Know this may be a strange topic on a biking forum, however, I know that there are many people on here from all walks of life and that this seems like a good place to get advice on a wide and varied range of topics. I joined a new company a year ago in a sales role. On the 1 year anniversary of joining the company, the standard practice is to give their sales guys a revised contract of employment which includes a 6 month back to back notice period. ie: They have to give me, or pay in lieu, 6 months salary if they want to make me redundant, and I have to give 6 month’s notice if I decide to leave / resign. There are a few benefits to this notice period, however, the negative is that if I did decide to leave, there are not many new employers that would wait while I worked out a 6 months notice period. The industry standard is around 3 months notice period. My question is, if I signed the new contract, and for whatever reason secured another position elsewhere. What would be the likely outcome if I gave a 12 week notice period and just walked out after 12 weeks? What legal action could my employer take? And what would they hope to gain ? Not signing the contract, or, trying to negotiate the terms of the contract are not viable options. I know I have to sign, but, just wanting to understand my position and options should I wish to move on.
I'm in the same position. Joined a company where the notice period is 3 months, but I'd likely go back contracting and wouldn't want to wait a month, let alone 3...
You do not have to sign You can continue to work, but you need to send them by registered mail saying that you do not accept these terms However you have only been there 1 year and they can fire you wil little or no reason and you have no comeback Basically you are between a rock and a hard place, if you have an option to work elsewhere your best advice is to take that option Once you have signed the new contract or continued to work under the new contract even with out signing it(unless you advise them that you are working under duress) you are stuck with a 6 month notice period
If you were to leave the company before the notice period they would for certain hold your P45 until the end of the full notice period, so you would c*ck up your tax.
Know I'm going to have to sign the contract, that is a given as I don't want to mess things up with the job. Know that if I decide to leave, I can expect the usual "dragging of feet" with final expenses, P45 etc I'm 99% sure that I'm staying where I am for the long term, however, there is a very slim chance of another job with great prospects. My original question still stands, if I gave a 12 week notice of leaving, what could the company do if my contract requires I give a 6 month notice period ?
Don't worry about it. Don't see how they can enforce the notice period if you decide to leave. They might threaten you with legal action but in reality it would never happen.
To be fair if you handed in your notice would your employer want you to hang around for six months knowing that your heart isn't in the job? How much could it cost them if you lost deals etc! Unless they have someone to back fill you then I guess they may keep you on until they have someone to fill the gap
The industry standard is to put you on "garden leave" for your full notice period. Take the mobile and lap top from you, sit you at home on full pay with instruction not to meet, or contact, any customers. Gives the company time to protect any business they think is at risk by your leaving. I worked this to my advantage once, 10 years ago. I was on a 6 week notice period, and I handed my notice in on 4th Jan. I'd had almost 2 weeks on holiday for xmas, then a further 6 weeks sat at home on full pay, with no expectations to work. Mid Dec to Mid Feb holiday on full pay. The garden leave thing is fine when it's up to 12 weeks, but, the new company could sit you at home for 6 months. Great for me, but, don't expect a new company to wait 6 months for me to join them.
Work from home.............i did a full days work....at home! corse you did......and who pays, the customer, or us the taxpayer!:wink:
Oyyyyy no highjacks please :wink: But, I have also worked from home for approx 15 years, and whilst there are many perks to this, I do tend to find that I actually work longer hours than if I were in an office. Having a office at home means that you never actually leave the office, and sometimes you can be expected to work longer hours and at weekends ... just cause your at home and able too. OK, back to my initial question
Hi Carbon, Just a couple of things. You mention that they have to give you 6 months notice, is that if they fire you as opposed to make you redundant? Could be that redundancy would just give you the legal minimums. Is the possible new job in the same field as the current one? I know a guy who last year was fired and given 6 months notice as gardening leave. He could take a job sooner as long as it was in a different field, all that would happen is that he would have to give up the balance of his pay for whatever was left of the 6 months. Also, you say you are 99% sure you will stay where you are for the long term, just remember the grass isnt greener on the other side, its just grass on the other side.
The difference is being made redundant in this case, I was made redundant a few years ago and I was hunting high and low for roles in the same field, HR within my old company confirmed as they had let me go there was no legal case to stop me working in the same field, but if I had chosen to leave they could enforce the clauses
The 6 month notice period is linked to being "a good leaver" ie: I am made redundant, or, I choose to leave. Under both these options my contract is a 6 month notice period. I can be sacked, like most of us, with no notice period should I do something silly, or gross misconduct etc Know what you mean about the grass still being grass, but, a 50% increase in money and great opportunities is very tempting.
You're right, it's about being a 'good leaver'. Any employee can resign from any job on the instant (after all, we are not slaves), but breaching your contract in this blatant way would not look good in your CV, or if a future employer asked for references from previous employers as they usually do. Once you have resigned, an employer cannot legally refuse to issue a P45 and they have to pay you only up to the moment of resignation. Conversely, any employer can dismiss any employee on the instant, but if they do so in breach of the contract and/or in breach of employment law, the dismissed employee can bring a (winning) case in the Employment Tribunal seeking compensation for unfair dismissal. If the employee has been employed for only a short time (e.g. one year), the compensation would be a small sum or nothing. Long term employees are in a far stronger position. In short anybody can breach any contract at any time, but the consequences are usually adverse and best avoided. I'm sure you knew that anyway!
If you're thinking about how to leave having only just taken up the post, it sounds like you'd be better off NOT signing and leaving immediately, cos you dont sound very happy already......
Dependant on the wording of the employment contract ie 6 months notice or payment in lieu (this works both ways) they could bill you for the notice period not worked and if necessary drag you into court for breach of contract and payment of the monies outstanding. However a court may not find in their favour if it felt the 6 month notice period to be overly onerous or a restraint on trade
Very good point. I do work in an incestous industry, and such news would get around quite quickly. This was my other idea, if I decided to leave, offer a 12 week notice, and hen buy myself out of the balance of the notice period.
Honestly, I'm ok in the job I have .... was not looking else where, and have turned down other opportunities in the last 12 months. However, the current opportunity that may be available is 50% more money, and great opportunities that would not be available to me in my current role. Hence, my head has been slightly turned. It just coincides with my 1 year anniversary in my current job, and signing a contract with a 6 month notice period.
