ALT-18 Deciding whether to Give two Weeks Notice or not
The amount of notice that you will need to give will usually be determined by your contract. Four weeks is pretty standard but in some instances it may be more or less.
If the contract doesn't state a notice period, then the statutory minimum period required to be given by an employee (who has been employed one month or more) is 1 week. A longer notice period may, however, be applicable if it is judged 'reasonable in all the circumstances' (ie if that's in line with the industry norms and the level of seniority).
If you don't want to have to work the full notice period, you may be able to get agreement from your employer to alter the notice period.
Note: If the employee chooses not to honour the notice period then the employer may have some options open to them. They might be able to obtain an injunction to stop the employee working for his new company during the notice period (if it's a direct competitor and the employer can show that there's a legitimate need to protect its interests). Or the employer may sue the employee for the additional costs arising from his breach of contract.
Such actions, however, are very rare. In most situations, it is in the employee's interests to honour the notice period, so that they maintain the relationship with their ex employer. i.e. if you want a good future reference from them, then it's probably not a good idea to leave them in the lurch by walking out on them!
A final thing to mention is the concept of 'gardening leave'. If an employee is due to go to work for a rival, and has access to sensitive information in their present role, then the employer may not wish them to work out their notice period. The employee will continue to be paid for the duration of their notice period, but will not be allowed on the premises. This tends to happen mainly with quite senior managerial levels.
