Length of Notice

[Cozwaz]

No, I am not leaving my job!  I was just curious as to what periods of notice DD members have to give?

Look forward to your reponses.

Coz

[mina]

My notice period is 4 weeks, and I think that is the standard throughout the company for this level.

Mina

[ControlledChaos]

We need to give 4 weeks notice as we are paid monthly and are not management.  Managers need to give one weeks notice for each year they have been with the organisation (but a minimum of 4 weeks notice is required).

V

[ecogirl]

Ede, if you have no contract are you still legally required to give notice?  Obviously if you've been there for a long time you would probably prefer to but I have a friend planning to hand in her notice at a job she has been in less than 6 months.  She would rather leave straight away but not sure the legal requirements.

Anyone know?

caroleanne

[ecogirl]

Thanks a lot you confirmed what I thought but I wasn't sure.  My friend handed in her notice this morning after making sure her wages were in the bank because she knows she will have to fight for anything after today.  I know the next week is going to be hell for her because I worked for this company too, except I lasted just 6 weeks - not 6 months.

caroleanne

[gee4]

1 month if you signed a contract.
1 week or similar if you don't have or didn't sign a contract.

G

[Cozwaz]

This is all very interesting, am I mad then as I am on three months either way?  

My MD did suggest three years notice - just as well I knew he was joking!

Coz

[supergirl]

I am amazed by the length of notice required by all these companies!  I am guessing you all are not in the US, because I have never heard of such a thing here.

My other half has been employed in the southeast and northeast in a professional and/or managerial capacity for 20 years, and has never needed to give more than the usual 2 weeks.  As for me, my employment has always been classified "at will;" neither I nor the employer has to give notice--but I give the 2 weeks, as that is professional courtesy.  

I'd be interested to hear more about the reasons for such long notice periods.

Supergirl

[potofgold]

Two weeks' notice doesn't give your employer much time to source a replacement or arrange a handover?

I've been on one-month's notice in my last couple of jobs - but have found that it takes on average three-months for a replacement to start work (mainly from the time it takes to recruit and assuming that the successful candidate will also work one-month's notice in their current job).  Saying that, I work in the public sector and we're restricted on recruitment methods (we're not allowed to use agencies to recruit permanent staff as it goes against our equal opps policy).

My boss is on three-months' notice (Senior Director) and the Chief Exec is on either six-months or one-year (I don't remember which).  I think these again reflect the expected time to source a replacement.  Obviously there are means of negotiating early release when someone hands in their notice (and sometimes, depending on your role, you can be asked to leave immediately and then be paid until your employment has actually finished - this happened to my friend when she left a senior PA role with an engineering company... in fact, she was escorted from the time she handed her letter in until the time she left the building).

PS I'm in the UK.

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If you're using dc please visit - potofgold.utb420.net:420

[supergirl]

One month--Six months---One year----Wow!  

You are right that it is difficult to fill positions with good people in 2 weeks; in fact, in my experience it is impossible.  But I think that when giving notice you are a lame duck anyway--not blazing any new professional trails.  At least, I think that is some of the rationale behind 2 weeks.  It's not your responsibility to make sure the position is filled, just to give the employer a chance to make some plans.  How can you tell your next employer that it will be a year before you can start work?  Here in the US, they pressure you not to work out the 2 weeks even!  I always reply, "You would want me to give YOU 2 weeks, and I am honor bound to provide my current employer with the same courtesy."

SG

[andream]

It's interesting that the differences in the job role in the US and UK are not very great but when it comes to the notice period, there's a huge discrepancy in how it's handled.

For the Benefit of both countries, let me give you a low down on how it works in each.

In the UK when you are offered a position you are also offered an employment contract which defines the position and the salary and generally the all important notice period.  Notice periods range from 1 week if you're not on a contract to some of the longer terms you've heard on this thread.  And if the parting is amicable, it's generally not a terrible thing to give an employer as much notice as possible. The employer has the right to pay the employee in lieu of notice, for instance if he's an unhappy camper and wants you to leave today, if you've given proper notice then you're (generally) entitled to pay for that time period.  It works out pretty well. AND the longer you've been in a position the more likely it is that the notice period will be increased in successive contract.  

In the US, the employment contract is not as common (although I do know of very high end executive assistants who have them).  Generally the company policy manual and a job description are relied on to set the rules of employment and in most cases notice periods will be spelled out in the P&P manual.   In the US a two week notice is generally acceptable unless you've agreed otherwise with your employer.

Obviously there are individual company differences but that's the basics

[gee4]

In the UK Supergirl and especially Northern Ireland this is built into the contract you sign when hired.

If contracting or temping you don't usually require notice however, it is a given that you will stay until replaced but are not tied to do so.

In the public sector some people I worked with had to give 3 months notice when leaving one post to take up another.

G

[uberpa]

Yeah in the UK you usually have a contract of employment which is not something you usually see at the Administrative level in the States.

Our contract is 4wks but the law in the UK states that you can be dismissed or made redundant for no reason or entitlement if you have worked for a company less then 2 years, your lucky if they don't make you work your notice and let you take the salary instead.

[Jackie G]

To add my 2p, I was once in a job with a 3 month probationery period, during which time either side only needed to give one week's notice.

As a self employed person these days, I have no notice period, and if I 'sack' a client, I try to ensure that everything is up to date, including monies due, before doing anything about it.

Jackie, Peer Moderator
www.iqps.org

[elkiedee]

While it can be a pain working out your notice, I prefer the system here in the UK - as mentioned by others you can get pay in lieu of notice if having you hang around is a problem, and it's the other side of the coin from you having some rights to notice or pay. Seems a fair trade off to me.
Luci