4 weeks notice required when quitting ?

Forums › Jobs › 4 weeks notice required when quitting ?

1101

3121 posts

Uber Geek

#319207 2-Apr-2025 19:24

Hi. Just wondering..

For someone on almost min wage ( 50c an hour more than miniumum ) , paid weekly , is requiring 4 weeks notice when quitting a bit over the top.
Its in our contracts , and would make it much harder to find a job before quitting, as new employer would have to wait 4 weeks

The guy I work with recently gave 4weeks notice, only because that was in his contract, when he really wanted to leave ASAP .

Any opinions on this. Its a very low paying job , so 4 weeks seems excessive to me .
I'd like to leave in the next 3-6 months or earlier .

1 | 2

3530 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#3359852 2-Apr-2025 19:27

If you don't care about burning bridges then you can always give 2 weeks notice and see what they say.

If you're the right person for a job 4 weeks notice is pretty standard and won't put most off.

1101

3121 posts

Uber Geek

#3359879 2-Apr-2025 19:36

lxsw20:

If you're the right person for a job 4 weeks notice is pretty standard and won't put most off.

True, but when these jobs get over a hundred applicants , I can see employers tending to pick those who can start sooner .

RunningMan

8912 posts

Uber Geek

#3359880 2-Apr-2025 19:40

You probably need to get someone to help you with your current contract as the details may matter. Speak to an employment lawyer, or contact Community Law as a first step.

EDIT: If this is the same employer as your previous thread, I'd definitely get some initial advice as you want to make sure you are paid for any leave owing when you leave. It has some of the signs of being an employer who may get things wrong when someone leaves, and if there's any sort of dispute later on it's better for you if you've done everything correctly from your side.

tweake

2348 posts

Uber Geek

#3359881 2-Apr-2025 19:57

i'm in similar boat myself, tho being made redundant. i can understand the issue, i have several weeks to go and one of the jobs i interviewed for filled it in a day.

the rule of thumb is you can quit early but you loose holiday pay etc. not sure what the exact legal requirements are these days. also it usually not a good idea to crap on them as that tends to look bad for future employment.

1101

3121 posts

Uber Geek

#3359883 2-Apr-2025 20:09

tweake:

the rule of thumb is you can quit early but you loose holiday pay etc.

Can you actually loose holiday pay , just by quitting early ?
I would have thought they are completely separate things . Holiday pay is a legal obligation .

RunningMan

8912 posts

Uber Geek

#3359885 2-Apr-2025 20:17

1101:
The guy I work with gave 4weeks notice after not getting sick pay ( 1 day off) , it was taken out of his holiday pay . Intentional .

Yeah that sort of thing really rings the alarm bells, assuming of course he had sick leave to use. It's a bit of an early warning that you could end up with some sort of dispute after you leave, so getting a bit of advice now to make sure you do the right thing (even if the employer doesn't) would be a good thing. If nothing else it would give you a bit of peace of mind going through the process.

RunningMan

8912 posts

Uber Geek

#3359887 2-Apr-2025 20:24

1101:

tweake:

the rule of thumb is you can quit early but you loose holiday pay etc.

Can you actually loose holiday pay , just by quitting early ?
I would have thought they are completely separate things . Holiday pay is a legal obligation .

Given you are potentially facing some issues, I wouldn't be basing decisions on rules of thumb. Go get some professional advice about the details of your specific contract - Community Law is linked above as a starting point.

Sharesies

Trade NZ and US shares and funds with Sharesies (affiliate link).

shrub

773 posts

Ultimate Geek

ID Verified

#3359890 2-Apr-2025 21:02

There are ways around this. Talk to HR manager about this and negotiate a plan. or book annual leave say 3 weeks start new job then once you have been paid out all that's owed hand in notice effective immediately. You will likely burn a bridge tho.

KiwiSurfer

1411 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Lifetime subscriber

#3359893 2-Apr-2025 21:16

4 weeks isn't too bad given some roles require 2 months notice e.g. teachers.

However employers can often agree to shorter notice -- in today's economic climate some employers may actually prefer to have you off the books quickly so they can save some of their staffing costs.

You can always ask -- best case is they say yes. Worst case is they say no and you simply work out your notice. (Or as someone pointed out above, negotiate to use up your annual leave etc.)

If you are an union member, ask them for advice. If you're not, well, here is a good lesson for why you should join an union.

Handle9

11267 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#3359962 3-Apr-2025 00:30

1101:

tweake:

the rule of thumb is you can quit early but you loose holiday pay etc.

Can you actually loose holiday pay , just by quitting early ?
I would have thought they are completely separate things . Holiday pay is a legal obligation .

An employer can not steal money from the employee without consent. If it’s not in the contract they need to payout the employee.

If there is a deduction clause in the contract it’s quite possibly unenforceable but it depends.

cddt

1502 posts

Uber Geek

#3359977 3-Apr-2025 07:04

What you can negotiate with your current employer is whether you can take annual leave, assuming you have some accrued, and your employer is a reasonable person.

My referral links: BigPipe | Mercury

GV27

5885 posts

Uber Geek

#3359978 3-Apr-2025 07:36

You and your employer can come to whatever arrangement you can both agree to.

But your employer is well within their rights to ask you to work out your notice period.

networkn

Networkn
32246 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#3360065 3-Apr-2025 10:22

GV27:

You and your employer can come to whatever arrangement you can both agree to.

But your employer is well within their rights to ask you to work out your notice period.

Having said that, I have known people to leave with 3 days notice, and it's rarely worth the cost/effort to try and legally enforce it.

You'd burn your bridges hard, including likely not getting a very good reference, but larger companies tend to have a bit more cover. It really kills you as a small business.

If someone really doesn't want to be at work, you are better to let them move on, they aren't going to be great and can actually do far more harm than good.

sen8or

1778 posts

Uber Geek

#3360071 3-Apr-2025 10:40

You can't withhold holiday pay if a person doesn't work their notice period, but you will likely forgo wages from that notice period not worked.

Really depends on the position and reason for leaving. If its on good terms, try and see if they'll release you early (or as above, book leave for the last portion of the notice period, I did that once many years ago, not overly happy employer, but nothing they could do).

For the small cost of a few weeks wages, in certain roles and circumstances, its far better for the person not to work their notice period (e.g sales person going to a competitor, disgruntled employee spreading toxicity in the workplace, overstaffed work environment where the employer has no intention of replacing them etc).

For new employers, having to wait the 4 week notice period is fairly standard. I'd be somewhat concerned if a candidate said they had a 4 week notice period but intended to start sooner (would bring into question commitment and trust).

KrazyKid

1238 posts

Uber Geek

#3360144 3-Apr-2025 13:38

I beleive legally if you walk out of a job for any reason the employee have still have to pay for what work you have done upto the time you left.

This includes kiwisaver and holiday pay.

Technically you have abandoned you job so after 3 day of no shows they can leagally fire you.

Won't be worth the cost of legally chasing you to come back.

It comes down to your personal moral code and how much you want a reference.

1 | 2