What notice is the
employee entitled to receive? An employer and employee can agree contractual terms
as to the notice period. In the absence of any contractual
term, the statutory minimum notice periods to be provided
by the employer are as follows:
Between 1 month
and 2 years - 1 week's notice required
Between 2 and 12 years - 1
week for every year worked up to a maximum of 12 weeks
For example, if an employee has
worked 8 years, in the absence of any contractual provision,
they would be entitled to 8 weeks notice.
An Employment Tribunal can order that the employee should
be entitled to more than 12 weeks notice because it is "reasonable"
in that industry. For example, it may be that for senior managers
in a certain sector, the usual notice periods are 6 months.
It is rare, however, for a Tribunal to make such a finding.
If an employee is not provided with his statutory minimum
notice period or contractual notice period, he may have a
claim for breach of contract, otherwise known as wrongful
dismissal.
What notice is the employee obliged
to give to his employer?
Usually, the contract will specify what notice period the
employee should give if he wishes to resign his employment.
This can be varied by agreement.
If the contract is silent, the statutory minimum period of
notice to be given by an employee who has been employed one
month or more is 1 week. A much longer notice period may however
be implied if it is reasonable in all the circumstances (ie
what is normal for a person of that seniority and in the industry).
If the employee wishes to leave before the end of his contractual
notice (or statutory minimum notice period), in practical
terms, you have little remedies. You are not entitled as a
matter of law to force him to work, even though he is in breach
of contract. In certain circumstances, you may be able to
obtain an injunction to stop the employee working for his
new company during the notice period, but it would have to
be shown that the new employer is a direct competitor and
that there was a legitimate need to protect your interests-
not an easy task. You may also sue the employee for the additional
costs arising from his breach of contract , ie the cost of
replacement staff fir the balance of the notice period. Again,
such claims are very rare.
What is "Garden Leave?"
Many contracts of employment give the employer the option
to demand that you do not attend the workplace during your
notice period, even though you continue to be paid. This is
known as "garden leave"- the employee is expected
to stay at home and not commence new work during this period.
The logic behind this is clear. Once it becomes known that
the employee is leaving the company, an employer may not want
to take a chance to have the employee continue working where
confidentiality and trade secrets become more of an issue
(especially if you are going to work for a competitor). The
employer will thus not be in breach of contract to require
the employee to stay at home during the notice period (as
long as there is a provision in the contract giving the employer
the right to insist on Garden Leave).
Other
aspects of UK employment law for employees include:
Landau
Zeffertt Weir Solicitors