Notice period calculator
The statutory minimum notice for your length of service, whether you are resigning or being let go, and the last day it lands on.
The two sides owe wildly different amounts
Most people assume notice is mutual. It is not, and the gap gets bigger the longer you stay.
- Your employer owes you one week from a month's service, then one week for every complete year from two years, up to a maximum of 12 weeks.
- You owe your employer one week from a month's service. That is it. It never grows.
Twenty years in. Your employer must give you 12 weeks. You must give them one. Nothing about your length of service changes what you owe, only what you are owed. Most people are surprised by both halves of that.
Under a month's service, neither side owes any statutory notice at all.
Your contract usually beats the statutory minimum
These figures are a legal floor, not the normal answer. Most contracts ask for more, especially going up the seniority ladder: one month or three months' notice from the employee is common, and entirely lawful.
A contract can always give more notice than the statutory minimum, on either side. It can never give less. If your contract says one month and the statutory minimum works out at six weeks, you get six weeks.
So the honest order is: check your contract first, then use this as the floor it cannot go below.
The 12-week ceiling
An employer's statutory notice stops growing after 12 years. At 12 years you are owed 12 weeks, and at 30 years you are still owed 12 weeks.
Long-serving staff usually have contractual notice well above the statutory floor, which is where the extra protection actually comes from.
Pay in lieu, and gardening leave
Your employer can pay you instead of working the notice, if your contract allows it. That is PILON, and it is taxable in the normal way.
Gardening leave is different: you stay employed, still paid, still bound by your contract, but told not to come in. It keeps you out of a competitor's office while your knowledge goes stale.
Common questions
How much notice do I have to give my employer?
One week, once you have been there a month, and it stays at one week however long you stay. Your contract very likely asks for more, and if it does, the contract applies.
How much notice does my employer have to give me?
One week from a month's service, then one week for each complete year of service from two years, capped at 12 weeks. So five years' service means five weeks, and anything over 12 years means 12 weeks.
Is the notice period the same for both sides?
No, and the gap widens with service. After 20 years your employer owes you 12 weeks and you owe them one. Length of service only increases what you are owed, never what you owe.
What is the maximum statutory notice period?
12 weeks, reached at 12 years of service. It does not grow after that, so 30 years of service still carries a 12-week statutory minimum.
Can my contract override the statutory notice period?
It can give more, never less. If your contract says one month but the statutory minimum is six weeks, you get six weeks. If it says three months and the statutory minimum is one week, you get three months.
Do I get notice in my first month?
No. Under one month's service there is no statutory notice on either side, unless your contract says otherwise.
What is payment in lieu of notice?
PILON: your employer pays you for the notice instead of having you work it, where the contract allows. It is taxed like normal pay. Gardening leave is different again, keeping you employed and paid but away from the office until the notice runs out.