Glossary · Hiring & terms
Notice period
A notice period is the time an employee remains employed between resigning and leaving, set by their contract and often longer for senior roles.
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Notice periods, sometimes combined with gardening leave, determine how soon a new employer can bring a hire on board: a practical factor in any senior search timeline.
Two periods are easily confused: the notice an employee must give and the notice an employer must give, which need not be the same. Dutch law shows the asymmetry plainly. The employer's statutory term runs from one to four months according to length of service, and can be shortened only by a collective agreement or an equivalent public regulation, but lengthened in writing; the employee's is one month, which a written contract may extend to at most six, the employer's then being at least double. Notice runs to the end of a month unless a written agreement or custom sets another day, and a party who gives notice for an earlier day than applies owes the pay for the period skipped.
The gap between an accepted offer and a start date is not the notice period alone. It runs from the day notice is actually given, which follows the signature, and under some laws to the end of a calendar month, before any agreed early release shortens it. Its neighbours are gardening leave, one way of serving it; the counteroffer, which usually arrives inside it; and the non-compete clause, which may begin where it ends.
In practice
Notice is a contractual construct: whether one exists, and how long it runs, depends on the contract and the jurisdiction. In at-will markets there may be no fixed period at all. Where a period does apply, it governs what a start date can realistically look like, so the gap between resignation and arrival becomes something both sides plan around: an interim arrangement, a delayed handover, or a phased start. The precise terms are set out in the contract itself.
How the period is used varies. It may be worked in the ordinary way, with handovers documented; where the contract provides for it, an employer may instead place the employee on gardening leave, away from live work but still employed. A counteroffer, where one is made, arrives in this window. Notice can sometimes be shortened by agreement, or bought out where the contract allows, though neither is guaranteed. Until the leaving date passes, the employment relationship generally continues, with whatever obligations the contract and local law attach to it.
For the hiring company, the useful habit is to read the candidate's actual clause early rather than a number recalled in an interview. The clause says whether notice runs from the day it is given or from the end of the month, whether the employer may pay in lieu of notice, and whether a gardening-leave clause exists, and each of these moves the start date. A long senior notice need not rule a candidate out; it is a reason to plan the interim, the handover and the first weeks before the offer is signed.
Common questions
- How long is a notice period usually?
- There is no universal standard: where a notice period exists at all, its length comes from the employment contract, and some jurisdictions also impose a statutory minimum. In at-will markets there may be no fixed period. Where a contract scales notice with seniority, C-suite terms are the longest a business writes, reflecting how long those seats take to cover. The answer for any individual sits in their own contract.
- Is a notice period the same as gardening leave?
- No. The notice period is the span between resignation and the leaving date; gardening leave is one way that span may be used, keeping the employee away from work while still employed and paid. Whether an employer can impose it depends on the contract and the jurisdiction: where no express clause provides for it, imposing it can itself be a breach in some jurisdictions. Gardening leave always falls within a notice period.
- Can a notice period be shortened or bought out?
- Sometimes, but only by agreement or where the contract expressly allows it. An employer may waive part of the notice, the two sides may agree an earlier date, or a new employer may cover the cost of an early release. None of this is automatic: leaving before the contractual date without agreement can breach the contract, and the consequences vary by jurisdiction and contract. Each case is settled between the parties.
- Can a contract make a notice period longer than the law requires?
- Often, within limits set by local law. In the Netherlands, for example, the employer's statutory term can be lengthened in writing, and the employee's one-month term can be extended to at most six months, provided the employer's term is then at least double. Other jurisdictions set different floors and ceilings, and some leave the matter almost entirely to the contract, which is why senior notice terms vary so widely from one market to the next.
Sources
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