Employment Law – Contractual Notice Period

[naomi24]

What happens if an employee resigns and, without the agreement of the employer, gives notice of intention to leave before his contractual notice period has expired?

[naomi24]

... but in that case there is no 'come back' so to speak, so it isn't quite the same as reneging on a contract.

[bhg481]

No, but it shows that the company doesn't think the employee is indispensible, so they can't claim lots of money from him.

[EDDIE51]

The point is that the company should have a plan in place to cover a situation where the 'important' person was unable to carry out their duties for some reason. The 'plan' cannot be that if anything happens to
Mr/Ms xxxxxx we just go out of business .

[bhg481]

Exactly.

[sunny-dave]

Often the real threat that the company can use is a reputational one - would you employ someone who had ratted on his previous employer?

In specialised fields word can travel fast ...

[naomi24]

They can't if he's dead, but this one isn't dead. However, thinking rationally about it I tend to agree with you. I don't believe it would be in their best interests to pursue it. Of course it would be ideal if they agreed to waive, say, three months of the notice period and all can be agreed amicably. Perhaps they will. We shall see. Thanks to you, bhg481, and to everyone else for taking the time to mull this over with me. It's appreciated.

[naomi24]

sunny-dave, you have a point but this man’s reputation in his field stands on its own merits, so I don’t believe that would apply in this instance - but thank you for the thought.

[EDDIE51]

In the real world , how much good would a person who really did not want to be in the job do to the company in those 6 months he/she was forced to stay? I can't see the company suing , it would look bad on the them.

[naomi24]

Eddie, regardless of circumstances, this man would do the job to the best of his ability right up until the last moment.

[EDDIE51]

^^ If he is such a 'paragon of virtue' what would make him think of breaking his contract?

[naomi24]

The new company needs to fill the post as soon as possible and he would like to accept the position.

[FrogNog]

Can he buy his way out?

[naomi24]

That wouldn't be a consideration to either party.

[EDDIE51]

Well if he is a man of his word ''as soon as possible'' means as soon as he can leave his present job without breaking his contract so that means 'in 6 months time'
I see a bit of a conflict here between a man who 'would do the job to the best of his ability, right up to the last moment' and one who is thinking of breaking his employment contract.

[FrogNog]

Has the company who wants him been put in a similar position by their leaving employee? If so, it sounds a pretty dog eat dog industry and maybe it's an accepted thing.

[naomi24]

Eddie, it's a complicated situation.

[Zacs-Master]

Still no answer I see.

[naomi24]

Zacs, no definitive answer, but the first option is negotiation and hopefully all will be resolved to everyone's satisfaction.