Notice is one of those subjects everyone assumes they know until somebody resigns on a Friday afternoon. The confusion is usually the same: people assume notice is symmetrical.
It isn't. What you owe an employee grows with their service. What they owe you doesn't.
The statutory minimums
These are set by section 86 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 and apply once someone has been continuously employed for one month or more.
Notice you must give an employee
| Length of continuous employment | Minimum notice |
|---|---|
| 1 month to under 2 years | 1 week |
| 2 years to 12 years | 1 week for each complete year |
| 12 years or more | 12 weeks (the cap) |
So someone with four years' service is entitled to four weeks. Someone with nine years gets nine. At twelve years it stops — service beyond that adds nothing to the statutory figure.
Notice an employee must give you
One week. That's it, once they've been employed a month, no matter how long they've been with you.
An employee of eleven years owes you one week under statute. You would owe them eleven. If that feels unbalanced, it is — deliberately so, and the only way to change it is in the contract.
Contractual notice: longer, never shorter
You can agree longer notice in the contract, in either direction. You cannot agree shorter than the statutory minimum. As Acas puts it: "The employer may give more notice than the statutory minimum, but they cannot give the employee less."
A contract clause saying an employee with six years' service gets two weeks is not a clause; it's a mistake. Statute overrides it and they get six.
Two practical points:
If you want more than a week's notice from staff, you have to write it down. For a senior hire, or anyone whose departure needs a handover, one week is not much protection. A month, or three for a leadership role, is normal — but only if it's in the contract before they start.
Notice periods are a required term in the written statement. The particulars you must issue on or before day one include the notice each side must give. If your template doesn't state it, you're falling short of that duty and defaulting to one week from the employee. More on what the written statement must contain.
When notice doesn't apply
Gross misconduct. Where an employee is dismissed for gross misconduct, Acas is clear that the employee "would not be entitled to the statutory notice period or any payment for it". That's summary dismissal, and it's the one genuine exception — but it turns on the conduct being serious enough to justify it, and on a fair process. Acas is equally clear that an employer must still carry out an investigation and a fair disciplinary procedure. Getting that wrong converts a conduct dismissal into an unfair dismissal claim with a notice-pay claim attached.
Waiver and payment in lieu. Section 86 is explicit that it does not prevent "either party from waiving his right to notice on any occasion or from accepting a payment in lieu of notice". So notice can be shortened by agreement, and it can be paid out instead of worked — but paying in lieu needs a contractual clause to be safe, otherwise you're technically in breach of contract even while paying the money.
Under one month's service. The statutory notice provisions apply from one month of continuous employment. Below that, statute doesn't require notice from either side and the contract governs.
The three that catch employers out
1. Probation doesn't suspend statutory notice. A probation period is a contractual arrangement. It does not switch off section 86. Once someone has a month's continuous service they're entitled to at least a week's notice, even if your probation clause says otherwise. A common contract error is a six-month probation with "one day's notice during probation" — unenforceable from month two onwards.
2. Continuous employment isn't the same as the start date. Service can carry over — after a TUPE transfer, or where someone is re-engaged shortly after leaving. If your records set continuous employment equal to the start date by default, you may be calculating notice on the wrong number, and understating it.
3. Notice given verbally on a Friday. Notice needs to be clear, and its start date needs to be unambiguous, because the leaving date, final pay, accrued holiday and the P45 all hang off it. Confirm it in writing the same day, in both directions.
Holiday and the leaving payment
Employment continues throughout a worked notice period, so holiday continues to accrue in the normal way during it.
When employment ends, accrued but untaken statutory holiday must be paid. Acas puts it plainly: employers "must pay workers 'in lieu' for any untaken statutory holiday entitlement they've accrued when they leave", and regulation 14 of the Working Time Regulations 1998 sets out how that payment is worked out.
For staff on variable hours, that final calculation is where the errors show up. Holiday for irregular-hours and part-year workers accrues at 12.07% of the hours worked in each pay period, and if that's been calculated loosely all year, the leaving payment is where it surfaces — usually in front of someone already unhappy about leaving. Our holiday entitlement calculator will check the figure before it reaches a final payslip.
A short checklist for when someone resigns
- Confirm the resignation in writing, including the date notice starts and the final working day.
- Check their continuous employment date, not just their start date.
- Check the contract for a longer notice period than statute.
- Calculate accrued untaken holiday to the leaving date.
- Decide whether notice is worked or paid in lieu — and check you have the clause.
- Record it all against their file before access is switched off.
Every one of those is trivial in isolation. The failure is doing five of six in a busy week and discovering the gap three months later, when there's a dispute about the final payment.
Keeping the dates straight
Nearly everything above depends on two dates being right — the continuous employment date, and the date notice starts. Get those wrong and the notice period, the final pay and the holiday payment are all wrong together.
HR Henry holds employment dates, contracts and holiday balances in one record, so the leaving calculation comes off the same data as everything else rather than being rebuilt from memory. See how employee records work, or read how long you have to keep employee records for what happens to the file afterwards.
Frequently asked questions
What is the statutory notice period in the UK?
Employers must give at least one week after one month's service, then one week for each complete year, capped at twelve weeks. Employees must give at least one week after one month's service, however long they have been there.
Can an employee leave without working their notice?
Only by agreement, or where notice is waived or paid in lieu. Section 86 allows either party to waive notice or accept a payment in lieu, but an employee simply not turning up is a breach of contract.
Does an employee have to give more notice if they have been there longer?
Not under statute - it stays at one week however long their service. Only a contract term changes that.
Can I dismiss without notice?
Only for gross misconduct, where the employee is not entitled to the statutory notice period or any payment for it - and only with a fair investigation and disciplinary process behind it.
Does notice apply during a probation period?
Yes, once the employee has one month's continuous service. A probation clause cannot reduce notice below the statutory minimum.
What happens to holiday when someone leaves?
Accrued but untaken statutory holiday must be paid in lieu when employment ends. Holiday continues to build up while the employment continues, so a worked notice period accrues holiday in the normal way.
Sources
All checked 1 September 2026.
- Employment Rights Act 1996, section 86 — rights of employer and employee to minimum notice
- Acas — Notice when being dismissed or made redundant
- Acas — How holidays affect final pay
- Working Time Regulations 1998, regulation 14 — payment in lieu of untaken leave
This guide sets out statutory minimums and is not legal advice. Dismissal, redundancy and gross misconduct situations carry additional risk — take advice before acting.