Notice of Dismissal
Most employees have a legal right to a period of notice if dismissed. Many employees will have extra rights to notice under their contract of employment. There will always be a contract of employment, even if there is nothing written down. Even if the law or your contract of employment does not give you the right to a minimum amount of notice, you are still entitled to 'reasonable' notice.
In most circumstances, if your employer wants to dismiss you, they must follow special dismissal and disciplinary procedures, laid down by law. Before dismissing you, your employer must:
- send you a written statement, telling you why they want to dismiss you
- hold a meeting with you to discuss the matter
- hold an appeal meeting with you, if you want to appeal against your dismissal.
After the meeting with you, or the appeal meeting if there is one, your employer must make a final decision about what they are going to do, and tell you what it is. If they are still going to dismiss you, your employer must tell you when the dismissal is to take effect, and how much notice they are giving you. They do not have to do this in writing, but it would be good practice to do so. Notice of dismissal must be given directly to you and not through a third party, for example your trade union.
If you are not happy with your employer's decision and you think your rights have been ignored, you may be able to take your case to an employment tribunal (industrial tribunal in Northern Ireland). You must comply with the dismissal and disciplinary procedure first. If you do not, any future award you get from a tribunal may be reduced. If your employer does not follow the proper procedures, a tribunal may decide they have acted unreasonably. This would mean you would have been unfairly dismissed.
If you are being dismissed because you are 65, or above normal retirement age, the rules about notice are different.
Who has no legal right to minimum notice?
The law does not give the following employees the right to a minimum period of notice:
- those employed for less than one calendar month by their employer. From 1 October 2002, the law gives some employees on fixed-term contracts who have worked for their employer for one month, the right to notice
- Crown servants
- seamen employed on a ship registered in the United Kingdom under a crew agreement
- employees who have been dismissed for gross misconduct.
If you have been accused of gross misconduct, you may wish to make a claim to an indsutrial tribunal. There is a strict time limit for doing so.
If you have no legal right to notice, you will still be entitled to 'reasonable' notice or the notice your contract gives you. However, if you have been dismissed for gross misconduct, you will not be entitled to any notice under your contract, or any 'reasonable' notice.
How much notice should you get?
The law gives all employees the right to a minimum amount of notice, except those listed under the heading Who has no legal right to minimum notice. This period of notice is:
- one week for employees who have worked for their employer for one month but less than two years; or
- two weeks if the employee has worked for their employer for two whole years; and
- one extra week for each further whole year's employment at the date the notice period expires, up to a maximum of twelve weeks' notice in total.
Contractual notice
Your contract of employment may give you more notice than the minimum the law gives you. However, you can never get less than the minimum, no matter what your contract says.
If your contract does not specify a period of notice, you may still have the right to a minimum period of notice because of custom and practice. For example, if everyone who works for your firm has always been given at least three weeks' notice, you would have the right to this much notice.
'Reasonable' notice
If the law does not give you the right to notice, and there is no notice period in your contract (whether written, spoken or through custom and practice), you will still be entitled to 'reasonable' notice. What is reasonable will often depend on your pay period. For example, if you are paid weekly, you could argue that a week is reasonable, and if you are paid monthly, you could argue that a month is reasonable.
How much notice is an employer entitled to?
The notice you should give your employer before resigning should be in the contract. If your contract does not say how much notice you must give your employer then, if you have worked for one month or more, the minimum notice you should give is one week. If you have worked for less than one month, the notice period should be reasonable.
If your contract says you must give your employer more notice than this, you must give the amount of notice in your contract. Your contract may set out how much you must give, whether it must be written, and/or when you should give it.
If an employer withholds money owed because you gave incorrect notice
If you leave your job without giving proper notice, your employer may try to withhold part or all of the money owed to you. In general, employers are not legally entitled to withhold money owed.
Are you entitled to be paid in your notice period?
If you work your normal working hours in your notice period, you are entitled to be paid your normal pay.
You may not be able to work during the notice period because you are:
- willing to work but are given no work to do
- on holiday
- off work through sickness or injury.
If you do not work during the notice period for one of the reasons above, the law says you should usually still get your normal wage. However, there is an exception to this rule. If your contract gives you at least one week's notice more than the law gives you, you lose your legal right to be paid during the whole of the notice period.
Pay in lieu of notice
If your employer has dismissed you without giving you notice that the law or your contract says they should have, the employer should pay you in lieu of notice. 'In lieu' means 'instead of'. This is also called severance pay. The only exception to this is when you have been dismissed because of gross misconduct.
The amount of pay in lieu of notice you should get will depend on how much notice your are entitled to. You should get pay in lieu at the rate of your normal wages. For example, if you are entitled to four weeks' notice, but are only given one, you will be entitled to three weeks' pay in lieu of notice. You may be entitled to more than this, depending on what your contract says.
