A friends son has just walked from a job after two weeks, without working any notice.

From what I am told the contract of employment hadn’t been finished by the time he started but all the info I can find from ACAS ad have pointed towards indicates notice is only even an issue after the first month of employment

Reads after month 1 up to 24 is 1 week and after 24 months is two weeks however up to month 1 it doesn’t give any indication of whats expected

Any ideas if any of this is even legal on both sides.

Sounds about right. Statutory notice only kicks in after a month.

As above, sounds about right. Though it’s a long time for 1 week then two weeks notice period.

Be hard for the employer to prove any “loss” after 2 weeks which would need to be the basis of any claim – so unless they spend the first 2 weeks on a high-intensity training course learning all the business secrets and has walked into a job with a competitor, difficult to make this one stick. The effort/costs would probably exceed the likely return. Employer is more likely to ensure it has a more robust hiring process.

Doesn’t matter anyway not much can be done except not pay him for the time he’s not there.

From what I am told the contract of employment hadn’t been finished by the time he started

I think I’d have walked away that that point, TBH

My wife walked out of a new job on the first day due to some fairly dramatic changes in T’s and C’s from what was agreed.

They still paid her for the month in lieu of notice!

Is there an issue from the employer? If not, why worry? If so, what are they arguing?