United Kingdom
Notice periods in the United Kingdom
What UK government guidance says about the notice an employee has to give when they resign, when it starts, what happens to pay during it, and what an employer can and cannot do with it. Every statement on this page links to the government source it came from.
This page describes the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland has separate guidance and is flagged below rather than folded in. It is not legal advice, and it does not describe your specific agreement — which, in almost every case, is the document that decides the answer.
General information only. Employment rules depend on your contract and location.
Last verified: August 20, 2026
Who this covers
This page is about an employee resigning: the notice you give, not the notice an employer has to give you. Those are different rules with different lengths, and mixing them up is the most common mistake on this topic. It also assumes employee status. Worker and self-employed status carry different arrangements, and if you are unsure which you are, that is the question to settle first.
What the guidance says
Each point below is stated by the source linked against it, checked on the date shown in the source list at the foot of this page.
An employee who has been in the job for more than one month must give at least one week’s notice.
This is a floor, not the usual figure. A contract, written statement or staff policy can require more, and commonly does.
An employee with less than one month’s service whose written statement does not state a notice period does not have to give notice.
An employee’s written statement of employment particulars must state how much notice they have to give their employer.
So if you cannot find a notice period, the written statement is the document to ask for by name.
An employee may be in breach of contract if they do not give enough notice, or give it verbally when the contract requires writing, and the employer could take them to court.
GOV.UK states the exposure without quantifying it. What an employer would actually pursue, and on what basis, is not something this page has a source for.
A notice period usually runs from the start of the day after notice is handed in.
Whether notice has to be given in writing depends on the contract; where the contract does not require writing, it can be given verbally.
Being permitted to resign verbally is not a reason to. A dated written record is what settles a later disagreement about when the clock started.
Pay during a notice period is usually at the normal rate, and entitlement to bonuses and commission continues unless the contract says otherwise.
Time off during notice — sickness, holiday, parental leave — can be paid differently, and that depends on the contract.
An employer may offer a one-off payment instead of having the employee work the notice — payment in lieu — but this is only available where it is in the contract or the employee agrees to it.
This is the employer paying the employee. It is the opposite direction of travel from an employee buying out their own notice.
An employer may require an employee to stay away from work, or work elsewhere, during the notice period — garden leave — with the same pay and contractual benefits.
An employer and employee can agree an alternative to working the full notice, such as taking leave instead, and any agreement reached should be put in writing.
Your contract almost always decides it
The statutory position is a floor, and in practice it is rarely the operative number. Most UK employment contracts require a month, three months, or longer, and those figures come from the contract rather than from legislation. The floor matters in two situations: where your contract says nothing, and where what it says is less than the minimum. Everywhere else, the contract is the answer, and reading it is the whole job.
Northern Ireland
Employment law in Northern Ireland diverges from the rest of the UK, and guidance for it is published separately by nidirect rather than by GOV.UK and Acas. If you work in Northern Ireland, use that source rather than assuming this page applies to you. It is linked in the source list below.
What this page deliberately does not answer
Each of these has a real answer that this page does not currently hold a source for. Rather than infer one, it says so:
- Whether an employer can deduct unserved notice from your final pay in any given case, and on what basis.
- How any payment in lieu of notice is taxed.
- Whether a restrictive covenant in your contract is enforceable — that turns on the specific wording and on case law.
- What happens where a contract term and the statutory minimum conflict in a particular set of facts.
- Anything about resigning in response to your employer’s conduct, which is a separate area with its own consequences and its own time limits.
For any of these, Acas runs a free helpline and publishes guidance on each topic, and an employment solicitor can advise on your specific agreement. Both are better answers than a confident paragraph from a website.
Sources
Every claim on this page links to the government source it came from, and the date it was last checked.
Run your own numbers
- Project your last working day — enter the notice from your contract, and set the count to start the day after you resign, as UK guidance describes.
- How notice periods work — the general mechanism, and how contract, statute, and collective agreements interact.
- Can I quit without notice? — six questions covering your contract, your timing, and your money.
Quitting without notice in the UK — common questions
Can I quit my job without notice in the UK?
You can leave, but if you have been employed for more than a month you must give at least one week’s notice as a statutory minimum, and your contract commonly requires more. GOV.UK states that an employee who does not give enough notice may be in breach of contract and that the employer could take them to court. In practice the realistic exposure is financial rather than litigation.
How much notice do I legally have to give in the UK?
At least one week after more than one month of service — that is the floor, not the usual figure. Your written statement of employment particulars must state how much notice you have to give, so if you cannot find a notice period, that is the document to ask for by name.
When does a UK notice period start?
Usually from the start of the day after notice is handed in, according to GOV.UK. Whether it has to be in writing depends on your contract; where the contract does not require writing it can be given verbally, though a dated written record is what settles a later disagreement about when the clock started.
Can a UK employer deduct pay if I leave without notice?
This page does not hold a source that quantifies it, and it is deliberately not guessing. What the sources do say is that insufficient notice can put you in breach of contract, and that pay during a notice period is normally at the normal rate. Whether a specific deduction from your final pay is lawful depends on your contract and on the deduction rules that apply, which is a question for Acas or an employment adviser rather than a website.