Notice period without employment contract

Ella_fella

Hi there,

I was offered a temporary contract up to Xmas last week with the agreement that after Xmas the business would review whether there was an ongoing requirement my role. This was all set out in an email together with the salary. I asked about an employment contract and was told this would be raised in due course. 
I started the role yesterday and still haven't received a contract, in the interim I received a permanent job offer today from a business who interviewed me a few weeks ago and frankly I have given up on the job. I am now inclined to accept this job offer given that it offers me more security, I am unsure what notice period I need to give my current employer as I have no contract to refer to?

Andy_L

In the absence of any contract then statutory notice will apply which, if you've worked there less than 1 month is zero.

Ella_fella

Andy_L said:

In the absence of any contract then statutory notice will apply which, if you've worked there less than 1 month is zero.

Am assuming that this means they could also get rid of me without any notice either within the first month. Am considering when I should tell them I'm leaving if that's the case as I start my new job in nearly 2 weeks time and don't want any unpaid gaps.

Xbigman

Give them a weeks notice. If nothing else it's the professional thing to do.


Darren

getmore4less

Is it a unconditional offer?

Was notice discussed at any point during the employment process or in the emails.

You have to consider they may at any time put a contractual notice in place that is long enough to take you pat the start date.
(that could be verbal)

How easy will it be for them to replace you?
Do you think they need someone or could get by rust letting you go?

Undervalued

Ella_fella said:

Andy_L said:

In the absence of any contract then statutory notice will apply which, if you've worked there less than 1 month is zero.

Am assuming that this means they could also get rid of me without any notice either within the first month. Am considering when I should tell them I'm leaving if that's the case as I start my new job in nearly 2 weeks time and don't want any unpaid gaps.

Correct, in the absence of a contractual agreement for more. So, if you gave them, say, a week's notice they could respond by telling you to go now and not pay you for the notice you have given them. To be honest though this is fairly unlikely.

However a "contract" of employment is not simply a sheet of paper with the word contract on it. Exchanges of emails, job adverts and even verbal conversations all contribute to forming a contract. You may be able to argue that they have "contracted" to give you a week (or more) notice?

Ella_fella

getmore4less said:

Is it a unconditional offer?

Was notice discussed at any point during the employment process or in the emails.

You have to consider they may at any time put a contractual notice in place that is long enough to take you pat the start date.
(that could be verbal)

How easy will it be for them to replace you?
Do you think they need someone or could get by rust letting you go?

Yes it's an unconditional offer the only terms I was communicated either verbally or in writing were the salary and the end date which would be 31st December 2020 then a business decision would be made as to whether there would be a role in the business after this point for me.
I applied for another role and they saw that I would be useful in terms of my skills supporting the business upto Xmas as it gets really busy for them. I've been here literally 4 days so my week has been spent getting to know people and processes so am not adding much value currently so to answer your question I would be expendable at the moment.

Ella_fella

Undervalued said:

Ella_fella said:

Andy_L said:

In the absence of any contract then statutory notice will apply which, if you've worked there less than 1 month is zero.

Am assuming that this means they could also get rid of me without any notice either within the first month. Am considering when I should tell them I'm leaving if that's the case as I start my new job in nearly 2 weeks time and don't want any unpaid gaps.

Correct, in the absence of a contractual agreement for more. So, if you gave them, say, a week's notice they could respond by telling you to go now and not pay you for the notice you have given them. To be honest though this is fairly unlikely.

However a "contract" of employment is not simply a sheet of paper with the word contract on it. Exchanges of emails, job adverts and even verbal conversations all contribute to forming a contract. You may be able to argue that they have "contracted" to give you a week (or more) notice?

This is my primary concern. As I've been here for literally 5 minutes I give them a weeks notice of leaving then they just say you can go now and so I incur a gap between starting my new job at my expense as I won't be paid. The person supposedly raising the contract is away until next week earliest and I have to have my notice in next Tuesday to meet the start date of the 15th September as a week's notice so am really unsure what to do quite frankly. There has been nothing mentioned either verbally or in writing regards my notice period.

Undervalued

Ella_fella said:

Undervalued said:

Ella_fella said:

Andy_L said:

In the absence of any contract then statutory notice will apply which, if you've worked there less than 1 month is zero.

Am assuming that this means they could also get rid of me without any notice either within the first month. Am considering when I should tell them I'm leaving if that's the case as I start my new job in nearly 2 weeks time and don't want any unpaid gaps.

Correct, in the absence of a contractual agreement for more. So, if you gave them, say, a week's notice they could respond by telling you to go now and not pay you for the notice you have given them. To be honest though this is fairly unlikely.

However a "contract" of employment is not simply a sheet of paper with the word contract on it. Exchanges of emails, job adverts and even verbal conversations all contribute to forming a contract. You may be able to argue that they have "contracted" to give you a week (or more) notice?

This is my primary concern. As I've been here for literally 5 minutes I give them a weeks notice of leaving then they just say you can go now and so I incur a gap between starting my new job at my expense as I won't be paid. The person supposedly raising the contract is away until next week earliest and I have to have my notice in next Tuesday to meet the start date of the 15th September as a week's notice so am really unsure what to do quite frankly. There has been nothing mentioned either verbally or in writing regards my notice period.

Then legally, with less than a month's service, your notice is zero.

I assume "literally 5 minutes" is not actually "literally 5 minutes"! However as long as it is less than a month's service on the last day you want to work, you are quite entitled to tell them on your way out of the door that you are not coming back! The might not like it and you may (hopefully unlikely) have a bit of a battle getting paid but the law is on your side.

Remember you accrue roughly one day's holiday for every two weeks work so make sure you get paid for that too!

Ella_fella

Undervalued said:

Ella_fella said:

Undervalued said:

Ella_fella said:

Andy_L said:

In the absence of any contract then statutory notice will apply which, if you've worked there less than 1 month is zero.

Am assuming that this means they could also get rid of me without any notice either within the first month. Am considering when I should tell them I'm leaving if that's the case as I start my new job in nearly 2 weeks time and don't want any unpaid gaps.

Correct, in the absence of a contractual agreement for more. So, if you gave them, say, a week's notice they could respond by telling you to go now and not pay you for the notice you have given them. To be honest though this is fairly unlikely.

However a "contract" of employment is not simply a sheet of paper with the word contract on it. Exchanges of emails, job adverts and even verbal conversations all contribute to forming a contract. You may be able to argue that they have "contracted" to give you a week (or more) notice?

This is my primary concern. As I've been here for literally 5 minutes I give them a weeks notice of leaving then they just say you can go now and so I incur a gap between starting my new job at my expense as I won't be paid. The person supposedly raising the contract is away until next week earliest and I have to have my notice in next Tuesday to meet the start date of the 15th September as a week's notice so am really unsure what to do quite frankly. There has been nothing mentioned either verbally or in writing regards my notice period.

Then legally, with less than a month's service, your notice is zero.

I assume "literally 5 minutes" is not actually "literally 5 minutes"! However as long as it is less than a month's service on the last day you want to work, you are quite entitled to tell them on your way out of the door that you are not coming back! The might not like it and you may (hopefully unlikely) have a bit of a battle getting paid but the law is on your side.

Remember you accrue roughly one day's holiday for every two weeks work so make sure you get paid for that too!

Thanks for the advice, I've been at the company precisely 3 days now. My concern is that they issue me with a contract after the weeks notice has elapsed meaning technically I won't be able to make my agreed start date or even worse they issue me with a contract with a months notice in it.
Am also concerned that if I do give them a weeks notice regardless of them issuing a contract they then say don't come back after today and I lose a week's pay that I can't really afford to do. 

Thrugelmir

Ella_fella said:

Undervalued said:

Ella_fella said:

Undervalued said:

Ella_fella said:

Andy_L said:

In the absence of any contract then statutory notice will apply which, if you've worked there less than 1 month is zero.

Am assuming that this means they could also get rid of me without any notice either within the first month. Am considering when I should tell them I'm leaving if that's the case as I start my new job in nearly 2 weeks time and don't want any unpaid gaps.

Correct, in the absence of a contractual agreement for more. So, if you gave them, say, a week's notice they could respond by telling you to go now and not pay you for the notice you have given them. To be honest though this is fairly unlikely.

However a "contract" of employment is not simply a sheet of paper with the word contract on it. Exchanges of emails, job adverts and even verbal conversations all contribute to forming a contract. You may be able to argue that they have "contracted" to give you a week (or more) notice?

This is my primary concern. As I've been here for literally 5 minutes I give them a weeks notice of leaving then they just say you can go now and so I incur a gap between starting my new job at my expense as I won't be paid. The person supposedly raising the contract is away until next week earliest and I have to have my notice in next Tuesday to meet the start date of the 15th September as a week's notice so am really unsure what to do quite frankly. There has been nothing mentioned either verbally or in writing regards my notice period.

Then legally, with less than a month's service, your notice is zero.

I assume "literally 5 minutes" is not actually "literally 5 minutes"! However as long as it is less than a month's service on the last day you want to work, you are quite entitled to tell them on your way out of the door that you are not coming back! The might not like it and you may (hopefully unlikely) have a bit of a battle getting paid but the law is on your side.

Remember you accrue roughly one day's holiday for every two weeks work so make sure you get paid for that too!

Thanks for the advice, I've been at the company precisely 3 days now. My concern is that they issue me with a contract after the weeks notice has elapsed meaning technically I won't be able to make my agreed start date or even worse they issue me with a contract with a months notice in it.
Am also concerned that if I do give them a weeks notice regardless of them issuing a contract they then say don't come back after today and I lose a week's pay that I can't really afford to do. 

You can either be professional or drop them in it. Choice is yours.