Employer refused to waive notice period; repercussions of simply quitting?

rebeaky

Hi all,

I'm sure this is a very common thread to be posting about but from the ones I have already scanned through, they don't quite match my personal situation:

I have recently accepted a new job offer who want me to start mid August. In my letter of resignation to my current employer, that I gave at the beginning of July, I requested they waive my contractual notice period and allow me to leave after one month instead of three. They have declined, which I know they are well within their rights to do, but regardless of this fact I am simply not staying in that job until the end of September. I'm trying to stick to facts in this post so I won't elaborate on why, except to say it is the worst place I have ever worked.

I am aware they may try to seek legal recourse but what I am specifically interested in, is the repercussions for starting my new job. My references have already been supplied and will not change so I am not concerned about that, however, if I simply 'quit' my current job would they be able to contact my new employer and inform them of this? Can my job offer be withdrawn? (I have not signed a contract as yet).

I was considering contacting my new employer and trying to explain the situation delicately, would this be a good/bad idea?

If, for example, I was to work until the day before my new job was supposed to start and then just quit am I still technically employed by them and committing any fraud?

I know there are numerous questions so any advice, even about one of them, would be greatly appreciated. No matter what happens I am not staying in my old job past the start date of my new one, I'd just like some more information on whether I also need to consider squirreling away some more money in case I end up jobless! I also plan to contact CAB tomorrow. Thanks

JReacher1

I wouldn’t tell your new employer that you are walking out of your current employer and not honouring the notice period in your contract you had agreed to. It would probably make them question whether you would do the same to then.

It would raise a red flag and I could see your offer being withdrawn.


If you do walk out it is possible your employer can take you to court for breach of notice and you will be liable for the costs it took to cover your absence.

Kentish_Dave

You say that your references will not change, but how do you know that?

If an employee broke their contract to work somewhere else without serving their notice I’d likely send a fresh reference detailing this, and if the departure was acrimonious (I.e. if they left with a “screw you” no t “I’m genuinely sorry, but I honestly have no choice here, and wish I wasn’t letting you down”) then I’d likely also make a phone call to the new employer to try to stop them taking someone on who was not to be trusted.

Did you not use your current employer as a reference?

Les79

Kentish_Dave wrote: »

You say that your references will not change, but how do you know that?

If an employee broke their contract to work somewhere else without serving their notice I’d likely send a fresh reference detailing this, and if the departure was acrimonious (I.e. if they left with a “screw you” no t “I’m genuinely sorry, but I honestly have no choice here, and wish I wasn’t letting you down”) then I’d likely also make a phone call to the new employer to try to stop them taking someone on who was not to be trusted.

Did you not use your current employer as a reference?

Surely it would be up to the NEW employer to determine whether OP can be trusted?

But I agree with you insofar that OP would be wise to try and mitigate some of the after-effects. Possibly by:

- Leaving extremely gracefully as you mentioned

- Phoning up the new company to advise them of the issue, to either see if the start date can be pushed back but also to get the call in ahead of time so that, if they are forced to leave early and a somewhat spiteful call is made by current employer, the new employer knows both sides and can make a sounder judgement on how well they can trust OP.

JReacher1

Kentish_Dave wrote: »

then I’d likely also make a phone call to the new employer to try to stop them taking someone on who was not to be trusted.

That would be an incredibly spiteful and vindictive thing to do!

Kentish_Dave

JReacher1 wrote: »

That would be an incredibly spiteful and vindictive thing to do!

I know that you are just trying to be provocative, but no, it’s the right thing to do.

The new employer asks for a reference so that they can find out about their prospective new employee. If they are about to take on someone like the OP then it’s right to let them know.

I honestly can’t understand this mindset that you are espousing here, that there is some kind of honour in hiding someone’s poor behaviour from a person who’s asked about it.

Les79

Kentish_Dave wrote: »

I know that you are just trying to be provocative, but no, it’s the right thing to do.

The new employer asks for a reference so that they can find out about their prospective new employee. If they are about to take on someone like the OP then it’s right to let them know.

I honestly can’t understand this mindset that you are espousing here, that there is some kind of honour in hiding someone’s poor behaviour from a person who’s asked about it.

I don't think anyone has suggested hiding poor behaviour.

I think that you are 100% correct when suggesting that current employer should report it to the new employer.

But you stated "to try to stop them taking someone on who was not to be trusted" - that's pretty spiteful in that it is suddenly less about conveying facts and more about punishing the employee.

Sadly, that is the only provocative statement on this thread.

JReacher1

Kentish_Dave wrote: »

I know that you are just trying to be provocative, but no, it’s the right thing to do.

The new employer asks for a reference so that they can find out about their prospective new employee. If they are about to take on someone like the OP then it’s right to let them know.

I honestly can’t understand this mindset that you are espousing here, that there is some kind of honour in hiding someone’s poor behaviour from a person who’s asked about it.

It is not the right thing to do.

A reference has already been provided and based on that a job has been offered. There is then a dispute between the employer and the employee about the notice period.

Phoning up the company to amend the reference in the hope that they then withdraw the job offer to punish this person is incredibly spiteful and petty.

It’s the actions of a wrongun!

rebeaky

Kentish_Dave wrote: »

You say that your references will not change, but how do you know that?

If an employee broke their contract to work somewhere else without serving their notice I’d likely send a fresh reference detailing this, and if the departure was acrimonious (I.e. if they left with a “screw you” no t “I’m genuinely sorry, but I honestly have no choice here, and wish I wasn’t letting you down”) then I’d likely also make a phone call to the new employer to try to stop them taking someone on who was not to be trusted.

Did you not use your current employer as a reference?

I understand what you're saying which was the inclination I had of what my employer might do if I just essentially 'stuck two fingers up to them' and didn't show up.

I did use my current employer as a reference but it was written by my line manager, not HR, and my line manager fully endorses my decision to leave as early as possible. That's a strange thing to say, I know, but it's a strange place I work for....

TELLIT01

For me the correct action for the current employer to take would depend on the content of the reference. If it was simply the standard "Fred has worked for us since 1900 in the role of rat catcher" then I would see no reason for them to have any further contact with the new employer.
However, if they had said that Fred had been a reliable, trustworthy and conscientious employee, they would be within their rights to 'update' the reference to say they had been mistaken in their assessment as he had walked out part way through the required notice period.

[Deleted User]

Whilst we all hope new jobs will go to plan and swimmingly, it's the reference next job or far later down the line that you will possibly and potentially lose.

I was fortunate in that the job I just walked out of a week early 5 years on for the first time provided a reference - there had also been a change in HR as I have no doubt had the management existed it would have been 'you are joking'.

I would never leave anywhere without re talking. Whether you leave it a few days and then reapproach.