When to hand in my notice at work?

sophiaonthego94

Hello,

I hope I can get some advice on here as I am very unsure on what to do. I am a Real Estate Agent and I have been with this company since July 2022. I have been in this industry almost five years and this is the worst paid job I ever had. My commute is over an hour each way in London traffic and I drive a lot during work hours too, however my employer does not cover ANY fuel costs which I find quite unfair and they haven't treated me very well altogether (decided to not pay me sickpay, getting very angry about me being a minute late etc.). Because of how low my pay is I have started looking for a new job a few months ago and have had a promising interview three weeks ago. They offered me a job, much better paid with a car allowance and close to home.

I will start this new job on the 3rd of January 2024 and have already signed the contract. Now my current work place is not aware I am leaving as I do only have a week's notice to give and with Christmas and the holidays coming up I find this timing extremely difficult considering my colleague has been fired last week and a new person is starting on Friday. I fear that if I give my notice too early they will find reasons to not pay me (Payday is only the 29th or 30th this month) or refuse paying me for the commission I have earned which will be around a thousand Pounds on top of my basic salary this month.

I am now considering either telling them next week (which is also bad timing as our Christmas party is only on the 19th and we will all be off from the 22nd of December until 3rd of January) and like mentioned I fear about the pay or to not tell them in person at all and send an email 1 week before my new job 26th of December) and just say I won't be returning due to an opportunity coming up. Like mentioned, I have not been treated great but there was also times we laughed together (I think I am too nice of a person) So any advice on what to do please? I’m honestly extremely stressed about what to do.. 

Just to add: I am unable to have a face to face meeting during the Christmas holidays to hand in notice as I will be overseas. 

Brie

Do you have any more holidays owed?  If so ask to take them the first week of January.  That way you can hand in your notice after pay day and still be giving them a week's notice. 

Congrats on getting a new role.  

sophiaonthego94

Thank you!

Unfortunately I don’t have any holidays left and Christmas off is given us on top of our holidays as a bonus. 

stu12345_2

don't bother with giving them  full notice and let them keep your week in arrears wages and put it down to bad luck and experience and enjoy your new job
I once had a bad job about 12 years ago. your first week was a training wage about £70, then 3 weeks of normal wage about £250.
 the employer used to say to most staff at end of the first month, sorry you failed the month trial. bye bye. the rule was if you lasted more than a month they gave you the first low paid week's wage back as a normal wage.
total cowboys. they went out if business 

sophiaonthego94

stu12345_2 said:

don't bother with giving them  full notice and let them keep your week in arrears wages and put it down to bad luck and experience and enjoy your new job
I once had a bad job about 12 years ago. your first week was a training wage about £70, then 3 weeks of normal wage about £250.
 the employer used to say to most staff at end of the first month, sorry you failed the month trial. bye bye. the rule was if you lasted more than a month they gave you the first low paid week's wage back as a normal wage.
total cowboys. they went out if business 

Can you explain what week in arrears wages is exactly? I am originally from Germany and it all works differently there. So you suggest to give them notice only after I have been paid? Can they not take money from me then if I break the contract?

sophiaonthego94

Brie said:

Do you have any more holidays owed?  If so ask to take them the first week of January.  That way you can hand in your notice after pay day and still be giving them a week's notice. 

Congrats on getting a new role.  

Thank you!

Unfortunately I don’t have any holidays left and Christmas off is given us on top of our holidays as a bonus. 

TELLIT01

Hand your notice in on the last working day before Christmas, payroll will almost certainly have been processed by then anyway.  If that causes problems for the company that is not your problem.  They must pay you for the period of notice, even if they tell you to leave immediately.  Commission is another matter and you would need to check your contract on that one.  It's possible that commission will only be paid if you are still employed on the date it is due to be paid.

stu12345_2

you are paid one week in arrears in jobs.your employer will do a pay calculation for the week you have done. at the end of the week or the following Monday,so if you leave on say a Friday, you will get that weeks hours you worked in your bank on the next Friday 

sophiaonthego94

TELLIT01 said:

Hand your notice in on the last working day before Christmas.  If that causes problems for the company that is not your problem.  They must pay you for the period of notice, even if they tell you to leave immediately.  Commission is another matter and you would need to check your contract on that one.  It's possible that commission will only be paid if you are still employed on the date it is due to be paid.

So if I give my notice on the 22/12 my last day of employment would then be 29/12 right? I just don't want it to be very awkward and make it look like I waited to tell them last minute... could they not just say ok that is it then we won't pay you for another week as you don't have any holiday left?

YBR

You can give them a letter on 22/12th saying that you give notice that your last day will be 2nd Jan, or any day between 29th Dec and 2nd Jan as you choose. 1 Week notice is the Minimum.

They can then shorten that to 1 week and tell you your last day is 29th Dec, so that they don't have to pay you the extra days. The Bonus will be subject to contract, but it's not unusual for you to have to be still employed to receive it.

sophiaonthego94

YBR said:

You can give them a letter on 22/12th saying that you give notice that your last day will be 2nd Jan, or any day between 29th Dec and 2nd Jan as you choose. 1 Week notice is the Minimum.

They can then shorten that to 1 week and tell you your last day is 29th Dec, so that they don't have to pay you the extra days. The Bonus will be subject to contract, but it's not unusual for you to have to be still employed to receive it.

Unfortunately my contract doesn’t state anything about the commission at all which is quite bad. I’ve even had it looked at by my recruiter and he said the same.. I do think that commission for properties that have completed / rented while I was working here will have to be paid out