What your statutory notice period is
If you are an employee, your employer must give you at least a set legal minimum of notice to leave — the statutory notice period. How long it is depends only on how long you have worked there, not on your pay or your job title. Section 86 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 sets it out:
- Under 1 month: no statutory minimum.
- 1 month to under 2 years: 1 week.
- 2 to under 12 years: 1 week for each full year.
- 12 years or more: 12 weeks.
When you resign, the law asks much less of you: 1 week, once you have worked at least a month. Below a month, neither side owes statutory notice.
These figures apply in England, Wales and Scotland. They are the minimum, not a cap, and a few workers — agency workers, casual workers and people on zero-hours contracts — are usually not "employees", so the statutory minimum may not apply to them.
This tool tells you the length of notice and its last day. It does not cover holiday pay owed, redundancy pay, or unfair dismissal, and it is general information, not legal advice.
Part-time, zero-hours and agency workers
Statutory notice does not shrink because you work fewer hours. The Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000 require part-time workers to be treated pro rata, so someone working two days a week still gets the same whole weeks of notice as a full-time colleague with the same length of service — 4 weeks stays 4 weeks, not 4 days.
Zero-hours and casual workers can be a different case. Where there is no obligation on the employer to offer work, or on you to accept it, the arrangement may not be a contract of employment, and the statutory minimum notice may not apply at all. Acas notes that agency workers, casual workers and zero-hours contract workers are "not likely" to be employees. If you are in one of those arrangements and are being dismissed, it is worth getting advice on your actual employment status before relying on the numbers here.
How the calculator counts notice
Two things decide the answer: the statutory minimum from your length of service, and whatever your contract says. A contract can give more notice than the statutory minimum, but it can never give less — section 86(3) says a contractual term is void to the extent that it would reduce the statutory minimum. Where the two differ, the longer one applies. GOV.UK puts it simply: "You must be given at least the notice stated in your contract or the statutory minimum notice period, whichever is longer."
Notice starts the day after it is given, not on the day itself. Hand your notice in on Monday and the first day of notice is Tuesday. Weeks then run in blocks of seven days; notice given in months ends on the same date of the relevant month, or the last day of that month when that date does not exist.
If you do not know your contractual notice, leave it blank: the calculator works out the statutory minimum from your service alone.
Worked examples
Statutory minimum only. An employer gives notice on Monday 1 June 2026 to someone who has worked 4 years and 9 months. Service between 2 and 12 years gives 1 week per full year, so 4 weeks. Notice starts Tuesday 2 June and runs four seven-day weeks, so the last day is Monday 29 June 2026.
When a contract is longer. The same 3 years of service, but the contract gives 1 month of notice, given on 1 June 2026. The statutory minimum is 3 weeks. One month later is 1 July 2026, which is after the statutory last day of 22 June 2026, so the contract applies and the last day is 1 July 2026.
When a contract is shorter. The same 3 years of service, but the contract says only 2 weeks. Two weeks ends 15 June 2026, earlier than the statutory 22 June 2026. A contract cannot undercut the statutory minimum, so the statutory minimum applies and the last day is 22 June 2026.
Try any of these with the calculator above and click Try the Acas example for the first one.
Working notice, garden leave and pay in lieu
Being given notice does not always mean working every day of it. Three things commonly happen:
- You work your notice. You stay employed, do the job and are paid as normal until the last day the calculator shows.
- Garden leave. You are still employed and paid, but asked not to come in. Notice still runs, and the last day is unchanged.
- Pay in lieu of notice (PILON). Your employment can end straight away and your employer pays you for the notice instead. Section 86(3) allows this where the contract permits it, and a contract often does. It ends the job sooner than the calculator's last day, so the last day shown here assumes you work your notice.
One exception to watch out for is summary dismissal for gross misconduct. Section 86(6) means no minimum notice, and sometimes no pay for it, is owed in that case. Acas treats the same conduct as an exception to the statutory notice period.
If you think you were given too little notice, raise it with your employer first, informally, before considering a claim for wrongful dismissal. Wrongful dismissal is about the notice you were owed, which is what this calculator works out; unfair dismissal is a separate question about whether the dismissal itself was fair.