Varying notice by employee

An employee who has been given notice of dismissal for redundancy can leave the employment without working the whole of their notice and still retain the right to a redundancy payment, so long as they follow strict rules:

• the employee must give the employer a written counter-notice to end the employment on an earlier date (section 136(3) ERA 96);

• the employer can challenge the counter-notice with a further written notice insisting on the original end date, as long as the employer takes this step before the counter-notice has expired;

• an employee who insists on leaving early instead of working to the end of the notice period after receiving the second notice may lose the right to redundancy pay; and

• an employment tribunal can award some or all of the redundancy pay, depending, for example, on how the tribunal views the employee’s reasons for leaving early (Section 142(2) ERA 96).

An employee can also agree to extend their notice in the hope of work picking up without jeopardising their redundancy entitlement (Mowlem Northern v Watson [1990] IRLR 500). The agreement should be put in writing.