When employers give notice



The minimum notice an employer must give an employee depends on how long they have been employed and is as follows: 



• one week, if their length of service is between one month and two years; or



• one week for each year if they have between two and 12 years’ service; or



• a maximum of 12 weeks if they have at least 12 years’ service.



The right to notice or notice pay is lost if the employee fundamentally breaches the employment contract by engaging in gross misconduct. Ending the contract in these circumstances is known as a summary dismissal (see page 364). 



It is a breach of contract for the employer not to give the full contractual notice. The employee can claim their notice pay in an employment tribunal or the civil court. No service is needed for this type of claim, which is also known as a claim for “wrongful dismissal”. 



Where an employee is dismissed (other than for gross misconduct) without being given their full statutory notice, the notice that should have been given will be added to their period of continuous employment for the purposes of an unfair dismissal claim. This rule applies to statutory and not contractual notice.



Employers must always use clear language when giving notice to end an employment contract (Societe Generale v Geys [2012] UKSC 63). 



Where the contract is silent on when notice is deemed to have been given, notice will take effect on the date of actual receipt (Newcastle upon Tyne NHS Foundation Trust v Haywood [2017] EWCA Civ 153).