help needed

[jjaammeess]

hi I have put this elsewhere.My son has a job he really wants but he has to give 3 months notice to his present job(gas) which is unacceptable to his new employers.... otherwise they will readvertise.Can he just leave anyhow--Please help

[Octavius]

If his employment contract states that he must work 3 months notice, then he can either do this, negotiate an earlier leaving date, or if he has some holiday owing reduce the notice period by the amount owing.

It would appear strange that an employer would offer a job to someone knowing that they were on 3 months and then say that it were not acceptable � did he not stipulate this obligation in the interview?

The only way would be for him to chat to his boss to see if there would be some leniency (how much do the newbies require?) and perhaps negotiate an earlier leaving date, but if they insist he sees out his contract, I don�t think there is a lot he can do � unless he does something silly in which case they may raise some sort of lawsuit for loss of income/breech of contract etc.

[smudge]

It all depends what's written in your son's contract.

If he does leave within the notice period, he could forfeight some of his pay.

[ELVIS68]

I would have thought a weeks notice would be enough, does he have a contract with them?.

[smudge]

Crossed posts with Octavious & some of my words have disappeared - Ed please sort this site out!!!!

However, they were on similar lines to Octavious!

[smudge]

*Octavius even!

[Champagne]

If he has signed a contract agreeing to the 3 month notice period then he is bound to that. But as pointed out, if he wants the other job badly enough then he will leave regardless, and accept that they won't pay him.

[jjaammeess]

thanks a lot---he is under contract to give 3 months notice to his present job.He does not mind paying for the notice he does not work but is that legally acceptable?

[Rubyrose]

Champagne is right. If he signed a contract he is bound to it. I don't know what consequences he faces if he leaves earlier other than just not getting paid.

he could go to the doctors, fake depression, get signed off and show it to his employer. I'm sure they'd let him go then. They wouldn't want to keep him on and pay him for nothing.

[smudge]

As previously mentioned, it would be best for your son to have a chat with his current boss, asking if they could come to some amicable arrangement on whether he could leave within the notice period.

In the meantime, you could peruse the ACAS website here:

http://www.acas.org.uk/

Good luck.

[Champagne]

What is in his contract IS legally acceptable. And anything outside of it that his employer agrees is also legally acceptable. If he talks to them, they may be willing to let him go earlier but without pay. But he really must talk to his employer to get a feel on how flexible they'll be on this issue.

If your son decides to walk away without discussion, then he'll potentially lose out on a job reference.

[smudge]

Most of our contracts were for employees to give one months notice, unless otherwise stated. If anyone didn't work out their full notice & just 'left' before the due date, they would lose out on x amount of pay & a reference from me!

However, I was quite flexible if there were extreme reasons for employees needing to leave before the due date & usually came to an amicable arrangement.

Unfortunately, not everyone's so forthcoming, so it's best to have a very good excuse at the ready, but not just for moving on to another place of work!

[jjaammeess]

Thanks all for your very helpful answers.He is trying to negotiate with his present employers as you suggest,. but they are not very forthcoming.

[smudge]

It's such a shame for your son, but I remember having to advertise, interview, then get someone to train the new replacement. This all takes time & effort, so I can understand why his company aren't too eager to let him go earlier - p'raps they're secretly hoping he'll stay too.

Hope it turns out well for him.