Notice Period - Wikipedia

Term in contract law and human resource management "Two weeks notice" redirects here. For the 2002 film, see Two Weeks Notice.

A notice period or period of notice within a contract may be defined within the contract itself, or subject to a condition of reasonableness. In an employment contract, a notice period is a period between the receipt of the letter of dismissal and the end of the last working day. This time period does not have to be given to an employee by their employer before their employment ends. The term also refers to the period between a termination date or resignation date and the last working day in the company when an employee leaves or when a contract ends.

Contractual provisions

[edit]

A contract may state a period of notice which either/any party is required to give to the other contractual parties. The contract between Winter Garden Theatre (London) Ltd. and Millennium Productions Ltd., which gave rise to a 1948 legal case, stated that Millennium would have to give a month's notice if it wished to terminate, but Winter Garden's obligations were not stated. Lord MacDermott stated in that case that

The conclusion I reach is that in this contract there should be implied a stipulation to the effect that, ... the licence might be terminated by the licensors on the expiration of a reasonable notice period duly communicated to the licensees.[1]

The duration of a reasonable notice period depends on the particular facts of a particular case.[2] In the case of Jackson Distribution Ltd. v Tum Yeto Inc. (2009), a distribution arrangement had been established between these two companies but there was no formal written agreement. They had discussed a number of options in a series of e-mails, and draft agreements had passed between them. The High Court of England and Wales confirmed that the facts of the case and the type of contract in place would be relevant to determining the notice period applicable to terminating a contract, and that other relevant factors and any relevant trade practices could also be taken into account.[3] A reasonable period has been judged to be 12 months in some cases, but shorter in others.[4]

In English housing law, a Section 21 notice provides for a notice period at the end of which an assured shorthold tenancy will come to an end.[5] In a legal case, Lower Street Properties v Jones, 1996, wording which stated that the notice period ran to "the end of the period of your tenancy which will end after the expiry of two months from service" of the notice was legally sufficient and clear because the end-date could be calculated even though it was not actually specified.[6]

Notice periods in employment law

[edit]

Statutory redundancy notice periods in the UK

[edit]

In the United Kingdom, the statutory redundancy notice periods are:[7]

• at least one week's notice if employed between one month and two years
• one week's notice for each year if employed between two and twelve years
• twelve weeks' notice if employed for twelve years or more.

These statutory periods constitute the minimum notice period to be given by the employer; however, some employers may opt to give employees longer notice periods, in order to give the employees a better opportunity to find alternative employment.[note 1]

Notice periods in Poland

[edit]

In Poland the same notice period applies regardless of which party (employer or employee) withdraws the contract. The statutory periods apply, unless both parties agree on other terms:

• 2 weeks if employed below 6 months
• 1 month if employed below 3 years
• 3 months if employed 3 or more years.

The week-measured period ends on Saturday. The month-measured period ends on the last day of calendar month—for instance, if 1-month period applies, a resignation or dismissal produced between 1st and 30 April results in contract termination on 31 May.[8]

Notice periods in the United States

[edit]

Because most employment in the U.S. is at-will, no notice period is required. In practice, most employees provide two weeks' notice.[9]

Notice periods in Denmark

[edit]

Notice periods for white collar workers are defined in the Danish Law on Salaried Employees or "Funktionærloven",[10] which are:

• 1 month if employed below 6 months
• 3 months if employed below 3 years
• 4 months if employed below 6 years
• 5 months if employed below 9 years
• 6 months if employed more than 9 years.

If the employee resigns, he/she has to give a 1-month notice period.

Notice periods in Switzerland

[edit]

Notice periods in Switzerland are governed by the Code of Obligations,[11] which sets the default time scales. The notice period depends on the employee’s length of service within the company as follows:

• 7 days during the trial period
• 1 month if employed below 1 year
• 2 months if employed below 10 years
• 3 months if employed more than 10 years

The default trial period is the first month of employment, but may be extended up to three months. After the trial period, the notice period may be amended by a written contract, but not under one month, unless set by a collective labor agreement and only for the first year of employment.[12]

Notes

[edit]

1. ^ This section incorporates text copied from https://www.gov.uk/redundant-your-rights/notice-periods under the terms of the Open Government Licence 2.0.

References

[edit]

1. ^ Wikipedia Foundation, Winter Garden Theatre (London) Ltd v Millennium Productions Ltd, accessed 1 July 2023
2. ^ Coyle, M., What is a reasonable notice period?, Lawdit Solicitors, published 16 November 2013, accessed 10 December 2022
3. ^ Brachers, Contracts: termination and reasonable notice periods, published 16 January 2015, accessed 1 July 2023
4. ^ Spearman, R., England and Wales High Court (Chancery Division), Bristol Groundschool Ltd v Intelligent Data Capture Ltd & Ors [2014] EWHC 2145 (Ch), delivered 2 July 2014, accessed 8 September 2023
5. ^ Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988
6. ^ Swarbrick, D., Lower Street Properties Ltd v Jones: CA 1986, updated on 30 May 2022, accessed on 25 June 2025
7. ^ GOV.UK: Redundancy - Notice periods
8. ^ Polish Code of Labour
9. ^ "How to Manage Employees Who Don't Give 2 Weeks' Notice - businessnewsdaily.com". Business News Daily. Retrieved 2021-10-25.
10. ^ Dansk Funktionærlov
11. ^ "The finer points of terminating an employment contract". Fedlex: The publication platform for federal law. Federal Council of Switzerland. 27 February 2020. Archived from the original on 31 January 2021. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
12. ^ "Bundesgesetz betreffend die Ergänzung des Schweizerischen Zivilgesetzbuches (Fünfter Teil: Obligationenrecht)". Fedlex: The publication platform for federal law (in German). Federal Council of Switzerland. 1 January 2021. Archived from the original on 31 January 2021. Retrieved 31 January 2021.

v t e Employment
Classifications	Academic tenure Casual Contingent work Full-time job Gig worker Job sharing Part-time job Self-employment Side job Skilled worker Journeyman Technician Tradesperson Independent contractor Labour hire Temporary work Laborer Wage labour
Hiring	Application Background check Business networking Cover letter Curriculum vitae Drug testing Employment contract Employment counsellor Executive search list Induction programme Job fair Job fraud Job hunting Job interview Letter of recommendation Onboarding Overqualification Person–environment fit Personality–job fit theory Personality hire Probation Realistic job preview Recruitment Résumé Simultaneous recruiting of new graduates Underemployment Work-at-home scheme
Roles	Cooperative Employee Employer Internship Job Labour hire Permanent employment Supervisor Volunteering
Working class	Blue-collar Green-collar Grey-collar Pink-collar Precariat White-collar Red-collar New-collar No-collar Orange-collar Scarlet-collar Black-collar Gold-collar
Career and training	Apprenticeship Artisan Master craftsman Avocation Career assessment Career counseling Career development Coaching Creative class Education Continuing education E-learning Employability Further education Graduate school Induction training Knowledge worker Licensure Lifelong learning Overspecialization Practice-based professional learning Professional association Professional certification Professional development Professional school Reflective practice Retraining Vocational education Vocational school Vocational university Mentorship Occupational Outlook Handbook Practice firm Profession Operator Professional Tradesman Vocation
Attendance	Break Break room Career break Compassionate leave Bereavement leave Furlough Gap year Leave of absence Long service leave No call, no show Sabbatical Sick leave Stress leave Time clock
Schedules	35-hour workweek Four-day week Eight-hour day 996 working hour system Flextime On-call Overtime Remote work Six-hour day Shift work Working time Workweek and weekend
Wages and salaries	Frisch elasticity of labor supply Global labor arbitrage Labour economics Labor share Labour supply Living wage Maximum wage National average salary World Europe Minimum wage Canada Hong Kong Europe United States Price elasticity of demand Progressive wage Singapore Overtime rate Paid time off Performance-related pay Remuneration Salary cap
Benefits	Annual leave Casual Friday Child care Disability insurance Health insurance Life insurance Marriage leave Parental leave Pension By country Perk-cession Sick leave United States Take-home vehicle Well-being washing
Taxes	Payroll tax Tax bracket Income tax Negative Disposable income Salary packaging Unreported employment
Safety and health	Crunch Epilepsy and employment Human factors and ergonomics Karoshi List of countries by rate of fatal workplace accidents Occupational burnout Occupational disease Occupational exposure limit Occupational health psychology Occupational injury Occupational noise Occupational stress Personal protective equipment Repetitive strain injury Right to sit United States Sick building syndrome Work accident Occupational fatality Workers' compensation Workers' right to access the toilet Workplace health promotion Workplace phobia Workplace wellness
Equal opportunity	Affirmative action Discrimination Equal pay for equal work Gender pay gap Glass ceiling
Infractions	Corporate collapses and scandals Accounting scandals Control fraud Corporate behaviour Corporate crime Exploitation of labour Dress code Employee handbook Employee monitoring Evaluation Labour law Sexual harassment Sleeping while on duty Wage theft Whistleblower Workplace bullying Workplace harassment Workplace incivility
Willingness	Boreout Careerism Civil conscription Conscription Critique of work Dead-end job Employment rate List Job satisfaction McJob Organizational commitment Refusal of work Slavery Bonded labour Human trafficking Labour camp Penal labour Peonage Truck wages Unfree labour Wage slavery Stay interview Workforce Work ethic Work–life interface Downshifting Slow living Workaholic
Termination	At-will employment Dismissal Banishment room Constructive dismissal Wrongful dismissal Employee offboarding Employee turnover Exit interview Labour market flexibility Layoff Notice period Pink slip Resignation Letter of resignation Restructuring Retirement Mandatory retirement Retirement planning Retirement spend-down Severance package Golden handshake Golden parachute
Unemployment	Barriers to entry Discouraged worker Economic depression Great Depression Long Depression Frictional unemployment Full employment Graduate unemployment Involuntary unemployment Jobless recovery NEET Phillips curve Recession Great Recession Job losses caused by the Great Recession Lists of recessions Recession-proof job Reserve army of labour Structural unemployment Technological unemployment Types of unemployment Unemployment benefits Unemployment Convention, 1919 Unemployment extension List of countries by unemployment rate Wage curve Youth unemployment
Public programs	Workfare Unemployment insurance Make-work job Job creation program Job creation index Job guarantee Employer of last resort Guaranteed minimum income Right to work Historical: U.S.A.: Civil Works Administration Works Progress Administration Comprehensive Employment and Training Act
See also	Bullshit job Busy work Credentialism and educational inflation Emotional labor Evil corporation Going postal Kiss up kick down Labor rights Make-work job Narcissism in the workplace Post-work society Presenteeism Psychopathy in the workplace Sunday scaries Slow movement (culture) Toxic leader Toxic workplace Wage compression Working poor Workhouse
See also templates Aspects of corporations Aspects of jobs Aspects of occupations Aspects of organizations Aspects of workplaces Corporate titles Critique of work Organized labor