Ending employment
An employee can resign or be dismissed (fired).
To dismiss an employee, an employer has to give them written notice (notice) of their last day of work. Employees who are resigning don’t need to give notice in writing – they can give it verbally.
How much notice?
An employer has to give a permanent employee the following minimum notice periods:
| Length of service | Notice period |
|---|---|
| 1 year or less | 1 week |
| More than 1 year - 3 years | 2 weeks |
| More than 3 years - 5 | 3 weeks |
| More than 5 years | 4 weeks |
An employee gets an extra week of notice if they’re over 45 years old and have worked for the employer for at least 2 years.
Employees usually have to provide the same amount of notice to their employer when they want to leave their job. Use our Notice and Redundancy Calculator (Notice and Redundancy Calculator) to find information about minimum notice periods.
An employee must not be dismissed for asking questions or making a complaint about their pay or workplace rights.
Watch our short video about ending employment.
What to do next
- Use our Termination of employment letter template / Termination of employment letter template
