Notice Period
In order to terminate an employment contract that is valid until further notice, both the employer and employee must comply with notice periods. The length of the notice period is determined either in the Employment Contracts Act or the applicable collective bargaining agreement.
According to the Employment Contracts Act, the notice period is a contractual matter, but it may not exceed six months. If the parties have agreed upon a longer notice period, they must comply with a notice period of six months.
The Employment Contracts Act does not provide for a minimum notice period. The parties may therefore even agree to have no notice period at all, except where the applicable collective bargaining agreement requires one.
The notice period may be different for the employee and the employer, but the employee’s notice period may not be longer than the employer’s.
Unless the parties have agreed otherwise in the employment contract or it is not otherwise provided for in the collective bargaining agreement, the employer must comply with the following notice periods:
14 days, for employment relationships of a period up to one year
one month, for employment relationships of one year or more but not exceeding four years
two months, for employment relationships of four years or more but not exceeding eight years
four months, for employment relationships of eight years or more but not exceeding twelve years
six months, for employment relationships of twelve years or more.
If the employee terminates the employment relationship the notice periods are:
14 days, for employment relationships of a period up to five years
one month, for employment relationships of five years or more.
Employment contracts or agreements on protection against termination, which are a part of the employment contract, usually set out the notice periods. If the employer is bound by a collective bargaining agreement the parties may not contract for shorter notice periods than those determined in the collective bargaining agreement. The parties may, however, agree upon longer notice periods than those in the collective bargaining agreement. The maximum notice period is nevertheless six months.