How to avoid notice period?

You know that feeling after your body has evacuated every last piece of the nuclear orange chicken chilly you gobbled down last night? Handing in your resignation letter at a toxic workplace can elicit similar feelings. The day I quit my previous job, the temptation to go around the office pouring shots down my co-worker’s throats was running dangerously high. I — like many others — found it difficult to navigate my workplace during the notice period. I was ready to Usain Bolt out of there.

Even if your office was more like Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi than Kasauti Zindagi Kay — with your parivar-like coworkers and a healthy working environment — surviving your notice period without falling down the Netflix rabbit hole is difficult.

According to Leisanne Pinto, recruiter and HR professional, people are betting on themselves more than they have in the past because of the ‘pandemic effect’. “People are trying to find jobs where they can do their best work, and are unapologetic about it,” she says.

As the era of the ‘Great Resignation’ is upon us — the worldwide phenomenon where an unprecedented number of people are quitting their jobs at the same time — what are some things that an employee must always do to ensure a smooth transition during their notice period?

We looked to seasoned professionals for advice on maintaining proper etiquette during the notice period — without pulling impromptu doctor’s appointments and random bouts of flu out of our hats like magicians.

Tie up all loose ends

Remember watching those dramatic ‘I quit’ moments in movies? The protagonist gathers all their personal memorabilia in cardboard box before flouncing out the door with their head held high. Clearing your computer of those cat memes you saved while trying to maintain a low profile is the real-life equivalent.

It’s better to remove all your personal effects from a work computer yourself than leave it to your successor. Back up all your important information on your Google drive before you lose access to it.

Wrapping up active initiatives and properly handing off ongoing projects or duties should be your top focus. Some questions that you must ask yourself during your notice period are:

Don’t put things off till the last day — or minute. Leaving with all your ends tied up neatly demonstrates your concern for the coworkers, even if you are no longer employed there.

Don’t burn your bridges

Yes, it may be gratifying to tell your boss that working for them is worse than having to chew on raw elaichi. While the feeling will only last a few moments, people will remember them forever.

According to Stephen Viscusi, host of On the Job and author of On the Job: How to Make It in the Real World of Work, how you depart from an old job will always impact your future career. Don’t get mad. Don’t get even. Simply leave with your hard-earned professionalism intact.

He says in his book, “You can have a formal exit interview with HR to air your grievances. Make sure it’s truly formal in nature.” As an HR manager, Pinto agrees.

Although feedback is important, she adds that you must look at the culture of your organisation before making your issues known. “Is your company one that welcomes radical candour?” she asks.

The most crucial part of an effective job exit is to express your grievances without using that opportunity to throw a coworker under the bus

Not only will you need a reference from your previous employer, but it’s quite likely that you’ll run into someone from your previous workplace in the future, whether as a coworker, client, or supervisor.

Preserve your network

When you let the penny drop about your resignation — depending on whether you’re the MVP or public enemy number one — you will get different reactions from your coworkers.

In larger companies, not offering an explanation can lead to speculation. If you do not enjoy the haunting silence that descends on the office canteen every time you go for lunch, arrange catch-ups with your mentor and coworkers to let them know that you will be moving on soon.

They will wonder why you’re quitting, so prepare a positive message about advancing in your career and taking on new challenges. Make sure everyone has your contact information and knows how to get in touch with you if need be.

Although we’ve stressed on the importance of leaving peacefully, people tend to forget that bridges need to be maintained too.

“You should continue to build and maintain your relationship with your coworkers right up to the point you leave and even thereafter,” says Pinto. You can do that simply by connecting with them on platforms like LinkedIn and sending brief notes, every now and then.

Talent acquisition and job-search consultant Heidi Byrne suggests asking your boss if you can share the news of your resignation with the clients. Your clients may have counted on you for a variety of services, and you may wish to keep those ties preserved in the future.

“Once your company gives you the green light, you can of course reach out to clients to let them know you are moving on,” she says. “Just be aware of what’s in your agreement about soliciting clients after you’ve left.”

Exceed performance expectations

It’s easy to get sucked into cruise control and let yourself OD on sappy Netflix originals during your notice period. But that will only end up destroying the goodwill that you have worked so hard to cultivate within the organisation.

When someone who has given their resignation is late for work or takes unscheduled leaves, it is distressing and ends up affecting the performance of the entire team. How you act in the weeks leading up to the end of your notice period will have an impact on your future references and even create an unfavourable impression of you.

Divya Marasini, a marketing professional who recently moved to London for a new job says it’s vital that you don’t treat your notice period as a vacation. “To make sure you leave on the same high, you must go to work with the same respect that you had for it for all the years that you worked in that organisation.”

Instead of spending your time watching beauty fails on Youtube, Marasini suggests making sure that your deliverables are fulfilled so that you “don’t leave your colleagues high and dry”. Have a chat with your team members to understand the things you can do to help out. They will appreciate your thoughtfulness.

Maintain your professional routine as much as possible. Talk to your boss about your job expectations, and then go above and beyond in terms of scope and timeliness.

Remember that until you leave, you are still being paid and committed to doing your work to the best of your ability. Complete any outstanding duties and transfer any unfinished work to make it as easy as feasible for your colleagues.

Show your appreciation

This part might make you weepy, especially because you have to say goodbye to your work spouse too. Your partner on chai-sutta breaks, the first person you run to when you hear a particularly juicy bit of gossip and need to tell someone.

Separating from a work spouse is difficult, considering that you’ve likely spent the bulk of your waking and working hours together — they might have even heard you fart after a heavy lunch of aloo paranthas.

Take the time to express gratitude to everyone who has assisted you in becoming successful in your job. Your modesty and kindness will not go unnoticed.

Ankita Singh, a finance professional, recalls her own experience of writing a letter to her first boss when she left the job. “He always made me feel appreciated while I was working for him, which is what motivated me to push myself. I wanted to do the same for him.”

Pinto too recommends sending personalised letters/emails to the people you closely work with.”Talk about your experience with them, what you’ve learnt from them and what you’re going to carry forward,” she says.

At any going-away parties, single individuals out and show your appreciation of their assistance. Make sure to write a farewell email to your immediate colleagues.

Apologize for all the times you may have been unpleasant and express your gratitude for their support and advice. In a nutshell, observe the niceties. You’ll feel better for it.

Offer to train your replacement

Go out of your way to lend a helping hand if you want to leave a lasting impression. You can help your supervisor with the knowledge transfer to your team or to the individual who will take over your position or duties.

It’s a small world, and news travels faster than you would think. You will only benefit from the efforts you make before departing.

Create a continuity guide containing notes on key projects, daily duties, primary contacts etc. and upload them on a drive. You can even email this guide to your manager and any relevant stakeholders, which will ensure you’ve left no room for doubt.

Marasini suggests giving your successor a free hand during your notice period. “Within a week of having introduced my replacement to all the stakeholders, I took a backseat so that they could become more confident in the role while acquainting themselves with how it would feel with me not around.”

You could also give some pointers or advice that will help your successor thrive in their new role.

Get information on your employee benefits

Make an appointment with your boss or a benefits consultant in the Human Resources department. Secure information regarding vacation pay, health coverage continuity, retirement account implications, severance pay, if applicable, and other benefits that will extend after you leave your job.

According to Pinto, the situation might become uncomfortable if you ask these questions point-blank. “A better way to approach this conversation would be to ask the HR about the details of the exit process, including things that they might need to hand over to you as an employee on their way out,” she says.

You may be entitled to compensation from your company for unused vacation time, sick time, or paid time off (PTO). In most cases, unused time is paid out as a lump sum.

But now they won't even work their notice period, and your disappointment that they're leaving is turning into resentment.

Well, how about we discuss not working full notice periods rather than mourn what could've been.

Let's be clear straight away. As long as you haven't breached the contract, you don't have to pay someone for their notice if they refuse to work it.

Do you have to work your notice period?

Yes, employees will normally be contractually obligated to work their notice period. But sometimes it's not that simple.

The statutory notice period for an employee who resigns is one week—if, that is, they've been working for you for one month or more. This is true of employees who are on their probation period, too.

If someone gives you their notice on a Monday, their last day of that 'one week' is the next Monday.

Contractual notice, on the other hand, is at the discretion of the employer—as long as the employee signs their contract.

For this reason, it's common for many businesses to write into contracts that staff must give a minimum of one month's notice when resigning. If staff sign the contract, they must adhere to it.

You might then ask, "Why not just write long notice periods into all staff contracts?" And on the face of it, this idea sounds great. It would give you more time to hire and train new staff to replace the leaver.

But, it's worth thinking about the leaving employee and what's best for them. If you try to force them to stay too long now that you know they don't want to be there, can you be sure that their productivity level will still be high?

Are you risking the leaver saying unsavoury things about you to their allies in the business?

If the contracts you offer have long notice periods, you might actually deter new talent from wanting to join you. When someone decides to leave they don't want to have to serve a three-month notice period.

Our advice is to be smart with notice lengths. Set each one according to the level of seniority of the role someone is in.

If someone is a junior, and neither replacing nor training them will take long, is keeping them around for longer than a week worth it?

Make sure that their contract is clear about notice, and that all clauses are easy to understand. A hard-to-read contract will only cause confusion and problems in the future.

Not working your notice period in full

An employee with a month-long notice period in their contract might decide they don't want to work more than two weeks. In this case, it's best to make sure you include a clause in their contract that deducts pay for any notice your staff don't work.

Waive the notice period

If you think it's in your best interests, you might try to agree with your leaver to waive their notice, and terminate the contract with immediate effect. You wouldn't need to pay them for their notice in this case.

Ensure that you both sign any agreement—this way, you can avoid a later claim for unpaid wages.

If the employee was working on an important project before they gave you their notice, you might offer them an early notice termination if they finish the project to the high standard you want.

Once an employee hands in their notice, they normally want to leave as soon as they can. If you keep this in mind and negotiate with them, they will realise you're trying to create a situation that's best for both parties. Compromising is a sign of a strong leader, after all.

Not working notice period breach of contract

When staff sign their contract, they have a legal requirement to fulfil their notice. Of course, this doesn't always happen. You could take them to court for damages that your business will suffer because of them not working their notice period.

However, you should do this as a last option.

Damages such as loss of profit are not easy to prove. You would need to have documents that go into detail about any profits lost, as well as any costs for hiring cover staff.

Courts are unlikely to force staff to work their notice period.

Equally, if you breach the employment contract, an employee might not need to work their notice period.

Pay in lieu of notice (PILON)

With a PILON clause, you can end the employment before your leaver serves their notice, but you must pay them for their full notice period.

Garden leave

Some companies use garden leave when staff serve their notice. The leaver doesn't need to come to work, but you still pay them for their notice.

You have finally landed your dream job or successfully managed to switch jobs, but they want you to join at the earliest. This has got you wondering how to start a negotiation about your notice period for resignation.

Don’t worry, it’s natural to feel anxious! In this piece, we will not only take you through the tips to drafting your notice period letter but also talk about what is a resignation letter with notice period, types of notice period negotiation, and even provide a sample of a resignation email with notice period.

Let’s start at the very beginning.

A notice period for resignation is a letter to inform the organization of your exit and to provide a grace period for them to find your replacement. Generally, the notice period ranges between 1-3 months depending on your job role and work level.

However, there are certain situations like relocation to a new city, family emergency, etc due to which employees have to ask for a reduction in their notice period. This is called a short notice resignation.

But even then, your notice period for resignation cannot be less than 2 weeks.

In this segment, we will talk about the ways you can offer/be offered to negotiate for your requirement of a shorter notice period. Every organization hands out its policies document when onboarding new employees.

You can refer to that handbook or ask about your options when discussing the same with your Manager and HR. Usually, there are 2 ways of negotiating the notice period: Buying out and Garden leave.

Notice period buyout is the most popular practice in negotiating your notice period for resignation. In this practice, the hiring company buys out the employee prior to the notice period expiring.

In the buyout notice, an employee presents their full and final settlements to the hiring company in order to relieve oneself from the relieving processes.

For example, you will switch from ‘X’ company to ‘Y’ organization. ‘X’ has a policy of 30 days notice period, but ‘Y’ wants you to join before that, so the latter offers to buy out your notice period after serving the minimum number of days. In this case, you can offer ‘X’ to adjust the remaining days of the serving the notice period from your Full and Final(FnF) payment. Once that is done, you need to show the breakup to ‘Y’ on joining and the same amount will be reimbursed to you by them.

While in some cases, organizations may accept a bond agreement where they can ask the employee to pay a sum in exchange for relieving early.

Tip: Always get such discussion in black and white to prevent any miscommunication.

Another case of negotiating notice period for resignation is called "Garden leave". In this practice, the employer can relieve an employee of responsibilities immediately after you submit your resignation letter with notice period while still keeping them on the payroll as an employee.

Depending on your job role, your company may opt for this option to maintain their confidentiality and access to critical information, especially if you are joining a competitor organization.

Now that we have covered the two types of notice period negotiations, let’s go through the tips to draft a resignation letter with notice period.

First steps first, you need to address the concern to your Manager and HR in case you need to reduce your notice period.

You can bring up this factor when you are informing him/her about your resignation to keep them updated about the situation so they can take the necessary measures to ensure work is not disrupted.

This is a basic courtesy to ensure that there is no misunderstanding when you submit your notice period for resignation and you can take your leave on a positive note.

Once you have come to an agreement regarding your notice period for resignation, the next step is to draft the notice period letter properly. Requesting for a shorter notice period for resignation falls under a formal letter category as it is taken as an official document.

So, make sure to follow the correct template and divide your points into paragraphs as it will be easier to read and highlight your professionalism till the end. A resignation letter with notice period needs to have the following elements:

Relevant Read: How to write a resignation letter.

However, if you're drafting a resignation email with notice period then ensure you provide a clear Subject line, Mention the names of your HR & Manager, and state your last working day.

Another important factor to highlight in your notice period for resignation is the position from which you are stepping down.

Submitting a resignation email with notice period is extremely important as they would need to find your replacement at the earliest to get the work flowing smoothly.

Especially if you are serving a shorter notice period for resignation, you need to provide at least 2 weeks' notice before submitting your resignation.

When submitting a resignation with notice period, you need to provide a reason for reducing the notice period so that the organization will be aware of your genuine concerns.

For example, if your new job requires you to move to a new city, you can cite it as a genuine reason to serve a short notice period as you would require to set up everything before joining the new job.

Similar to every other formal email, your resignation letter with notice period should also have a statement or two highlighting your gratitude to your Manager and team for the opportunities and skills you have learned during your stint in the organization.

The final element to drafting your notice period for resignation is your name and digital signature at the end irrespective of whether it's a letter/email.

Still confused? Don’t worry, you can now take some inspiration from the following notice period letter samples.

To conclude, the only difference between a resignation letter with notice period and a resignation email with notice period is the following,

Apart from getting the format and content of your notice period for the resignation letter correct, you must be aware and follow the Do’s & Don’ts of the serving notice period to make sure that you leave the organization on a positive note.

All the Best!

In a competitive talent market, companies are unsurprisingly reticent to part with staff - especially if they are an integral part of the team. This leads to a) three month notice periods and b) “buy backs” becoming increasingly common.

This obviously creates a number of problems for organisations. In many instances, a hiring business will:

a) Not want to wait for a prolonged period of time before their new member of staff starts (a lot can change in three months after all!) having already dedicated so much effort towards finding, interviewing and offering them the job. b) Not want to be held ransom and have to pay substantially more on salaries than they initially had offered.

Find resignation letter templates below

Put simply, a notice period is the length of time an employee has to carry on working for their company once they have decided they are leaving.

Your notice period commences the day after your intent to resign has been recognised by your employer. For example, this will be the next day after you hand in a resignation letter.

The length of your notice period is often dictated by the amount of time you have been an employee at the business. Generally, the more senior you are, the longer your notice period will be. But this can vary from company to company.

Referring back to your original employment contract (or your updated one if you have received a promotion) will show you the exact duration.

When you are at the interview stage, it is very important to be honest about your notice period and not to make false promises that you can start on a certain date, when in reality you are not 100% sure. It is imperative that you start on the right foot with your new employer, so make sure you know exactly how long your notice period is.

Beyond just your notice period, many contracts of employment will also contain post-termination restrictions. These may hamper where you can work, including what clients you can or cannot take with you. It is important you know what your contract contains.

It is widely recognised that the vast majority of people do not wish to move jobs solely because of money. Professionals change roles for a plethora of reasons; flexibility, better benefits or progression opportunities to name just a few. So then why are monetary counter-offers so prevalent and quite often taken?

You may be drawn in by the extra money and feel tempted to accept the counter-offer but remember, research has shown that 85% of people who stay with their present company when presented with a higher salary leave within the next calendar year – the money may change, but the job will very much stay the same!

You must take into account that your employer may be surprised or upset at you leaving, not to mention the possible headaches involved with hiring your replacement.

Although the last thing that they will want is an uncommitted employee staying around for too long, this must also be balanced on not leaving a team understaffed. The more help that you give at this point will potentially result in your notice period being reduced. This could include suggestions about sourcing your replacement, detailed and thorough handover notes being put together and even assisting writing the job description for your role (we have a few free templates that might help you here).

If life is made difficult for you, then take this as a compliment; it suggests your boss really does not want you to leave!

Your employer is likely to arrange an exit interview to find out why you are leaving. They do this to improve their retention rates and gather insight into the perceptions of their culture.

Try to offer constructive advice, but be honest and polite. Remember, you never know when you are going to cross paths with former employees in the future, so professionalism to the end, no matter the situation, is a must!

What happens when you have secured a new role and want to leave sooner than the stipulated notice period states?

Depending on your relationship with the business and how strict they are on these matters, there is a good chance that you will be able to leave your role before your notice period is complete.

In some instances, you may be able to negotiate and move your leaving date forward.

If you enter into a negotiation with your employer about reducing the length of your notice period, remember these key 4 things:

If you are unable to secure a faster exit than you may have wanted, do not give up hope. Keep your manager posted daily on completion of tasks and if you are on track for completion sooner than expected, you can always put in another request for early release.

If you happen to become unwell during your notice period, you are still entitled to your full normal pay and it won’t increase the length of your notice period.

Seeing out your notice period is an odd time in your career; almost as if you’re in limbo. Try to remain positive, regardless of the reason for your departure, carry on with your everyday tasks like normal and remember to be professional.

If the job you are soon to be joining really is the opportunity of your dreams, then your future employer will wait for you, no matter how long your notice period is. If they do not, then take it as a sign that it’s not the job for you!

The step prior to seeing out your notice period is writing a resignation letter that you can send to your manager. It is often tricky to put into words exactly why you want to leave your job, so we have created a number of templates for a range of different scenarios below.

1. Basic resignation letter template - If you want to keep it relatively simple and short, a basic letter is perfect.

2. New job resignation letter template - For when you’ve found, applied to, and been the successful candidate in interviews for a new job at another company or in another industry.

3. Career progression resignation letter template - If the main motivation for your departure is that you feel there is a lack of progression opportunities in your current role.

• Go through your contract.
• Talk to someone from your current job.
• Talk to someone from your new job.
• Speak to your employer.
• Write the date first.
• Explain only the necessities.
• Remain professional.
• Include questions.