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Can I get out of giving 12 week’s notice?
Q. Advice needed please. I been offered a new job to start asap but my current company require 12 weeks notice , is there a way out of that ? I’m not sure the new job will wait that long.
A. This is a fairly common problem employees find themselves faced with. You are contractually bound to provide three months notice, but you need to leave more or less immediately.
Whilst leaving early will leave you open to a civil claim of breach of contract, it very rarely happens. That’s because the expense, time and effort involved in taking you to court is probably not worth it from an employer’s perspective. To succeed in their claim, your current employer must show that they have suffered damage (financial losses) as a consequence of the breach. That in itself is not easy to quantify. Furthermore, if a replacement is found for you in fairly quick time, and training for your role is minimal, it will cut down any losses further.
My advice is always to speak with your current employer. Firstly find out when your new employer would like you to start. They will be aware that any employee leaving a job to start with them will be required to provide a notice period. Approach your new employer and explain the situation. They may accept a shorter notice period. Any notice is better than none. They will also be more willing to provide a favourable reference if you are upfront with them.
At the end of the day, failure to provide the correct notice is unlikely to result in a claim for breach of contract, but you can never be sure!
Notice periods and the two-year qualifying service for unfair dismissal
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