„An employee has given me notice“
An employee has given notice, what to do
Short answer
An employee may give notice without stating a reason and you do not have to accept it; notice is not a proposal but a unilateral act. The notice period is at least one month, and if the employment lasted at least one year as at the day the notice was delivered, at least two months. It only starts to run on the first day of the following calendar month, not on the day of delivery.
law as at
With notice from an employee the mistake is most often in the counting. The notice period does not run from the day the notice arrived, but from the first day of the following month, and its length depends on how long the employment lasted.
The second mistake is the idea that notice has to be accepted or approved. It is not an agreement. What is an agreement, and what is often better for both sides, is ending the employment by agreement on a different date.
What to do today
Tick off what you have done. This browser remembers your progress.
Record the date the notice was delivered
Everything else is counted from it. Keep the original as well as the envelope or the email; in a dispute about the date of delivery it is the only material you have.
Establish how long the employment lasted as at the day of delivery
The one-year threshold decides whether the notice period is one month or two. The duration also includes repeatedly concluded fixed-term employments with the same employer that followed immediately on from one another.
Calculate the end date
The notice period begins on the first day of the calendar month following delivery and ends on the last day of the relevant month. Notice delivered on 3 September with a two-month period means the employment ends on 30 November, not on 3 November.
Plan the handover of work and of access rights
A list of access rights, equipment, keys, work in progress and contacts. This is the only part you control and the only one that cannot be caught up on once the employee has left.
What not to do
The mistakes made most often in these situations, and the hardest to undo.
Do not refuse the notice
Notice from an employee is a unilateral act and does not need your consent. Refusing it changes nothing, it only creates the impression that the employment continues.
Do not count the notice period from the day of delivery
This is the most common mistake with notice. The period only runs from the first day of the following month, so the actual end is usually later than it looks at first sight.
Do not make payment of wages conditional on the handover of work
Wages are an entitlement for work done. Withholding for items not returned is a separate problem and is dealt with in another way than by not paying.
Do not conclude a termination agreement backdated to a date that has already passed
If you agree an earlier end with the employee, do it expressly and for a future date. Backdated agreements create uncertainty in contributions and in records.
What evidence to secure
What to keep today, while it is still available.
- the original notice and proof of the date it was delivered
- the employment contract and its amendments, including the date the employment began
- records of previous fixed-term employments, if they followed on from one another
- a list of the access rights, equipment and work in progress handed over
- any agreement on termination of the employment, if you reach one
Which time limit is running
Every time limit names the provision it follows from, so that it can be checked. Where the length depends on a condition, the condition is stated, not a finished result.
Notice period, the basic rule
at least one month, from the first day of the calendar month following delivery of the notice
Applies unless the Labour Code provides otherwise for the case in question.
§ 62 ods. 2 of the Labour Code
Notice period where the employment lasted at least a year
at least two months, from the first day of the calendar month following delivery of the notice
What matters is the duration of the employment with the employer as at the day the notice was delivered, not as at the day it ends.
§ 62 ods. 6 of the Labour Code
End of the notice period
the last day of the relevant calendar month, from the start of the notice period
§ 62 ods. 7 of the Labour Code
What your options are
Ordered from the cheapest to the harshest. Each one says what it actually costs.
- 01
Let the notice period run
The default. The employee carries on working and the employment ends when the period expires.
What it costs: wages for the time worked
- 02
Agree an earlier end date
Suitable where a shorter run suits both sides. It has to be an agreement, not a unilateral shortening.
What it costs: as agreed, usually lower wage costs
- 03
Agree on the handover and on taking leave
Remaining leave and the handover of work can be planned into the notice period if the parties agree on it.
What it costs: time for planning, no direct cost
What the law says
The verbatim wording from the official register. Every excerpt is machine-compared against the wording in our database, so it cannot drift apart from what the law says.
Zamestnanec môže dať zamestnávateľovi výpoveď z akéhokoľvek dôvodu alebo bez uvedenia dôvodu.Výpovedná doba je najmenej jeden mesiac, ak tento zákon neustanovuje inak.Ak výpoveď dáva zamestnanec, ktorého pracovný pomer u zamestnávateľa ku dňu doručenia výpovede trval najmenej jeden rok, výpovedná doba je najmenej dva mesiace.Výpovedná doba začína plynúť od prvého dňa kalendárneho mesiaca nasledujúceho po doručení výpovede a skončí sa uplynutím posledného dňa príslušného kalendárneho mesiaca, ak tento zákon neustanovuje inak.Frequently asked questions
Can I refuse notice from an employee?
No. Under § 67 of the Labour Code an employee may give notice for any reason or without stating a reason. It is a unilateral act and does not need your consent.
When does the notice period start to run?
Under § 62 ods. 7 of the Labour Code, from the first day of the calendar month following delivery of the notice. The day of delivery does not count towards it.
An employee worked for us for eleven months, what is the notice period?
The two-month period under § 62 ods. 6 is tied to employment lasting at least one year as at the day the notice was delivered. For a shorter duration the basic rule under § 62 ods. 2 applies, that is, at least one month. Watch out for § 62 ods. 5: the duration also includes repeatedly concluded fixed-term employments that followed immediately on from one another.
Can we agree on an earlier end?
Yes, but it has to be an agreement of both sides, not a unilateral shortening of the notice period. An agreement to terminate the employment is a separate way of ending it and the Labour Code regulates it separately.