Notice period - new job

getmore4less

HR are there for the company

expect them to tell your boss you are asking about notice periods.

Undervalued

Missbunny14 wrote: »

I understand what you’re all saying but my worry is if I give in a two week notice period in two weeks they will try and make me stay for four weeks. Do you think it would be wise to ask HR what my notice period is officially? Baring in mind that’s what they’re there for?

They can only make you stay longer if there is a contractual agreement to that effect. If your contract / handbook etc doesn't specify a notice period then the legal default of one week applies.

Exodi

Missbunny14 wrote: »

I understand what you’re all saying but my worry is if I give in a two week notice period in two weeks they will try and make me stay for four weeks. Do you think it would be wise to ask HR what my notice period is officially? Baring in mind that’s what they’re there for?

Seems like a good idea in practice, but you can imagine how asking what your notice period is looks. That said, you seem to be stuck between a) potentially giving yourself a bad reference & b) potentially being unemployed for two weeks so I'm not sure you have much choice!

General_Grant

Do you have an unconditional offer of the new job? Or was it subject to the receipt of satisfactory references? If references are to be sought, your current employer will know you are looking to leave them.



You have not answered the question (in #2, which you quoted) about how long you have worked there.

So what have you got in writing (or have had access to) regarding your notice? If you have been there more than two months they must by law have provided this information. Notice periods do not have to be equal - that is the employee can, contractually, be required to give more notice than the employer.

TELLIT01

If there is nothing to the contrary in any of the documentation you have been given, either staff handbook or contract of employment, I would assume a notice period to match payment period as a start point. If paid monthly, a month notice and if paid weekly one week notice.
As others have said, giving more than the minimum required notice is a high risk strategy. If your job is a 'generalist' one where they will be able to get somebody in quite quickly I would expect them to be less inclined to accept a longer notice period. If you believe you only have to give 2 weeks notice, that would suggest a non-specialist role.
How long have you worked for this employer? The other fairly common notice period is 1 week per year of employment. That often applies to the employer rather than employee but some companies do operate that for both parties.
It really is an impossible question to answer definitively as company employment terms vary so much.

Missbunny14

I have been here for almost seven months of a fixed term contract but they have offered me a permenant place on the company. As far as they know I’m going to take it but they treated me badly and unfairly (completely different story). I stated earlier in my company handbook it says ‘you must inform your line manager of your decision to terminate your contract of employment and you will normally be asked to confirm this is writing. The period of notice will begin from the date we receive this notification. Your last day of employment will be the date on which your notice expires unless agreed otherwise.’ There is no other information to go off, not even in the contact I received at start of fixed term employment.

Undervalued

TELLIT01 wrote: »

If there is nothing to the contrary in any of the documentation you have been given, either staff handbook or contract of employment, I would assume a notice period to match payment period as a start point. If paid monthly, a month notice and if paid weekly one week notice.

Sorry, but this is a popular "old wife's tale"! If it ever had any foundation in fact it was a very long time ago. There is no connection between the payment interval and notice period unless (very unlikely) the contract says so!

Undervalued

Missbunny14 wrote: »

I have been here for almost seven months of a fixed term contract but they have offered me a permenant place on the company. As far as they know I’m going to take it but they treated me badly and unfairly (completely different story). I stated earlier in my company handbook it says ‘you must inform your line manager of your decision to terminate your contract of employment and you will normally be asked to confirm this is writing. The period of notice will begin from the date we receive this notification. Your last day of employment will be the date on which your notice expires unless agreed otherwise.’ There is no other information to go off, not even in the contact I received at start of fixed term employment.

Then, as repeatedly stated, your notice period is one week unless they can come up with evidence of a contractual requirement for longer.

Missbunny14

If you believe you only have to give 2 weeks notice, that would suggest a non-specialist role.

This isn’t the case. I understand what you’re saying but I don’t think it’s 2 weeks I just know that is standard when there is no other information to go by.

Missbunny14

I understand, I’ve read what people have replied but the whole point of me opening this thread was to get a mixture of advice and opinions. Thank you for yours