I have just received new job offer as DevOps with one of the major media company but employment contract mentions 8 week notice period.
Is 8 week notice period too much or am I overthinking this?
8 Week Notice Period
SJ50 on 05/03/2022 - 00:11
Comments
It could just be a sign of the times - with the hot job market, companies might be keen to lock you in for longer. It's completely unenforceable though. What are they going to do, if you leave without notice?
Certain industries will have much longer notice periods, that are enforced with non-compete agreements and deferred comp.
Wait what, we can leave without notice?! How does that work. Genuinely curious
How does that work
Just don't turn up to work … what are they going to do? Fire you … oh wait, you already quit.
They can withhold your payouts like annual leave? If you just quit like that?
I'd told an ex-manager that I was leaving as soon as possible after giving notice. We were happy to be rid of each other though so she just adjusted my annual leave, I dumped my computer off with IT straight after and never returned to the office.
I normally wouldn't recommend this but I was towards the end of a temp contract at the time, majority of my team had resigned and I had nothing left to lose.
They will withhold pay and you don't want that.
Unless it's a casual role, then quit on the spot.
How would this work? I can see them delaying paying you any accrued leave or something until your notice period had expired, but they would do that anyway if you were at work.
You aren’t a slave, you can just leave.
Withhold pay for the next two weeks or withhold pay for hours worked since last paycheck?
Casual roles don't get paid everyday, sometimes up to two weeks, why quit on the spot?
But you won’t get paid that anyway if you stay, and if you are in a hurry to leave to start a new job etc.
Besides, casuals don’t sign 8 week notice contracts!
I'd like to see them try and enforce it.
Employer: 4 weeks notice? Contract says 8 weeks, we'll withhold your pay and annual leave up to that amount of 4 weeks, then pay out rest. Then ball is in OP's court.
we'll withhold your pay and annual leave up to that amount of 4 weeks, then pay out rest.
They can't indefinitely withhold pay and entitlements that you've already accrued. Best case they can withhold it until your notice period is complete.
Employment law is clear on this.
If they really wanted to get into a pissing contest, they could get a court to order you to not work for someone else for the duration on your notice period, but would probably have to pay you for it.
Interesting, which part of employment law says this about withholding and paying to not work for a competitor?
paying to not work for a competitor?
I'm not sure that's it's explicitly stated. I've just read that non-competes and trade restraints are generally unenforceable by courts. The compromise people finish up with is to be paid for non-compete periods.
https://www.fairwork.gov.au/ending-employment/notice-and-fin…
Whether an employee quits or is fired, notice is generally required.
Most awards say that an employer can deduct up to one week’s wages from an employee’s pay if:
the employee is over 18
the employee hasn’t given the right amount of notice under their award
the deduction isn’t unreasonable.
However, employers can only deduct pay from wages owed under the award. They can’t deduct from other entitlements owed to the employee, such as accumulated leave or other overaward payments.@redfox1200: Also this page
https://www.fairwork.gov.au/workplace-problems/common-workpl…There's this common assumption many people have that if you quit on the spot you'll forfeit up to 4 weeks of annual leave/LSL and/or they'll deduct 4 weeks of pay from your final paycheck (or even send you a bill). It's not true.
An employer cannot deduct any money from your payslip without your signed permission except for specific reasons stated by your Award (or by a court order etc). As redfox1200 says, many awards allow for up to 1 week to be deducted in these circumstances.
(This is also why you'll often see employment contracts state "I agree to let my employer recover money from me if my wages are overpaid" - they're trying to get your signed permission up front to recover money if they stuff up because otherwise if they accidentally process payroll multiple times, you can refuse to repay them until they go to court. Funny thing is, the contract doesn't bind you, you can withdraw your permission at any time e.g. right after they pay you too much).So even though the award or contract may state that you have to give x weeks notice. You can choose not to, and then forfeit a weeks pay (depending on Award). They certainly cannot touch any accrued entitlements like AL/LSL. If what you are owed is less than a weeks pay, they may not even be able to do take the full amount, deducting all of an employees paycheck is seen as 'unreasonable' under many circumstances which may include this one too.
For the OP - your role may be award free (earning over $158,500 a year) - I'm not a lawyer or payroll employee but if your contract doesn't actually state any penalties for not giving notice then I have no idea if they're allowed to even take a weeks pay.
Two things to check, I assume you're part-time or full-time - Are you under an award or EBA? If it's an EBA, check your EBA resignation period. If under an award, check your award for the minimum notice period.
If your award is 1-week notice within 1 year period, then your contract, to my understanding, cannot bypass this policy, they will need to honour the 1 week's notice based on your award.
Your contract should state which award you're under, if not, then it should say you're under an EBA.
If you don't have an EBA or an award, then I assume you'll be "award-free" and you can quit on the spot like a casual with no penalty.
https://www.fairwork.gov.au/ending-employment/notice-and-fin…
It's up to you if you think it's too much. Personally I've never come across a notice requirement that wasn't the pay period ie monthly pay, month of notice, fortnightly pay, fortnight of notice.
If you want out sooner when you leave, just tell them you're going to whoever one of their main competitors are. They won't want you hanging around knowing you're going to work for the competition so they'll pay out your notice period and march you out the door on the spot.
Yep. Done this twice. Got walked out the door immediately. Left on good terms. No hard feelings, it’s just a policy companies have
Is 8 week notice period too much or am I overthinking this?
It's long but it's not uncommon. 4 weeks is normal, but if you're in a more senior role, then they usually put in longer notice periods in the terms of your contract. I suggest talking to your leadership team to see if you can leave sooner, but if they don't agree, be prepared to do the whole 8 weeks if you don't want to use up your existing leave or burn any bridges.
I would see it as a benefit.
If they want to make you redundant, they need to pay you 8 weeks, even if you have only been there a short time.There is probably a probation period and it will have a shorter time.
True, likely 6 months long, but in NSW, for example, you wouldn’t match the redundancy payout the extra notice gives for several years, and the notice period is in addition to the redundancy.
100% agree.
Hand in your resignation and also take 8 weeks' leave immediately?
You can only do this if you have taken NO AL and and been there for 2 years.
OP, the 8 week period can be negotiated later (if you resign) but the important thing is whether or not you have a non-compete clause.
Wow 8 weeks.
That doesn't sound like a very agile workplace to me …(I'll show myself out… :P)
Try to negotiate 4 weeks.
Otherwise make sure 8 weeks notice is from both side. Some employers wants to give only 4 weeks notice but expect employee to give 8 weeks.
Would you not just take all your accrued leave and THEN submit your resignation? Then there's nothing left for them to withhold
I had a 12 week notice period once. Then I got laid off and walked out the door. 3 months of paid holiday FTW!
.. and I found a new job within a couple of weeks, so I "invested" all the payout into GPUs and crypto.
If you want to leave just tell them you got a job at their main competitor. They’ll walk you out on the spot and pay you out the 8 weeks. I’ve done this twice and scored 4 weeks Holidays before new job
4 weeks is pretty standard for non-executive roles. Negotiate with them.