Notice Of Leave Period

[MooCowKat]

Hi all.
I am asking this on behalf of a friend.

She has been employed in a hotel for the last few years and recently got a new job. Her notice of leave in her contract is 5 weeks however she approached the manager and gave in her letter of resignation which stated her leaving date as 2 weeks from that point as she was starting a new job. The manager had no problem with this at the time, and stated the usual 'are you sure we can't tempt you to stay' speal.. However recently they contacted her (a week after she had given in her notice and on her day off) that they were not happy with this and wanted her to work the full 5 weeks, and they were going to contact her new employer to let them know.

Basically I just want to know where she stands and what to do about this.

Thanks in advance!

[woofgang]

Unless she has got written agreement to shorten the notice period then there is not much she can do. Of course her new employers might not care.
here is what ACAS says
If the employee leaves their job without giving the proper notice, the employee may be in breach of contract.

The first thing the employer can do is to discuss this with the employee; they may not be aware of their duty to give notice, or how much notice they need to give.
If the employee has resigned without giving notice because they believe that they have been constructively dismissed, the employer should encourage the employee to raise a grievance so that their concerns can be investigated properly.

If the issue cannot be resolved and the employer wishes to take this further, they may make a claim for breach of contract through the county court. The remedy would be compensation for the net financial loss that the breach of contract has caused. (For example, this might be additional staffing costs the employer has incurred, set off against the employee's wages that they have not had to pay for the notice period.)
Alternatively, if the employee has made a tribunal claim against the employer for breach of contract, the employer could submit a tribunal counter-claim.

In the meantime, the employee is entitled to wages for the period that they have worked, as well as any accrued holiday pay until the end of their employment.

[Maydup]

In short there is little the old employer can do. As long as the new employer is happy to accept her still and doesn't let it affect them, in terms of the reference etc, she should stick to her two weeks. the only route the old employer would have is to take her to court for breach of contract.

They won't do that. It would cost them more in time and money than the three weeks wages is worth.

Tell her to remain polite and kind, but stand firm with her two weeks notice. Remember that she might also have a bit of holiday time due. They could tag that on the end of the 2 weeks and call that part of the notice too.

Whatever happens they cannot deduct money from her in lieu of notice unless it states clearly in her contract that they can do that. Very unlikley as deductions from eages usually require a very clear agreement.

[MooCowKat]

Thank you both so much!

It's a pity they didn't show as much interest to keep her while she was working there.