Notice Period Duration

[ShoaibJaved]

Hi,
Can anyone comment on the length notice period provided by the employee before changing a job like what is the minimum, typical and maximum duration for it. And how does 8 weeks notice period sounds to people in the software industry.

thanks,
Shoaib

[ND]

8 weeks is too much. Usually permanent jobs will have 1 month notice.I would'nt prefer to accept one with 8 weeks notice for perm or contract job if I have any other option.

But If you are on HSMP and just arrieved and if its u'r 1'st job think about it ? The main problem is in future it may be difficult to change jobs if u want to because most employers can'nt wait for 2 moths.

[olisun]

there are always +ve's and -ve's to that

if you are made redundant then it goes in your favour

my wife had 3 months notice period in her previous company ...so it's every company's own policy...

sometimes depending on the circumstances at that time you want to leave your job, the company may or may not want you to complete your notice period.....

if you "demand" that the notice period be reduced to one month then it will not be a good impression

[ShoaibJaved]

Thanks for the feedback.

The condition put by the employer is that the notice period shall be,

"Company XXXXX " Ltd will give you one week for the first year plus one week for each complete additional year of service (maximum 12 weeks).

You must give "company XXXXX " eight weeks

The two months period does not sound reasonable to me and I do intend to contact the employer to re-consider this clause or to change his stance of 1 week period to 4 weeks and I need to figure out a reasonable way to do that. But as this is the first real job offer I have after remaining jobless for about two months its difficult to say NO to it and more so because I like the work I'll be doing.

[ND]

Hi Javed,

If you like everything else except this then may be you can tell them what exactly u feel ... for ex in my case although they said 1 week i said it would be good for both of us if its for 1 month being a contract job
and they instantly accepted.

This may not be the case with all the employers but you read u'r contract once again carefully ... because beging a permanant job
1 week notice is very less for 1'st 1 year.So ask them if its possible to make it 1 month from both sides.I think this is a reasonable request and they can always comeback and say there company policies does'nt allow them to do it or something like that or they may accept u'r request.There is noting wrong in asking and they wont take it -vely.Present it in such a way that u really are happy with rest of the stuff except this.But dont let them know you are dependant on this job.

As you said if it is u'r 1'st job I would suggest to accept it (note:just a suggestion), because for HSMP extension u wont have any problem.And also you will get the confidence and uk exp for future jobs.Once you get that you can always resign and search for new jobs if you want
to, remember you already have a offer in just 2 months without uk exp.(if i am not mistaken)

All the best.

[Chris]

Javed,

2 or 3 month notice periods are usually for higher position where it is very difficult to replace them. These time scales are mostly in theory.

In practice actual leaving time will purely depend on various situation like business need or how hard is it to replace you. There is always a compromise and most of the time it works out. Both the emlpoyer and the employee need to sit down and understand the best possible time scale to exit. In my opinion it should never be more than 1 month unless you are working at very higher level like CEO or some director.

Chris

[ShoaibJaved]

It been some days since I last visited the forums. The update on my side is that I called the employer and both of us agreed to a notice period of 1 week during probation and 4 weeks during first year of employement and from then onwards 8 weeks.

Apart from the notice period I liked everything about the job. I will start working by the end of this month.