Notice

The amount of notice you are required to give (and receive) from an employee will either be 'statutory notice' or the notice period in the employees contract of employment, whichever is GREATER.

 

Statutory Minimum Notice

The statutory minimum notice to be given by an employer to an employee is set out in the Employment Rights Act 1996, section 86(1). It confirms that after a month of employment and employee is entitled to one-week notice for each FULL year of employment, up to a maximum of 12 weeks, as follows: 

 

Period of continuous employment (years)	Statutory Minimum Notice (weeks)
Less than two (but at least one month)	1
At least two but less than three	2
At least three but less than four	3
At least four but less than five	4
At least five but less than six	5
At least six but less than seven	6
At least seven but less than eight	7
At least eight but less than nine	8
At least nine but less than ten	9
At least ten but less than eleven	10
At least eleven but less than twelve	11
Twelve or more	12

 

The statutory minimum notice to be given by an employee to an employer is set out in the Employment Rights Act 1996, section 86(2) and is as follows: 

 

 

Period of continuous employment (years)	Statutory Minimum Notice (weeks)
Less than two (but at least one month)	1

 

* Note that unlike the notice to be given by an employer to an employee, it does not rise with length of service. 

 

Notice periods are generally detailed in the individual contract of employment and employers can give and ask for more notice than statutory notice requires. 

 

For example, the company may give and may ask for 1 months notice from an employee after their initial notice period (please see Contracts of Employment for more details). 

 

The notice to be given by an employer or employee will therefore be whichever is the greater.  

 

Example 1: if the contract states that the Company will give one month's notice, but an employee has been with the Company for 9 years, statutory notice will override the contract of employment and the company must give 9 weeks' notice. 

Example 2: if the contract says one month, and the employee has only been employed for 2 years, the contractual notice period will override the statutory (2 weeks) and one month's notice will be due. 

 

 

 

When notice is given by either employer or employee it cannot be withdrawn unless both parties agree. So if an employee gives notice to an employer and then later changes their mind, the employer can still consider the employee as having resigned (see Ending Employment). Equally, an employer cannot change their mind e.g. if the employer has issued notice of redundancy to the employee.