Notice Period Calculator

UK statutory minimum notice from employee to employer is one week, regardless of how long you have worked there (after the first month). The reverse direction (employer to employee) scales with service: 1 week per year of service up to 12 weeks at 12+ years. Most employment contracts override the statutory minimum upward; a typical UK office contract requires 1 to 3 months of notice from either side, with director-level roles often requiring 6 months.

The rest of the world varies dramatically. The US has at-will employment with no legal notice requirement, though 2 weeks is conventional. Germany sets statutory dismissal notice at 4 weeks to the 15th or end of the month, scaling up sharply with tenure. Australia uses a sliding scale from 1 week (under 1 year) to 4 weeks (5+ years). Always check both statutory minimum and your contract; the contract usually wins.

Two clauses commonly appear in UK employment contracts that change how notice works in practice. PILON (Pay In Lieu of Notice) gives the employer the right to terminate the contract immediately and pay you the notice period as a lump sum instead of working it. Garden leave keeps you employed (and paid) but removes you from work duties during the notice period, often used to keep departing employees away from clients and information.

Both are usually triggered by the employer rather than chosen by the employee. PILON is taxable in the same way as salary; garden leave technically keeps you on payroll. From the employee's perspective: PILON gives you a clean break and lump sum, garden leave delays the start of your next role. Both protect the employer, which is who is mainly worried about a departing employee taking value out of the door.

If you have signed a 3-month notice period and you want out faster, the realistic options are: ask your manager directly (often successful for departing employees the company is not desperate to keep), agree a shorter handover with explicit goodwill, take unpaid leave for part of it, or simply leave and accept the contractual breach (which in practice rarely results in actual legal action for ordinary employees). The first option is by far the easiest path; many employers would rather have an engaged 4-week handover than a checked-out 12-week one.

If your new employer is pressing for an earlier start, ask them to discuss directly with your current employer. Companies talk to each other about this constantly and a polite call between HR teams often unlocks a 4-week start where the employee was being held to 12. Always check your contract for non-compete and gardening leave clauses before assuming you can walk; senior roles in regulated industries may face stronger restrictions.