I absolutely detest three months notice periods, especially for roles less than 80k.

I’ve been picking up undertones in the media recently that UK employees don’t have the work ethic of US employees, as we don’t want to work the same hours over here, as they do in the US.

I’ve covered the difference between long hours and hard work in previous posts, this time around I want to look at another area of comparison, notice periods.

US employees are paid more, often paid bi-weekly, can get signing on bonus’ and have on average a 2 week notice periods.

In fact, most states are considered ‘at will’ states and you can quit then and there; this goes both ways, you could go to work and get canned on the spot.

Why am I focusing on these?

A three month notice period can impact employee mobility, candidates can be overlooked for a role due to this lengthy notice period. Candidates in toxic environments are particularly vulnerable as they are almost trapped in.
Don’t give me the ‘resign’ without securing another job crap, although it is unsaid, unemployed candidates are not desirable, it is far easier to get a job whilst you are in another job, than it is to get a job when you don’t have one, the larger your gap between roles expands, the more tricky it can be.

Why is three months even a thing, when the term “no one is irreplaceable”, is thrown around so casually?   

It’s to give employers time to replace you, request you do handover notes, give HR time to go through the relevant offboarding process and if possible maybe even have you do an in person handover to your replacement.

I do wonder if these long notice periods actually stifle innovation as it prevents both parties being truly agile; anything that restricts mobility you could argue restricts innovation.

Should we be paid bi-weekly?

You ever get that early payment for Christmas, go through it, then got that long painful wait until January? That would be gone if salaries were paid bi-weekly, I would also bet spending would increase, as waiting times between payments is reduced.

My Thoughts:

We can complain compare all day long on both side, the fact is cultural differences are why we have, what we have, if there is going to be a subtle digs at the workforce for UK employees not working ‘as hard’ as US employees, let’s also compare what UK employers do differently from US employers, so the discussion is not one sided, the words culture and compromise exist for a reason.

@Brainthrough

Image from:
Links:
Length of pay periods in the Current Employment Statistics survey : U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (bls.gov)