Contractual and statutory notice periods
An employee who has worked for a company continuously for one month or more must give and receive notice of dismissal/redundancy or intention to leave. The notice period must be included in a written statement of employment particulars and made available within two months of an employee starting work.
The minimum legal notice period to be given by an employer is:
- one week's notice if the employee has been employed by the employer continuously for one month or more, but for less than two years
- two weeks' notice if the employee has been employed by the employer continuously for two years, and
- one additional week's notice for each further complete year of continuous employment, up to a maximum of 12 weeks
An employer can include longer periods of notice in the employment contract.
The minimum statutory notice period which must be given by an employee is at least one week's notice if employed continuously for one month or more by that employer. Note that the minimum notice period does not increase with longer service.
Minimum notice does not apply to the following people:
- independent contractors or freelance agents
- employees whose fixed-term contracts have come to an end, with a few exceptions
Unless a contract states otherwise, notice can be given on any day. The notice period runs from the start of the day after the day on which notice was given. So if a week's notice is given on a Monday, the period of notice will begin on the Tuesday and expire at the end of the following Monday.
Some contracts of employment contain special terms about notice, e.g. in contracts of employees who have access to information that you wish to protect from a competitor.
