Employer is terminating my notice period early without consent

Question

Last week I handed in my resignation.

In my contract it stipulates that the company can terminate employment given one month's written notice and the employee given three months’ notice. My contract also states that the company reserves the right to pay me in lieu of notice.

As such, I expected to serve my 3-month notice period and then leave to join my new employer. However, two days following my resignation letter I was asked would I be okay with that day being my last day. After inquiring about pay, I was informed I would be paid until the end of the day and credited any annual leave I had remaining. Since I would be losing out on almost 3 months' pay I declined.

I did not receive a response from my employer for the entire week. Then I found out I would be able to join my new employer earlier if I were available. Thinking this would be a mutually beneficial situation for both me and my current employer I sent an email to ask if they were also in agreement, we could set a finish date for 4 weeks from now.

Two hours later I receive a phone call from my manager, this time to tell me that my last day of work would be the middle of this coming week (exactly two weeks after I handed in my notice). I was informed I would only be paid up until the last day I worked. I did not agree with this, so I asked to be put in contact with the relevant person in HR that had okayed this.

That takes us up to today. I was going to ask HR on Monday for documentation of the legal basis they have for terminating my notice period early without pay, without my consent and without prior written notification.

Is this the best approach? What else should I do?

It is also worth noting I have been with the company for over two years and I am not on a probationary period. The company is based in the UK.

EDIT: In my email I laid out all the facts and requested their legal documentation for everything. Their response was a list of the reasons they wanted to end my notice period early, misconceived as a legal basis on which they could end my notice period early. At the end they agreed to the compromise I had suggested, 1 month's pay with outstanding annual leave, rephrasing it like they were doing me a favour.

I ignored the bulk of the email and just thanked them for my time in the company, and for reaching an agreement with me. I got what I wanted because now I can start my new job ASAP. Thankfully I didn't have to threaten a lawyer in the end as they caved in the first response to my email.

Thank you to everyone that posted!

Answer 1

I am not a lawyer, but what I know of employment law tells me that they cannot do that. If a company has to give you notice then they have to give you notice, or pay in lieu.

Sometimes companies will do something blatantly illegal in the hope that you either won't notice or won't bother to assert your rights.

As Justin says, make sure you have everything you and they say in writing, and make sure you keep copies of all communications and relevant documents on the matter in a place where you can get at them if access to your work accounts or computers were suddenly denied you.

Your approach is about right. I would add telling them when you meet that your understanding is that what they are doing is illegal. Tell them you will be consulting a lawyer. If they don't back down then follow through and consult a lawyer as soon as possible. In the UK starting with the Citizens Advice Bureau is always a good idea. (If you can do it quickly I would go to the CAB before I talked to HR.)

By the way, it's important not to be angry and to remain professional, even when the company is trying to illegally cheat you.

EDIT: Read the OPs description of what happened in the end. That's the outcome you are hoping for.

Answer 2

There's absolutely no way they can get away with this.

You gave three months notice. That means you work and get paid for three months. It seems there is a clause in your contract allowing them to give you one month notice. This is deeply unfair and if they gave you one month notice, a court might reject that. But good news for you, they didn't give you one month notice.

Instead they asked you if you were willing to leave with one day notice, and you said "no". That was just asking you and not a notice.

Some time later they tried to give you a very short notice. They gave you notice at the time when they told you, not at the time you gave notice. They didn't give you two weeks notice, but say four days. According to your contract they can't give you four days notice, so you didn't have to accept that notice. Guess what, they still haven't given you notice! Anyway, it seems your manager hasn't given you notice in writing, so he has no evidence of anything.

So on Monday, you go to HR, you tell them that they still haven't given you notice that you need to accept, and that you would be willing to accept X days notice (exactly the time that is best for you, if it is less than one month) at full pay, plus your pay for outstanding holiday.

And google to find a decent employment lawyer, "employment lawyer near me" on google had several results quite close to me when I needed one. Better to say "I'll pass this on to my lawyer at XYZ law company" then "I'll pass this on to my lawyer". Best to say "I'll pass this on to Mr/Mrs ABC, at XYZ law company, who has helped me before". Doesn't have to be true.