Charismatic

What is the standard termination duration in New Zealand?

A friend is being asked to sign a contract with a 4 week termination clause. Mine have always been 2. I feel that a four week clause is too long and would be a disadvantage when seeking new employment or to terminate for personal reasons.

Ideas/Opinions?

scrubbedexpat094

I was told that it had to do with how you were paid ie. if you were paid fortnightly then you had to give two weeks notice & if you were paid monthly then it would be 4 weeks notice. But I don't know for sure. May also have to do with how senior the role is.

Personally, I don't think 4 weeks is too long. I was gobsmacked when I only had to give two weeks notice over here.

Charismatic

Fair enough I guess, looking at the contract the pay duration is fortnightly rather than monthly.

simonsi

Normally linked to pay cycle but also should be symmetrical , i.e. employee and employer notice the same.

jmh

The person could consider saving up two weeks of leave as a backstop. That might be why they are implementing 4 weeks. Perhaps people in the past have walked out the door on 2 weeks holiday. Anyway, probably not a lot they can do about it. What level of job is it? The higher up the more likely a future employer will be prepared to wait I think.

MrsFychan

As some have said it may do with the level of employment, back in UK my OH had to give 3mths notice being a Manager.

Charismatic

I guess you are right, you could see it from both sides. Ideally we'd like to have the company have to give a long notice but we'd like to be able to leave at the drop of a hat.

Nothing special in the job, just a regular graduate.

Jan n Neil

The wifes on 3 months i,m on a week but i am easier to replace

N

Charismatic

What actually happens if you walk out early though?

Like lets say after a week you realize the manager is a hateful little gherkin and you really don't want to go back. If you simply phone up and say "Listen here gherkin, I don't care for you and have no intention of ever coming back to work." Can they take you to court?

Stormer999

Wife's is 8 weeks mine was 3 months. Breach of contract....that's not the main issue your new employer will be in trouble for starting you in that period and how does it look when you need a reference. Negotiate for early release especially if you have holiday entitlement....
But that is the UK..

simonsi

90 day rule applies with its own 1 week notice period from either side I think???

Charismatic

I thought that only applied if it was explicitly stated in an employment contract. Not that I've ever seen it used actually?

jmh

The impression I get is that notice periods in the UK having been getting longer. Used to be one month, now two or three. My last UK job was two months. Worked in my favour in the end because they had to pay it when they made me redundant. I had saved holiday just in case so they paid that too. Ahhhh, the good old days. Nice to be self employed now.

lisamct

I'm paid fortnightly but my contracted notice period was 4 weeks.
Actually I was expected to work out the rest of the pre-made shift roster but, as that was 9 weeks in advance I politely declined!

Si19761

The Uk do have much longer notice periods.... 4 weeks tends to be the main maximum we use with our clients and more for senior roles, 3 months is very occasionally used for very senior roles. Most of our clients are 1 to 2 weeks depending on role.

All terms in NZ are negotiable so no problem with your friend going back to ask for 2 weeks, only thing to bear in mind is that it does go both ways.... in terms of repurcussions lots of agreements do have financial penalties for leaving before full notice given so it does pay to look before taking the highway....