Notice periods

The law sets a minimum notice period on both sides. If your employer dismisses you, it must give at least one week’s notice once you have worked there for a month, rising to one week for each complete year of service from two years, up to a maximum of 12 weeks. If you resign, you must give at least one week’s notice after a month in the job. Your contract can set longer periods, and most public sector contracts do.

Statutory minimum notice from your employer

Length of continuous service	Minimum notice from employer
Less than 1 month	None set by statute
1 month to under 2 years	1 week
2 years to under 12 years	1 week per complete year
12 years or more	12 weeks

These are floors. If your contract gives you more, you get the contractual amount. If it gives you less, the statutory minimum applies anyway.

Statutory notice does not apply when you are dismissed for gross misconduct, which allows dismissal without notice. A redundancy, a capability dismissal or a fixed-term contract ended early all still need notice.

Statutory minimum notice from you

When you resign, the legal minimum is one week once you have been employed for a month. That does not go up with service. In practice, your contract almost certainly says more, and you are bound by the contractual period.

What public sector contracts usually say

Notice is a contractual term, so check your written statement or contract. Some general patterns:

• In the NHS, the Agenda for Change handbook leaves notice periods to local contracts, so they vary by trust and band. Higher bands normally have longer notice.
• For teachers in maintained schools in England and Wales, the Burgundy Book sets two months’ notice (three months for the summer term), and you can only leave at the end of a term. Headteachers give three months (four for the summer term). See the teacher resignation deadlines guide.
• For council and school support staff, notice is set locally, often scaled by grade.
• In the Civil Service, each department sets notice in the contract, typically longer for senior grades.

If you cannot find a notice clause anywhere, the statutory minimum applies, although a court could imply “reasonable” notice, which for a senior post may be longer.

Pay during notice

You are normally paid as usual during notice and are expected to work it. There are three common variations.

Garden leave: your employer tells you to stay away from work but keeps paying you until the notice ends. You remain an employee and are still bound by the contract, so you cannot start a new job until it ends.

Pay in lieu of notice (PILON): your employer ends your job straight away and pays you for the notice period instead. A contractual PILON clause lets it do this lawfully. Pay in lieu of notice is taxed as earnings and has National Insurance deducted, like normal pay.

Leaving early by agreement: if you want to go before the notice ends, ask. Many employers agree, especially if the post is filled. Get the agreed leaving date in writing, because you will not normally be paid for the notice you do not work.

Holiday matters during notice too. Your employer can require you to use up leave, and will pay you for statutory leave you have accrued but not taken. The holiday entitlement guide explains how accrual works.

If notice is not given properly

If your employer dismisses you without the notice you are owed (and it is not gross misconduct), that is wrongful dismissal. You can claim the pay you would have received during the notice period. Wrongful dismissal does not need any minimum length of service.

If you leave without working your full notice, you are in breach of contract. Employers in the public sector rarely sue over this, but they can, and you may lose pay you would otherwise have received. Teachers who break the Burgundy Book dates can find it harder to get references, so it is worth asking for release by agreement.

Claims go to an employment tribunal or civil court after ACAS early conciliation. The tribunal time limit for most claims is six months since 1 October 2026.

Notice and other rights

Your notice period counts towards your length of service. If you are given notice just before you reach two years, the statutory notice period can be added to your service for redundancy and unfair dismissal purposes. That rule matters most until 1 January 2027, when the Employment Rights Act 2025 cuts the qualifying period for unfair dismissal to six months for dismissals from that date.

For a step-by-step guide to resigning, see how to resign properly. If you are leaving because of redundancy, see the redundancy rights guide.