Unpaid Notice Pay

What is minimum notice from employer to employee?

The minimum notice that must be paid is one week for employees with between one month and two years’ service; then one additional week for each year worked, up to a maximum of 12 years. However, the employee’s contract may give more than the statutory minimum.

What if employer does not give notice?

An employee is entitled to bring a claim for wrongful dismissal regardless of the length of their employment if the employer does not pay their notice pay. The employee will need to bring the claim within 3 months of the termination date.

The only time that the employee is not entitled to notice is if they are found to be guilty of gross misconduct but the employee may still have an unfair dismissal claim.

What notice must an employee give?

By law an employee is only required to give one week’s notice unless the contract provides for longer. This is regardless of how long the employee’s service is.

What if the employee leaves without giving notice?

If an employee leaves without giving notice the employer are very unlikely to be able to bring a successful claim against the employee unless they are able to show it has suffered loss as a result of the early departure. An example would be if an employee is crucial to complete a project and a contractor is hired to complete the project. The damages would be the extra costs of hiring the contractor.

If the employer leaves without giving notice they may be contemplating a constructive dismissal claim.

Instead of bringing a claim in the employment tribunal or court, you could also consider trying to negotiate a settlement agreement with your employer. We have a wealth of experience in successfully negotiating settlement agreements.