Leaving prior to end of notice period

[mike9009]

Hi all,

Just out of curiosity, what typically happens to someone who does not work their notice period and also does so without permission from the employer. As an example, if an employee had a three month notice period and gave two days, what recourse would/ could the company take?

Lets imagine this is a senior management role which the employee had been in for five months.....


Ta

Mike

[davepoth]

They could sue for breach of contract, withhold any money due, or just give a terrible reference.

[Cupramax]

davepoth said:

or just give a terrible reference.

Yeah, slander's always a good idea

[10 Pence Short]

I may be wrong, but I imagine they might also be able to injunct you from working for someone else for the period you'd be in breach.

[edc]

Cupramax said:

Yeah, slander's always a good idea

In such a case the reference could say that the employee was unreliable, absent without leave, had a terrible attendance record, did not follow company policy, etc etc. None of this is incorrect and there is no necessity to qualify any of this with context. Upon reading that is the future employer going to bother making further enquiries or just make some assumptions?

[gmm1210]

A likely response could be:-
A letter from HR saying that you are in breach of contract but no legal action will be taken.
(The letters contents could easily be common knowledge amongst your peers and staff to discourage others leaving in the same way as you)
Obviously... No glowing references regarding your time at the company
If you have been employed for 6 months or less the leaving period is unlikely to apply... My contract covers this.. Does yours?

[Nick Grant]

I have never stopped anyone from leaving before the end of thier notice period if they have asked. What's the point, they obviously don't want to be there and will work accordingly.

[Terminator X]

I let a chap leave early when he was on 3 months notice, he was ste though and costing me money so it was win win As poster above, if they want to leave just let them albeit the 3 month notice is there for a reason - to give the employer time to replace the employee. They could say no if you're hard to replace of course. Just upping sticks and leaving is poor form imho however there really isn't much they can do if you leave, say, the day after you've been paid?

TX.