Notice period - setting the starting and ending date

One of the possibilities of terminating the employment relationship is the termination of the employment contract by a declaration of one of the parties with a notice period (the so-called termination by notice). Is the notice period the same for each type of employment contract? What does its length depend on? When does its run begin? We answer these questions below.

In which cases can the contract be terminated by notice?

The Labor Code provides for the possibility of termination by one of the parties to terminate the contract concluded for a trial period as well as for a definite and indefinite period. Dismissal is therefore an ordinary tool that provides for legal provisions that the employee and the employer can use to terminate an existing employment relationship.

What are the notice periods?

The notice period for an employment contract concluded for a definite period and for an indefinite period depends on the duration of employment with a given employer and amounts to:

• 2 weeks, if the employee has been employed for less than 6 months,
• 1 month, if the employee has been employed for at least 6 months,
• 3 months, if the employee has been employed for at least 3 years.

The notice period for a trial period is, however:

• 3 working days if the contract is concluded for less than 2 weeks,
• 1 week when the contract is concluded for at least 2 weeks,
• 2 weeks, in the case of a contract concluded for 3 months.

 

The notice period is calculated in months

The notice begins on the first calendar day of the month following the month in which the notice was submitted. The notice period therefore ends on the last day of the month. It lasts for full months. It is worth bearing in mind that there are 30-, 31-, 28- and 29-day months and it does not matter for the termination period, calculated in months.

Example 1.

An employee with one year of work experience resigned on January 16. In this situation, the notice period starts on February 1 and ends on the last day of February. Read more about the notice period:

• Termination of an employment contract - basic information
• Annual leave during the notice period
• Incorrect notice period on the termination of the employment contract

The notice period is calculated in weeks

The moment of commencement of the period of the notice is the first Sunday following the day of submitting the notice. The notice period ends after one or two calendar weeks, so Saturday is always the last day of the notice period. A week is understood as a calendar, so it is counted as 7 days.

Example 2.

On March 12, 2020, the employer gave a notice of termination to the employee with whom he had a contract for a trial period of 3 months. The notice begins on Sunday, March 15, 2020. The notice period ends after 2 weeks, and the last day is Saturday - March 28, 2020.

The notice period is counted in days

The first day of termination shall be the business day following the delivery of the termination notice. It is worth remembering that the 3-day notice period only applies to a contract for a trial period of two weeks. When determining the moment at which the notice period counted in working days begins to run, all days except Sundays and public holidays, including additional non-working days, i.e. usually Saturdays, are taken into account.

Example 3.

An employee employed under a contract for a trial period of 2 weeks from January 1, 2021, resigned on January 5. The notice period starts on January 7, as January 6 is a holiday (Wednesday). Saturdays are days off in the company, so the last day of notice is January 11. Start a free 30-day trial period with no strings attached!

The notice period and the period of work with the employer

The total period of work for a given employer is included in the employment period, which determines the length of the notice period. It is important that by February 22, 2016, the breaks between successive employment contracts and their type are no longer relevant. In the case of fixed-term employment contracts concluded from February 22, 2016, when determining the length of the notice period, all previous periods of employment of the employee with a given employer are taken into account. For fixed-term contracts lasting February 22, 2016, periods of employment with a given employer prior to February 22, 2016, are not taken into account for the calculation of the length of the notice. (Article 16 of the Act Amending the Act - Labor Code and certain other acts).

Notice periods in HR practice

Example 4.

The employee is employed under a contract for an indefinite period with an internship of 1.5 years. On February 17, 2020, he submitted to the employer the termination of the contract with a notice. The notice period will be one month, the run will start on March 1. Therefore, the last day of the contract will be March 31.

Example 5.

On December 4, 2020, the employer terminated the contract concluded for a trial period for 1 month. The notice period starts on December 6, and the last day of the term of the contract is December 12.

Example 6.

The employee worked for a given employer in the period from February 1, 2010 to June 30, 2012, and currently has an employment contract for an indefinite period from March 1, 2019. In this situation, in order to determine the period of employment of the employee, one should add up the full consecutive consecutive months of his employment on the basis of such contracts, which are over 3 years, i.e. the employee's notice period is 3 months. On December 28, 2020, the employee was given a notice of termination. The notice period starts on January 1, 2021, and the last day of the term of the contract is March 31, 2021.

Example 7.

The contract with the employee was concluded on February 1, 2018. On February 21, 2020, the employee resigned. The notice period will be one month, will start on March 1, and the last day of the contract will be March 31.

Termination of an employment contract in the wFirma.pl system

In order to end an employment contract in the wFirma.pl system, go to the PERSONNEL »AGREEMENTS tab, select the desired contract and select ADD» ENDING from the upper task bar.

Then, in the window for adding contract termination, select the legal basis for termination. In addition, depending on the reason for terminating your employment, the system may require you to state the reason for the termination of your employment contract or to choose a notice period. Importantly, the chosen basis for terminating the contract will be automatically shown in the employment certificate.

In order to print the document of termination / termination of the employment relationship, select the added termination of the contract and select the PRINT option from the upper task bar. The printout can be opened in edit mode to add or remove any content.