No employment contract

A friend has worked for an employer for 14 years and to his knowledge has no contract.

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A  friend has worked for his employer for 14 years.  To his knowledge he has never had or signed a contract.  He has now given 5 weeks notice to leave on the 31st July.  His employer says he has to give two months notice.  He is paid monthly. What rights does he have?

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By Hometing
28th Jun 2022 15:36

I'm no legal professional but would assume he has the right to request a copy of his signed contract to refer to.

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By David Ex
28th Jun 2022 15:51

chancewind wrote:

What rights does he have?

He has legal rights which a lawyer can advise him on (if he doesn’t have access to Google).

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By Paul Crowley
28th Jun 2022 16:13

Absolutely the best position to be in
Nothing agreed in writing so Employee is the one that any tribunal would look to protect.
Notice periods are to protect the employee, not the employer.
An employer cannot make a worker work. All disciplinary matters need due processes.
No compensation ever for an employer due to employees resignation.

Employer needs to get real and be grateful that the employee gave notice exceeding a month.

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Replying to Paul Crowley:
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By David Ex
28th Jun 2022 16:39

Paul Crowley wrote:

All disciplinary matters need due processes.

Should have but often don’t. I could tell you all sorts of stories about practices at a very large FTSE100 group.

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Replying to Paul Crowley:
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By Michael Davies
29th Jun 2022 09:45

About ten years ago an employment lawyer advised not to challenge redundancy terms ,as the local Employment Tribunal invariably sided with the Employer.Don’t know if this was BS.

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By SXGuy
28th Jun 2022 16:18

14 years ago. Probably signed something and forget. But if that did happen employer should have no issues providing a copy of it.

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By Hugo Fair
28th Jun 2022 16:40

Do some research (you could start at https://www.gov.uk/handing-in-your-notice/giving-notice) ... or your friend can approach CAB ... but in the absence of a written contract there is very little statutory 'minimum period of notice'.

Realistically, unless boss can lay hands on some contract (or referenced employee handbook) to say to the contrary, it's going to be impossible to force your friend to do work that he/she doesn't wish to perform.

So what is boss trying to achieve?
It's always best to negotiate face-to-face (payment & references will flow more easily if both parties have agreed the outcome) - but at worst friend can give in ... before 'booking' a period of incapacity!

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Melchett
By thestudyman
28th Jun 2022 20:49

If there was no written contract in place, then the notice period to give would be the statutory minimum, which i believe is 1 week notice if you have been working longer than a month.

Without a written contract, it would be difficult for the employer to argue the implied notice period would be longer. They only have themselves to blame.

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Replying to thestudyman:
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By Samantha20
29th Jun 2022 10:36

thestudyman wrote:

If there was no written contract in place, then the notice period to give would be the statutory minimum, which i believe is 1 week notice if you have been working longer than a month.

Without a written contract, it would be difficult for the employer to argue the implied notice period would be longer. They only have themselves to blame.

Yes, I agree with this. I know someone who was in a similar position and rang ACAS who confirmed that they only had to give one week's notice and that is what they did.

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