Is it reasonable to ask my company to reduce my notice period after agreeing to a longer one?

manpreet Best Answer 2 years ago

Here is the situation I am in. I have recently handed my notice in and I have a 3 month long notice period to serve (I know, it's an insanely long period).

During my exit interview I was asked by HR if I am feel happy to complete the notice period, to which I responded yes, as I was scared that I might be breaking my contract if I said otherwise. In reality, I would like to go my own way as soon as possible.

I am now at a point where there isn't that much work for me to do and there are still 2.5 months left; I have spoken to my manager and he is aware of this. Upper management has outlined a loose plan for what sort of work I would be helping out with in the coming months. I will admit, I did not like the type of work that was mentioned and I also don't think my skillset is suitable for it. (If it matters I am in the software industry, in the UK)

Is it normal to ask my company to reduce my notice period? To summarise:

• the lack of work is making me feel unproductive and is a waste of time for both parties
• the company doesn't seem to be putting much effort to act on this which makes me feel that I won't be putting them into a difficult position if I ask to do this
• I don't feel comfortable with the work I have been tasked with

Also, do I approach HR directly about this or should I speak to my manager first?

manpreet 2 years ago

Tough to know without asking. I'd ask my manager first and go from there; leave HR as an escalation point if you can't get your manager to become your advocate.

Be clear and up front. Stress that while you might be willing to work out the full notice period, you'd certainly prefer not to if it doesn't put the company at too significant a disadvantage. See what they say. It sounds like they don't really know what to do with you and they might be relieved to part ways sooner than later.

Every long notice period I've dealt with (outside of retirements) has worked out more or less along these lines, where after a few weeks we'll find a safe place to put them where they stay out of the way, if we make them continue to come to work in the first place.

(I'm in the US, not sure how much this changes in the UK)