Gave 60 days notice, boss said to leave before Christmas

Dakta

As I understand it - and correct me anyone if I'm wrong, but if your contractual notice period is 60 days, then your notice period is 60 days. 

Now, the employer can tell you in that period to not work, and they can do this and it's quite normal - in which case you shouldn't go to work but they do have to pay you your notice period. 

The notice period can be reduced, but only by mutual agreement. If you both agree to finish the contract early then this would mean you wouldn't receive any pay after the mutually agreed revised end date, though they can still ask you to not work between handing on your resignation and your revised leaving date - this should still be paid.

So, basically, what you're entitled to in this situation is being paid to a date that you and a date agreed between yourself and the employer to leave the company, this can be brought forward by mutual agreement but is, without that mutual agreement, the full notice period.

If you are unhappy at losing pay over christmas then you should not agree to terminate earlier than the contracted notice period and either work it or counter-propose a later date and see if they agree, but they would have to agree. 

Hoenir

user19860331 said:

My CEO said that's fine and has basically said for me to leave mid-december just before the Christmas shutdown.

So is basically trying to avoid having to pay me over the Christmas break.

Am I right in thinking this is illegal? I can't afford to lose out on 2 weeks pay

Likewise the company isn't a charity, i.e.  paying people for time off to which they aren't entitled and for which the company receives no productive output in return. 

Nothing illegal. It's a compromise. 

ACG

If your notice period is 60 days, it is 60 days. 
You want to reduce it to 30 days, your boss wants to reduce it to maybe 14 days. 

Your boss could in theory ask you to stay for the full 60 days. 

Someone else said it, you seem to want your cake and eat it. You want to get paid for a period where the business is closed. Why would your current employer do that knowing you will be leaving? 

What is better? Working the full 60 days or working maybe 14 days? 

You either need to:
Come to an agreement or
accept that you finish at the close of business in December or
will be there for the full 60 days. 

I dont think what your employer is doing is illegal, they have said you can finish early. The alternative would be to hold you to your contract. If either of you deviate from it without an agreement then you are open to being sued.

TELLIT01

Exodi said:

I think you have it wrong, it's very common for employers to tell people on their notice to leave early (but then pay them their full notice period).

We don't know the full conversation between the OP and the employer.  It could have been along the lines of "If you want to shorten the notice period, it will end when we break for Christmas.  Otherwise we require you to work the full 2 months".

Undervalued

Exodi said:

I think you have it wrong, it's very common for employers to tell people on their notice to leave early (but then pay them their full notice period).

A worker is unlikely to be productive in their final weeks (especially on the lead up to Christmas), or that they could negatively impact the company by being there (if they don't want to be). Plus the business shuts down for Christmas anyway.

I don't want to say for certain, so would urge you to clarify with the employer, but I'm pretty confident they probably intend to pay you for the 2 week period and this is just a nice gesture you've misinterpreted.

One thing I wouldn't do is bowl into the conversation with scepticism and chip on your shoulder as I interpreted it completely different to you (and they accepted a reduced notice... in your position I would have been worshiping the ground they walk on - but I assume the 30 day notice is paid, as is common).

Yes, but that is not what is happening here.

The OP (i.e the employee) wants to give less notice than their contract requires. The employer has replied by offering an alternative "deal" which the employee can accept or reject as they please.

EnPointe

Exodi said:

I think you have it wrong, it's very common for employers to tell people on their notice to leave early (but then pay them their full notice period).

A worker is unlikely to be productive in their final weeks (especially on the lead up to Christmas), or that they could negatively impact the company by being there (if they don't want to be). Plus the business shuts down for Christmas anyway.

I don't want to say for certain, so would urge you to clarify with the employer, but I'm pretty confident they probably intend to pay you for the 2 week period and this is just a nice gesture you've misinterpreted.

One thing I wouldn't do is bowl into the conversation with scepticism and chip on your shoulder as I interpreted it completely different to you (and they accepted a reduced notice... in your position I would have been worshiping the ground they walk on - but I assume the 30 day notice is paid, as is common).

I think this is a very sensible comment to make. In some roles  you may as well fininsh when they break up for christmas unless you are working into January , the discussion has to be around (annual) leave taken / not taken,  or whether the  business just feels it;s more approrpaite  for you to have  'gardening leave' for that  christmas to new year period  assuming you have handed over any thing that needs handing over 

user67340348

Thanks all for the responses.

I managed to get this sorted in the end.

I didn't go into too much detail in my OP but the fact of the matter was that my CEO was trying to bully me out early so as to avoid having to pay me over Christmas, he was being very petty about it and the guy is quite simply an embarrasment.

I eventually came to realise that he would never make me work the full 60 days because he wanted me out ASAP... so I basically had the upperhand.

If he wanted me out ASAP then he should never have put a 60 day notice period in my contract

Anyway, Im glad to be leaving, that place it is an utter joke and this ordeal simply put the icing on the cake

elsien

You didn’t really have the other hand though, did you, because if they’d wanted you to work your full notice and your new start date was before then that could have been difficult for you.
Your boss may be a bully in other areas, but the situation as you described it in with them not wanting to pay you over the Christmas period to do nothing after you asked to negotiate an earlier end date isn’t bullying.

user67340348

elsien said:

You didn’t really have the other hand though, did you, because if they’d wanted you to work your full notice and your new start date was before then that could have been difficult for you.
Your boss may be a bully in other areas, but the situation as you described it in with them not wanting to pay you over the Christmas period to do nothing after you asked to negotiate an earlier end date isn’t bullying.

You haven't seen the full email conversation and are judging just by my vague overview, it was without a doubt bullying and I'm certainly not the first victim of it in that place

I also knew i had the upper hand because it wouldn't have been catastrophic if I'd had to work 2 months and I could tell my boss wanted me out asap.

Hoenir

user19860331 said:

elsien said:

You didn’t really have the other hand though, did you, because if they’d wanted you to work your full notice and your new start date was before then that could have been difficult for you.
Your boss may be a bully in other areas, but the situation as you described it in with them not wanting to pay you over the Christmas period to do nothing after you asked to negotiate an earlier end date isn’t bullying.

You haven't seen the full email conversation and are judging just by my vague overview, it was without a doubt bullying and I'm certainly not the first victim of it in that place

I also knew i had the upper hand because it wouldn't have been catastrophic if I'd had to work 2 months and I could tell my boss wanted me out asap.

Nothing worse than a disgruntled employee serving their notice period. While it causes short term disruption if employees depart early. Means that the focus can remain on the business not other distractions.