Leaving Employment Part 2
Generally, employees are not protected from being unfairly dismissed in the first year of their employment. However, unless they are guilty of gross misconduct, all employees have a right to be given notice of termination.
As an employee, how much notice are you entitled to? This depends on two things – your contract and statute law.
Under the law there are minimum periods of notice laid down. So if you have been employed for more than one month but less than two years you are entitled to one week’s notice. At two years of employment you are entitled to 2 weeks’ notice. You then get an additional week’s notice for each complete year of service up to a maximum of 12 weeks’ notice. These are minimum periods, so if your contract of employment gives you one month’s notice and your employer wants to sack you after the end of 6 months’ employment, he must still give you one month’s notice.
Let’s look at a few examples.
Paul works as a driving instructor. His contract of employment entitles him to one month’s notice. This means that in the first four years of his employment if his employer wants to dismiss him he must give him one month’s notice.
Paul works for 7 years and then his position becomes redundant. Even though his contract gives him one month’s notice, he is entitled to seven weeks’ notice because this is the statutory minimum period. If he worked for fifteen years before his job became redundant he would be entitled to twelve weeks’ notice which is the maximum that the law gives an employee.
How can employees enforce their right to notice? Let’s take another example. Peter’s contract says that he is entitled to one month’s notice. After six months, his employer decides that he doesn’t fit in. Peter hasn’t committed gross misconduct, yet his employer – knowing that Peter has less than a year’s service – sacks him on the spot. Peter can sue his employer for breach of contract. Because this is unlikely to amount to a large sum of money, Peter should bring his claim in the small claims court.
Again, as a relatively small sum of money is likely to be involved, people in Peter’s position should not start incurring solicitors fees. You should be able to fill in the necessary forms yourself or you can get help from the CAB. Unscrupulous employers may think that they can get away with not paying you because it will be too much trouble to sue them. Don’t let them get away with it.
As I mentioned last week, sometimes long notice periods can be a pain for both employers and employees. Employees want to leave to start their new job, or concentrate on looking for one. Employers don’t necessarily want someone who no longer has any incentive to work for the company. It is possible therefore for employers not to work their notice period, usually by mutual agreement. Remember that even if you’re not working your notice, you’re still entitled to be paid for it. This is usually referred to as being paid in lieu.
Finally, what do you do if the reason your employment is coming to an end is because the company has gone bust? In these circumstances it is unlikely there will be any money in the bank to pay your notice money. You may be able to claim it back from the National Insurance Fund. You could also get up to 8 weeks’ unpaid wages as well as a redundancy payment if you were employed for more than 2 years.
Published 27/09/2006.
