I’ve been offered a new job opportunity which I want to start asap but problem is work needs 4 weeks notice and I’m unlikely to be allowed to leave early due to the work I do.

If I requested 2 weeks holiday and had it approved, then handed in my notice so that I would only have to work two weeks would my current firm be able to decline my resignation and/or withdraw my holiday. I can’t see anything in my contract that says they have the right to withdraw my holiday. Like wise I can’t see anything pertaining to refusal to accept my resignation.

When holiday is taken is at the discretion of the employer, as such they could require you to go into work. Whether they would i guess depends on the needs of the business and/or personalities of the people involved…

You need to know how many holidays you have accrued at the point you hand in your notice. Let’s say you have 2 weeks. Therefore you hand in your 4 weeks notice, your company owe you 2 weeks leave freeing you up to start at your new place in 2 weeks.

pstokes99, OK perhaps that’s another angle that I should approach when reading the contract.
I thought that once they had approved it, i.e. emailed confirmation, that they would have entered a binding contract unless it was stated within the contract that they had the right to withdraw my holiday?

Coyote, I carried over 5 days from last year so that’s one week at least and get I think just over 2 days per month. No holidays taken so far specifically for this reason.

I am fairly certain leave can not be used in lieu of notice. It is at the employers discretion.

However, they still have to pay you for it.

My suggestion would be to speak your future employer, 4 weeks is a very normal and I would be surprised if they would be expecting any shorter notice period.

Don’t burn any bridges and go and speak to your boss. Explain that you are handing in your notice and would like to leave as soon as possible.They might agree to you using your leave to reduce the notice period. Always stay friendly if possible it’s a small world.

I also think the employer can decide on business need as holidays generally can be rescinded due to business need and in legal terms employers [ dependent on contract] can actually tell you when you have your holidays

Clearly you get paid for what is owed

4 weeks is not that long to wait and most employers will realise this will be the case for everyone who works.

OK, that’s good advice Winston and Junkyard I’m beginning to be swayed into thinking that’s the case with my contract

Just noticed that in my contract it does state “Where an employee has not taken their full entitlement pro-rata to service in the current holiday year, the outstanding balance may be taken prior to the termination of their employment. Where this is not possible or appropriate, payment in lieu will be made at plain rate time.”

Seems there’s no statutory obligation for them to fulfill here and that it will be at their discretion.

You can’t be employed full time in two places at once I don’t think.

So even if you managed to get the two weeks holiday and take it during your notice period, you can’t start the new job until you have officially stopped working at the old. If you are on leave you are still considered to be employed.

What you need is for your work to accept 2 weeks notice, or your new work to wait 4 weeks for you.

If you see what I mean…

Depending on the size of company, you taking prebooked holiday while working notice shouldn’t be an issue. Whether you have informed them of your resignation or not if the holiday has been agreed you should be entitled to take it under most circumstances.

Notice periods of up to 4 weeks are generally in place to protect the employee. If you were in an essential and / or senior role then a notice period of 3-6 months could be in place to allow the employer the time to replace the leaver and not put their business at risk. No offence meant by this statement btw.

Your notice period provides you with some security against your employer coming to you on a Friday and saying don’t bother coming in next week.

In theory you could just walk out if you wanted to start your job asap. Employers rarely try and enforce notice on the leaver or similarly refuse a resignation as this isn’t practicable in most businesses. Assuming you want to leave on good terms then working your notice is of course the right thing to do. Most reasonable employers would also accept your reason for taking owed holiday as part of your notice period.

It sounds as if you are trying to do the right thing here, so if I was in your employers shoes I would be accepting your actions gracefully.

Other posts are correct in that if you don’t take all of your holiday before your last day that you should be paid the remaining amount in your final pay (which may of course be paid after you have left).

Not all of the above will apply if its a smaller business, but HTH anyway

nano is right about being just able to walk out.

You will be in Breach of Contract and the old employer would have to take you to court and prove a financial loss from your actions. It is very difficult and expensive to do so and they will probably not bother.

It will completely p!ss them off though and you make come to regret that later in your career!

In theory you could just walk out if you wanted to start your job asap

Of course anyone can breach the terms of their contract but it is clearly a material breach, they dont need to pay you
It is likely they could prove losses if you actually have a job to do as this no longer gets done and this will likely cost them

They may not bother but they would obviously win if they did
Notice perios is rarely enforced as they realise you will just phone in sick, turn up and stare out the window, break things etc

we were on 3months notice at the old place, a few people tried to neg a shorter notice period, without much success, one guy said he was leaving in 2weeks,- they got the lawyers in and prepared costings for a contractor to come in and do his work for him + all the internal hr and other costs relating to hiring in external help- then sent a letter to the employees house from the lawyers detailing all costs- was a shed load of money (2-3x his earnings for the same period) – the guy worked his 3months notice! – 😯

If you want to go early do the right thing and ask. 4 weeks is a relatively short notice period in the scheme of things (mine is at least 3 months). If your prospective employer knows this then why would you create issues on your way out of the current one?

Under the working time regulations you must legally be allowed a certain amount of holiday per year (20 days plus public holidays). So if you’ve worked (say) half the holiday year, you are legally entitled to take 2 weeks before you leave, and they are not allowed to pay you instead. Whether they could say that the notice period has to be worked, in which case it would be 6 weeks before the end of the contract, will depend how the contract is worded.

4 weeks notice plus holiday = 6 weeks pay simple? if not a hell of a court case do not fold .
burn the bitches as i have

see Ross Brawn – walks away with millions

As i will. ?

Most reasonable employers will let you take accrued leave during your notice period. And it’s very rare that you’d get sued for leaving early – so the answer depends how much you want to leave on good terms, how much of a cock your boss is, and how genuinely irreplaceable you are.

I’m pretty replaceable so this bodes well then 😀

You can’t be employed full time in two places at once I don’t think.

Says who ??

I have been quite a few times

You can’t be employed full time in two places at once I don’t think.

Why not? I’m employed in two part time jobs paying tax at both. I don’t see any difference in being employed in two full time jobs at the same time.

In fact HMRC recognises this might happen.

If you don’t have a P45 because, for example, you’re starting your first job or taking on a second job without giving up your other one,

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/working/forms/paye-forms.htm#6

Because because because, most contracts of employment will have a clause that says you can’t work for somebody else while you work for them, without their agreement. The reasons for this are both manifest and legion. Primarily, they don’t want you working for the competition as that is a clear conflict of interest. There is also something about Euro Working Time Regs. And to stop people fracking with notice periods, I imagine.

People often get second jobs, as long as it isn’t a competitor and won’t impact on your day job then would probably be allowed.

Hels, that might be a valid reason in a specific case.

But this statement is far more general than that.

You can’t be employed full time in two places at once I don’t think.

Mr Glover I think you have general and specific the wrong way around ?

The contract clause will be general. The OPs situation is quite specific, but will be covered by the general clause, if that helps.

Otherwise, try http://www.dictionary.com