giving notice to leave work

[mews64]

what is the legal amount of notice you need to give if you are leaving your job and you have been there 5-6 weeks with no written contract?

[Lakitu]

No contract means you can walk out rigt now and there would be no repercussions

[mews64]

ok so i have no written contract and have not signed anything.. but is there not some sort of verbal agreement that you have to give a week..? i didn't think so but my employer is 'sure' that I legally have to give a week..

[Lakitu]

How could your employer be 'sure' about this without being able to provide the written contract?

Your employer might not be very happy about it but legally you have done nothing wrong. Was a contract ever drawn up and you just haven't signed it yet? If that's the case then you have to work your notice period whether it's signed or not.

If I was standing infront of you and told you I was going to give you �10,000, then tomorrow I tell you I'm not going to anymore, what chance do you think you have in a court of law proving I ever said that? None. You can walk out now with no repercussions.

[Oneeyedvic]

There is always an implied contract.

Since no term has been given, it therefore requires a 'reasonable' notice period - unfortunately this is not prescribed in law.

I would suggest a week to be reasonable.

If of course you don't give a 'reasonable' notice period, then your employer may well elect to not pay you (I assume that you work wither a week or a month in hand).

You would have to take them to court to try and get this money back, and I don't believe that you would have a good chance.

[Lakitu]

The contract is implied but it's still not there, which means mews can walk out right now and there's not a jot of a thing the employer can do about it.

It would be foolish to think that anyone could do that but still get paid a notice period though.

[Oneeyedvic]

Actually, your employer could actually sue you for damages if you don't give 'reasonable' notice - eg cost of getting in a temp for the week.

[pink-kittens]

And surely it would be in anyone's best interests to give notice with regard to possibly needing a reference?

Implied contract or otherwise, it would be very rude to just walk out of a job

[Lakitu]

Best interest to give notice, yes of course

Rude to just walk out, absolutely

Legally required to work notice when no contract has been drawn up or signed, nope.

[Oneeyedvic]

Legally required to work notice when no contract has been drawn up or signed,

As explained, there is an implied contract in place as soon as you commence work, so a contract is in place.

If you choose to walk out, you will be in breach of contract.

Look at it the other way round.

You work for a company for a month with no contract. They say that they no longer want you and are not prepared to pay you. On your argument, the company would not have to pay since a signed contract is not in place.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Employe es/RedundancyAndLeavingYourJob/DG_10026689

[Lakitu]

That link "Unless your contract says otherwise...."

There is no contract. The employer should have been such numpties not to draw up a contract of employment.

If it was the other way around and I was asked to leave and had no contract I wouldn't have aleg to stand on either and more fool me for taking a job without seeing the contract or terms and conditions.

[Oneeyedvic]

Try reading the FULL link:

Unless your contract says otherwise, notice can be given verbally or in writing, although it is advisable to at least confirm it in writing.

The amount of notice will normally be set out in your contract with your employer. If not, [a contract in place] there's an implied term that you should give a reasonable period of notice. What's 'reasonable' will depend on your seniority and how long you've worked there.

[WoWo]

It's a generally agreed principle that if there is no period stated in the contract then the notice period should be the same length as your payment period, therefore if you get paid weekly one week will be enough.

[kempie]

Just to dispel a popular misconception...

All employees have a contract of employment, although it might not be in writing.

The contract is made as soon as you accept a job offer, and both sides are then bound by its terms until it�s properly ended (usually by giving notice) or until the terms are changed (usually by mutual agreement).

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Employe es/EmploymentContractsAndConditions/DG_1002790 5

[Whickerman]

It's not law, but rule of thumb is your notice should be at least the pay period - paid monthly = month's notice, weekly -= week.

You are not, however, indentured, so you are free to leave at any time. This may affect your pay though.

[Whickerman]

whoops - just spotted woowoo's post (sorry)

[THECORBYLOON]

On the ACAS website it says "An employee must give at least one week's notice after one month's service and this requirement does not increase with longer service."