Reduction of notice period

secla

I have recently been TUPEd at work and within a week of the process completing the new company have requested a reduction in notice period requirements. I currently have a notice period of 13 weeks and they are suggesting reducing this to 4 weeks, due to us being TUPEd this is obviously just a request. Im failing to see any benefit to myself to accept this. the cynic in me says we may be looking at redundancy's and there wanting to reduce paying notice periods.

Is there any benefit to me accepting this ? Nobody tends to work there full notice period here anyway, obviously theirs a legal recourse to that but surely they would have to drag you to court and prove that not working your notice caused them financial loss

Ditzy_Mitzy

There's the obvious benefit of not having a thirteen week notice period!  Redundancy notice periods vary, as I understand things, in relation to how long the employee has been working for the firm.  They don't really have anything to do with contractual notice periods, which apply in the case of resignation.  In the resignation scenario, I cannot see any advantage in having to give three months' rather than a months' notice.  

Someone more knowledgeable than me may be able to say something, but otherwise I don't think this is anything at all to worry about and recommend accepting the notice period reduction if offered.  

TadleyBaggie

If you decided to move on, you might find it hard to find a new employer who would be willing to wait 13 weeks.

Marcon

Ditzy_Mitzy said:

There's the obvious benefit of not having a thirteen week notice period! 

There's the obvious loss of 13 weeks' notice pay if you are made redundant or otherwise dismissed.

Ditzy_Mitzy said:

There's the obvious benefit of not having a thirteen week notice period!  Redundancy notice periods vary, as I understand things, in relation to how long the employee has been working for the firm.  

If an employee is made redundant, they are entitled to whatever their contractual notice is (subject to a minimum of statutory notice, which would override contractual notice if the employer got it wrong!). See https://www.gov.uk/redundancy-your-rights/notice-periods

Ditzy_Mitzy said:

They don't really have anything to do with contractual notice periods, which apply in the case of resignation.  In the resignation scenario, I cannot see any advantage in having to give three months' rather than a months' notice.  

They certainly do. Please see link give above.

Ditzy_Mitzy said:

Someone more knowledgeable than me may be able to say something, but otherwise I don't think this is anything at all to worry about and recommend accepting the notice period reduction if offered.  

I wouldn't touch it with a bargepole - and depending on how long you've been employed (and with TUPE, your previous employment counts as continuous employment when added to service with the new employer), 4 weeks may be less than statutory minimum.

A thirteen week notice period is a nice comfortable financial cushion if you are made redundant. If, as you say, nobody ever works their full notice period, there's no reason at all to give up such a valuable contractual term.

secla

I have coming up to 20 years continuous service.

My job is relatively unskilled and im sure someone would be put in my position from current staff so cant see how they would claim for any losses the company could try to claim from me if i chose to leave and not give full notice. Most people that leave give 1-2 weeks notice, some just leave same day

theoretica

So you are entitled to 12 weeks notice if made redundant - changing your contractual notice period will not reduce this.  Not needing, even if only on paper, to give 13 weeks notice when leaving can protect you from the negative in a reference of 'left without notice', and mean you don't need to prevaricate if a new employer asks what your notice period is.

https://www.gov.uk/redundancy-your-rights/notice-periods

tizerbelle

Why not ask if they are prepared to "buy" the notice period off you i.e. pay you 9 weeks money now to reduce it to 4 weeks in the contract?  After all there must be a benefit to them to reduce the notice period (otherwise they wouldn't be trying to do it) so why shouldn't you get something as well!?  

Ditzy_Mitzy

tizerbelle said:

Why not ask if they are prepared to "buy" the notice period off you i.e. pay you 9 weeks money now to reduce it to 4 weeks in the contract?  After all there must be a benefit to them to reduce the notice period (otherwise they wouldn't be trying to do it) so why shouldn't you get something as well!?  

The contractual notice period doesn't have a financial value to either side, so there wouldn't be anything to 'buy' in this particular scenario.  The benefit to the employer is that they don't have to have to pay a relatively unskilled (OP's words) employee to mark time for three months during an unusually long contractual notice period in the event of resignation.  It is a benefit; nobody works at full capacity during the countdown to departure.  The benefit to the employee has been explained: a shorter notice period is better in the event of resignation and statutory redundancy doesn't really come into it on the basis of more than twelve years' continuous service.  

Marcon

secla said:

I have coming up to 20 years continuous service.

My job is relatively unskilled and im sure someone would be put in my position from current staff so cant see how they would claim for any losses the company could try to claim from me if i chose to leave and not give full notice. Most people that leave give 1-2 weeks notice, some just leave same day

In that case what your employer is trying to do makes no sense - unless they are so incompetent they don't understand basic employment law. Reducing the notice period to 4 weeks would give you the benefit of a much shorter notice if you do want to resign, without impacting on the (statutory) notice period your employer has to give you. Beware if they try to issue a new contract with some sort of 'break in continuous employment' to try and get round the issue.

tizerbelle

Ditzy_Mitzy said:

tizerbelle said:

Why not ask if they are prepared to "buy" the notice period off you i.e. pay you 9 weeks money now to reduce it to 4 weeks in the contract?  After all there must be a benefit to them to reduce the notice period (otherwise they wouldn't be trying to do it) so why shouldn't you get something as well!?  

The contractual notice period doesn't have a financial value to either side, so there wouldn't be anything to 'buy' in this particular scenario.  The benefit to the employer is that they don't have to have to pay a relatively unskilled (OP's words) employee to mark time for three months during an unusually long contractual notice period in the event of resignation.  It is a benefit; nobody works at full capacity during the countdown to departure.  The benefit to the employee has been explained: a shorter notice period is better in the event of resignation and statutory redundancy doesn't really come into it on the basis of more than twelve years' continuous service.  

The contractual notice can come in as a financial benefit - if you are dismissed for misconduct* or capability - this is usually done with PILON (pay in lieu of notice) which the company would have to base on the full contractual notice (*not for gross misconduct obvs which is without notice).   

Even when there is a round of redundancies, my experience (having been made redundant in the past and processing payroll during redundancy rounds - not only do employees get the Stat Redundancy Pay but they can get PILON based on the contract as well if the company wants them out the door quick.

TELLIT01

The OP could offer to let the employer buy the reduction of notice period by paying the equivalent of 9 weeks salary as a lump sum.  Long notice periods have benefits and disadvantages, many of which have been mentioned above.  As a comparatively unskilled worker it could be detrimental if looking to move jobs.  Many employers would expect low skilled workers to be available in less than 13 weeks.