These questions are being answered by Learn HR, a market leader in the provision of HR and payroll training and nationally-recognised professional qualifications.
Q: How much notice should senior staff be on? We have been told that one month is not enough.
A: The law requires that employees, regardless of status, who have one month of service are given at least one week of notice per year of service to end their employment, with a minimum of one and a maximum of twelve weeks' notice.
However, you can put into their contract anything that you want. They would be entitled, if dismissed, to the greater of what the law or their contract provides.
Senior employees expect to be given longer periods of notice than their juniors, but there is no obligation on you to do this. Think instead what you need. If you might wish to dismiss someone in the future, how much notice or payment in lieu would you wish to give? Conversely if someone puts in their notice to leave, for how long would you wish to retain them? Would they be of no further use to you or would it take a year for you to get a replacement up and running?
Consider two final points. First, the notice that you give and wish to receive need not be the same length. Second, the longer the notice you require someone to give you, the less is the likelihood of them giving it.
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