Home » Blog » What happens if your employee decides they don’t want to work their notice?

Occasionally this happens and can cause all sorts of issues, particularly in a small company. Here are a few suggestions to limit the potential fallout.

Check your contracts first

If your employee has been with you for longer than a month then they are obliged to give you a minimum of one week’s notice. However many contracts will require a longer period.

The only exceptions to a notice period are if you have seriously breached their contract or if you have both agreed to waive the notice period.

If an employee decides not to show up after handing in their notice then you are not required to pay them. You need to write to them and explain they have broken their terms and conditions employment.  You then need to put a plan in place to pick up their responsibilities until a replacement can be found.

Prevention is better than cure

Consider the length of notice you require your employees to give. You’re free to set any length of the notice period, and, as long as the employee signs that contract, then they are required to adhere to it.

The temptation may be to set long notice periods for all employees, allowing you time to find replacements.  However, you need to consider the employee in this circumstance, too.  It’s important to set the notice period in connection to the seniority of their role. Otherwise, you face a much higher possibility of the employee not working their notice period (or even not signing the contract in the first place).

You may wish to also consider writing into all contracts a clause which states that the company may subtract from the employee’s final wages the amount they would have earned during the notice period. For example, if an employee is required to give four weeks’ notice but only work two of them, then you would deduct two weeks pay from their final wages.

Too late, they have already left

Hindsight is a beautiful thing,  but is there anything that can be done if they’ve already not worked their notice period?

When someone has made up their mind to leave it’s unwise to force them to stay.

There is the expensive and time-consuming option of approaching the courts. The courts will be very unlikely to force the employee to work their notice period but they will more likely award damages for any losses the company may have suffered as a consequence of the breach of contract.

These damages can often be hard to prove since details of any loss to profit will need to be calculated and clearly documented, along with any additional costs accrued from arranging temporary cover.

Therefore this should be seen as the last option and only considered if it is financially beneficial to the company.  This is why it’s most important to ensure your contracts provide clear details on notice periods and clauses on what happens when not adhered to.

What is best for the business?

Unfortunately, when someone has made up their mind to leave it’s unwise to force them into staying. You may be within your rights to try to make them work the full notice period but their productivity is likely to be very low.

A better option would be to try to find a compromise. Could they work longer hours to make up for a shorter notice period? Could they stay just to complete an important piece of work and then be free to leave?

Calm persuasion and compromise will likely be the most fitting option to get the optimum possible outcome. As frustrating as it is knowing the law is on your side, sometimes letting the employee go without working their notice period might just be the best business decision.

Please contact us for help and advice as we know, all situations are different.  We can be contacted on 01483 697 076.

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