Notice of termination

What it means

Notice is a one-sided termination of employment and is valid only if it is in writing and delivered to the other side. An employee may give it without stating a reason; an employer only on the grounds the Labour Code lists.

It is neither a termination by agreement nor an immediate dismissal. Employment does not end on the day of delivery but when the notice period expires, and that period starts on the first day of the following month.

Once delivered, a notice cannot be withdrawn unilaterally. It can be revoked only with the other side’s consent, in writing; until that consent exists the employment heads towards termination at the end of the notice period, even if whoever gave notice has changed their mind.

How it works in practice

The employer has to discuss the notice in advance with the employee representatives, where there are any, and deliver it into the employee’s own hands; a refusal to accept counts as delivery. On a lesser breach of discipline the notice must be preceded by a written warning.

What follows is payment for untaken holiday, the employment confirmation, and deregistration from the Social Insurance Agency and the health insurer within the statutory time. Where the ground is organisational or health-related, severance is added on top, and it grows with the years served.

An employer may not give notice during a protected period, for instance while the employee is on sick leave. If the employee falls ill only after the notice was delivered, the protected period is usually not counted towards the notice period and the employment ends later. We therefore recalculate the end date in the payroll records whenever sick leave is reported.

What to watch out for

Invalid notice is challenged by a claim filed within two months of the date employment should have ended. If the court sides with an employee who insisted on staying, the company pays wage compensation for the whole dispute, up to thirty-six months of pay.

On a notice for organisational reasons the employer does not offer the employee other suitable work, although it has a vacancy. Failing that duty to offer work makes the notice invalid, the employee wins the case, and the severance pay already paid does not protect the company from paying compensation for lost wages.