For now, I have responded asking them to clarify that my contract will be terminated on 15th February 2019, and I will not be entitled to any pay or benefits are per my contract after this date.

getmore4less

GlasweJen wrote: »

OP did you actually give notice as per your contract or did you just mention to a manager that you intend to give notice?

very old case and may have been superseded.

ELY V YKK FASTENERS

a case where the employee said they will be leaving changed their mind and got terminated anyway.

Crazy_Jamie

Undervalued wrote: »

In my opinion, if the OP is going to dispute this, I would wait until the end of the 4 / 6 week period.

A key component of garden leave is that the OP is still employed can be called back in at a moments notice. If the employer has a mind to be difficult they can totally destroy any benefit of the garden leave. If the OP isn't available during working hours then they could argue he is in effect "absent without leave" and discipline accordingly. As I mentioned earlier they could be very difficult about outstanding holiday.

I stick with my view that the OP has a good chance of a successful claim for the two weeks money but, as Savvy Sue has pointed out, he has no means of forcing immediate payment.

Ultimately the OP knows his employer and how they may respond, we don't. If he is happy to burn bridges then he may be able to get most of his £1.7K at some point in the future but I would still suggest that the bigger picture needs careful thought.

Wouldn't argue with any of that.

nicechap

I echo Savvysue's comment. If you have been earning £3.4k a month for over 2 years and can't afford to lose £1.7k you should have a serious look at your outgoings.

Is there any possibility the garden leave is an admin error by HR? I would consider going back to them pointing out the 6 weeks notice and how you were trying to minimise the disruption as you'd enjoyed working for them and hoped the 6 weeks would help a smoother handover. I'd also politely point out they have ignored your leave and tell them you are "entitled" to 4 days carry over and another 3 days for the 6 weeks notice and rather than it be added to the 6 weeks it can be part of the 6 weeks.

Obviously we do not know your firm or industry so how likely such an approach is to be successful is your judgement call, but in general, I find being polite gets your further than being aggressive - until you need to be!!

Gavin83

Crazy_Jamie wrote: »

To my mind this is a dismissal by the employer and I am struggling to come up with a reason legally why it is not.

Because the employer didn't dismiss them, they handed in their notice, the employee ended the contract. It is not for the employee to dictate the notice period, it's clearly defined in the contact and the employer is just sticking to that.

What the OP should have really done is just hand their notice in at the 4 week mark, the amount of time as defined by their contract. If they felt guilty about this then an informal warning to their manager, with the official notice being handed in at the 4 week mark.

An employee can't just choose to increase the notice period.

Doshwaster

I would be very wary about leaving an employer on bad terms unless it can be avoided. In most industries it's a small world and you never know when you may end up back where you started.

I would consider
a) Contact new employer to see if you can start early or,
b) Book a cheap holiday and forget all about it