How to intepret "4 weeks" notice

gummi32 · 2 Sep 2016 at 21:23

Hi,

I will be handing in my resignation on Monday (5th) and my contract states to give 4 weeks notice.

Would I then say that my final day is Monday the 3rd October being 4 weeks to the day after giving notice.
Or would it be Friday 30th September, being 4 working weeks (Mon-Fri)?

Struggling to work out what date to put in my letter as my final day.

What would people here put down?

bscott · 2 Sep 2016 at 21:34

I would have thought Friday 30th would be your last day unless you are due any holiday.

cheesyboy · 2 Sep 2016 at 21:42

5th is day 1. Count to 28 - that's your last day (a Sunday)

peterwalkley · 2 Sep 2016 at 21:49

Don't forget to include any unused holiday allowance. Company should have a HR or payroll function to work this out.

AHarvey · 2 Sep 2016 at 22:25

peterwalkley said:
Don't forget to include any unused holiday allowance. Company should have a HR or payroll function to work this out.

unless you want to get paid for it...

As for the term, put which ever you want, it's effectively 1 working days difference..

Dis86 · 2 Sep 2016 at 22:42

Lol what?! You're confused by which part? 4 or weeks?

dowie · 2 Sep 2016 at 23:45

gummi32 said:
Struggling to work out what date to put in my letter as my final day.

What would people here put down?

Why do you feel you need to put a date down?

Just ask for the meeting with your manager, hand in the letter stating you wish to resign and thank them for the experience you've had working there and leave it at that.

HR will come back to you with the final date etc..etc. it is an admin thing. I mean do you also expect to note down your accrued holidays and pro rata pay for your last part-month in the resignation letter? Nope - at least I'd hope not.

you can argue it with HR later if you've got some disagreement over how long you think 4 weeks is and/or whether the date you hand in the notice counts or whether it starts the next day etc..etc...

AHarvey · 3 Sep 2016 at 01:20

dowie said:
Why do you feel you need to put a date down?

Just ask for the meeting with your manager, hand in the letter stating you wish to resign and thank them for the experience you've had working there and leave it at that.

HR will come back to you with the final date etc..etc. it is an admin thing. I mean do you also expect to note down your accrued holidays and pro rata pay for your last part-month in the resignation letter? Nope - at least I'd hope not.

you can argue it with HR later if you've got some disagreement over how long you think 4 weeks is and/or whether the date you hand in the notice counts or whether it starts the next day etc..etc...

Why wouldn't you put a date down?

"This is a letter of resignation dated X, and inline with my contract and Y weeks notice needed my last date would be Z"

I've never written a resignation without a final date on it.

However, in this case it comes down to a single working day so I'd put the Friday down, the end of the working week just to keep it neat. HR shouldn't even argue it.

dowie · 3 Sep 2016 at 01:36

Because it isn't required.

Why do you think you need to include it?

I mean, like I pointed out, you could also work out your pro rata pay and accrued holidays and make a note of them too... if you're really anal, but it also is a bit surplus.

All you need is a letter stating you're resign it - signed and dated. That is it - why make an issue out of trying to figure out some date you don't even need to put in there in the first place?

AHarvey · 3 Sep 2016 at 02:52

dowie said:
Because it isn't required.

Why do you think you need to include it?

I mean, like I pointed out, you could also work out your pro rata pay and accrued holidays and make a note of them too... if you're really anal, but it also is a bit surplus.

All you need is a letter stating you're resign it - signed and dated. That is it - why make an issue out of trying to figure out some date you don't even need to put in there in the first place?

You may consider that it's not required but in my experience it is. Most HR departments are useless, they mess up pay, holidays, maternity and everything in between.

As for trying to figure it out...you take your notice period and add it to the date you hand your notice in. It takes what..2 minutes maximum. You don't have to work what holidays you have left, but you could also request that they are paid on top, and to be fair, I would imagine most people know pro rata pay and holiday entitlement.

It's about taking control yourself and telling them what you're doing instead of them telling you. It saves them coming to you and asking what you want your last working day will be, because they will. The most important thing is that by setting it all out in the initial letter you are removing any doubt further down the line and helping resolve any disagreements that pop up. You should also get a written receipt that they've acknowledged it, either an email or a formal acknowledgement on letterheaded paper.

Go and have a look on Monster at their resignation templates, you'll find they have notice period length and final dates.

Quartz · 3 Sep 2016 at 09:49

Absolutely include the last date, and if you have any holiday accrued, note that too.

Dear Boss,

I write to submit my resignation from XYZ Corp. Per my contract I am giving you 4 weeks notice. Given that I have 2 weeks accrued leave, I suggest a leaving date of Friday X/Y/Z.

gummi32 · 3 Sep 2016 at 12:44

Thanks for the replies.

I'll go with putting the 30th down.

dowie · 3 Sep 2016 at 15:18

AHarvey said:
You may consider that it's not required but in my experience it is. Most HR departments are useless, they mess up pay, holidays, maternity and everything in between.

If they do then correct them... they deal with this stuff all the time so would be rather incompetent if they continually messed it up.

As for trying to figure it out...you take your notice period and add it to the date you hand your notice in. It takes what..2 minutes maximum.

Yet the OP can't figure it out!

You don't have to work what holidays you have left, but you could also request that they are paid on top, and to be fair, I would imagine most people know pro rata pay and holiday entitlement.

This is a bit contradictory (and the reason I highlighted it) you don't trust HR enough to work out a simple notice date but you do trust them to get your holiday entitlement (which could increase or decrease your last pay slip) and pro rata pay calculated correctly?

Personally I have a chat to people, face to face, it is much better - if you've got a good relationship with your manager then talk to them and agree a date. If you don't want to do that then your notice date ought to be as per your contract, if not then you kick up a fuss.