Giving notice when changing your job

Rules

Contract of employment

A contract of employment may be agreed by word of mouth or may be set out in writing. Requirements as to notice are one of a number of items in a contract of employment that should, by law, be in written form. You should therefore check your contract of employment for any provisions as to the notice you are required to give and follow those provisions. Remember that it is always open to agree a different arrangement to that contained in your contract with your employer.

Statutory minimum notice

If you do not have a provision in your contract of employment dealing with notice, the statutory minimum notice of one week will apply and this is the notice that you should give your employer of your intention to leave. The statutory minimum notice of one week, is set down in Section 6 of the Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Act, 1973.

Situations where notice is not required

An employer is entitled to at least one week's notice from an employee who has been working for the employer for 13 weeks or more. If an employee has been working for an employer for less than 13 weeks and has no contractual obligation to give notice then the employee is not obliged to give notice.

An employer is not bound to give an employee the minimum notice of one week if the employee has been working for the employer for less than 13 weeks or in situations where the employee is guilty of gross misconduct.

Waiving your right to notice

Employment legislation in Ireland also sets down that if an employer and an employee agree, the employee can waive their right to notice. In addition, where the employer and employee agree, the employer can pay the employee in lieu of notice. If you accept payment in lieu of notice, then the date of termination of your employment is the date on which notice (if it had been given) would have expired. These rights are set down in Section 7 of the Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Act, 1973.

The legislation does not address the use of holidays (annual leave) due in lieu of notice. This is a matter for agreement between employer and employee. However any employee leaving a job is entitled to payment for any outstanding annual leave.

Changing your mind

Once given, you cannot withdraw your notice to terminate your employment, unless you can reach an agreement with your employer to do so.

The statutory minimum notice requirement by an employee is contained in the the Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Acts, 1973 to 2001.

Obtaining references when leaving employment

Often, an employee obtains a reference from their employer (or the employer agrees to act as a referee for the employee) when you change job or leave work. A reference is a formal recommendation (often in writing, but may be oral) by a former employer to a potential future employer. This formal recommendation describes the person's qualifications, experience and dependability. There is however, no statutory entitlement to a reference in employment law in Ireland. This means that you do not have any automatic right to a reference from an employer when you leave employment. While employers are not obliged to provide references (or act as a referees), they may do so entirely at their own discretion.