Leaving job with 1 months notice, contract says 2 months

Buttercake

Hi folks

i worked for an Irish company and my signed contract said my notice period was 1month. The company was acquired by a UK company and I received a promotion, after which I got an email to confirm my promotion and my notice period is 8weeks. There was a note in the email saying it was sent with a read receipt and no response to it meant acceptance. That was 2 years ago and tbh I thought I was still on my original contract. I am leaving for a new job starting next month and handed in my notice today but HR have come back to say it’s 8weeks notice.

I have agreed to take the new job and I’m going to the US as part of my induction. My current manager is looking into it, all based in the UK. I’m tempted to just quit now or walk out, I work remote so I don’t need to go into any office in the UK. But I want to leave on good terms, any advice would be great, I realise I should have checked my contract but just want to move on now.

thefa

It’s not uncommon for increases to the notice period with a promotion, particularly if you were on one month and the position has some more significance. You took the promotion terms for two years so would be hard to argue you were on the old contract. You’ll read the next one!

It’s pretty common to negotiate notice periods when needed. No need to look on it as I need to work 8 weeks or walk out today. The best and most professional compromise is somewhere in between.

As things stand, you’ve handed in a months notice. Presume you haven’t withdrawn it or agreed to two months. See what the manager comes back with but basically stick to your guns. Have to finish on that date, will get as much done by then but it’s the best you can do.

Might not be ideal for the company but you can’t miss the opportunity for the sake of good terms. Highly doubt they will bring legal action against you for breach of contract for ~4 weeks work.

Jim2007

Don't do anything until you hear back from your manager and see what the response is. Most people are reasonable about these things, they don't want you there if you don't want to be there, but they do need you to do a proper hand over of your work before you depart. So I'd expect there will be a reasonable outcome.

In over 35 years I have only heard of a couple of cases where the former employer dug their heals in and got nasty about it, but I think in all cases there was bad blood there already.

YellowLead

I think you should be very apologetic it about and say it was an honest a mistake - but that you are going to leave anyway. Most employers these days expect at least two months notice (3 is standard) - so it’s likely your new company would have been grand with two. But what is done is done and just try your best to leave on good terms and be accommodating - leave things in a good state, work hard until the finish etc.