What is a notice period?

A notice period is the time between telling your employer you are leaving, or being told you have to leave, and your last day at work. Contracts and labor laws set how long it is, often in weeks or months, and sometimes they say it has to end at the end of a month or a quarter.

Tool description

Enter the day notice is given and the length of the notice period in days, weeks or months. The tool shows:

  • The last day of notice, with its weekday
  • The first day after the notice period, when a new job can start
  • The length of the notice period in calendar days
  • The working days in it, counting Mondays to Fridays
  • How far the last day is from today

How the days are counted

By default the notice period starts the day after notice is given and ends on the matching day: 14 days from March 1 end on March 15, and one month from March 15 ends on April 15. This is how German law counts it, and the UK uses the same corresponding date rule.

When the matching day doesn't exist in the last month, the period ends on that month's last day, so one month from January 31 ends on February 28, or February 29 in a leap year.

Some contracts count the day notice is given as the first day of the period. Tick Count the day notice is given and the period ends one day earlier, on April 14 in the example above.

Ending at the end of a month or quarter

Some rules say a notice period can only end at the end of a calendar month or quarter. Pick At the end of a month or At the end of a quarter, and the last day moves forward to the end of the month or quarter the period ends in.

Example

Notice is given on Monday, March 16, with one month's notice ending at the end of a month. One month later is April 16, so the notice period runs until Thursday, April 30, and the first free day is May 1.

Good to know

Labor laws and contracts differ from country to country and job to job, so check yours for the exact rule. The working day count doesn't know about public holidays.

Features

  • Notice periods in days, weeks or months
  • Optional end at the end of a month or quarter
  • Option to count the day notice is given
  • Last day, first free day, calendar days and working days
  • Dates in your regional date format