UK

3 Month Notice Period Calculator

Three months is standard for senior and many regulated roles. Work out your last contracted day so you can plan handover and your start date.

Pick a valid resignation date.

This calculator is for general guidance only. Always check your employment contract.

Need a handover plan? Get a personalised week-by-week plan for 3 months notice.

Senior, regulated, and specialist roles

Three months is the de facto UK standard for senior individual contributors and most leadership roles. In financial services, law, and other regulated industries it's effectively the floor — and six or even twelve months isn't unusual for executive contracts.

The reasoning is straightforward: senior roles take longer to backfill, the institutional knowledge is harder to document, and the relationships are harder to transfer. Contracts price that in.

Garden leave and restrictive covenants

If you're leaving for a competitor, expect to spend at least part of your notice on garden leave. The mechanics vary by contract — some employers can put you on garden leave at any point during your notice, others require it to be agreed.

The other clauses to read carefully are the post-termination restrictions: non-compete, non-solicit, and non-deal. These typically run for a defined period after your final working day and can affect when (and where) you can start your next role. Take advice if any of them look broad.

Onboarding to your next role across a three-month bridge

Three months is a long time to keep a hiring manager waiting. Be upfront about your notice period when you accept an offer, and ask whether the start date is firm. Many senior roles plan around three-month notice as standard, so it usually isn't a deal-breaker.

Use the time well. A three-month bridge is enough to brief in properly with your new employer — pre-reading, introductions to the team, an offsite if there's one — without breaching your current contract. Co-ordinate with both HR teams to keep everything above board.

If the move you're thinking about is into self-employment or consulting rather than another permanent role, three months of notice is unusually generous prep time. Freelance Toolkit UK has a day rate calculator that's worth running before you commit to a rate with any prospective first clients.

Negotiating an early exit on three months

Three months feels long, especially once you've got an offer in hand. The good news: most employers will negotiate, especially if your replacement is sorted or if your team is in a steady-state period rather than mid-launch. The framing that works best is what you can give them, not what you want from them, and showing your hand early gives both sides time to plan around the new date.

Concretely: offer a clean handover document by day five, agree a fixed early exit date in writing, and offer to be available by phone or email for a couple of weeks after you leave. Many three-month notices end up as six or eight weeks of worked notice with a mutual agreement, particularly when a non-compete clause already makes the employer relaxed about where you're going next.

Frequently asked questions

Why is three months so common at senior level?
Senior roles take longer to fill and the handover is more complex. Three months gives the employer time to recruit a replacement and gives you time to transfer accountability properly.
Can I negotiate a shorter notice period when I leave?
You can always ask, and many employers will agree if cover is in place. Get any agreement in writing — three months is enough money that disputes about final pay can get expensive.
What's the difference between garden leave and PILON over three months?
Garden leave keeps you employed (and bound by your contract) but away from work. PILON ends the employment immediately and pays you a lump sum for the unworked notice. Tax treatment can differ — PILON is usually fully taxable.
Do I have to honour non-compete clauses after three months?
It depends on the wording and whether the restriction is reasonable. Courts will enforce reasonable restrictions but not blanket bans. If a clause looks broad, take legal advice before signing the next contract.

Working notice vs garden leave vs PILON

Most UK notice periods resolve in one of three ways. The calculator above gives you the date for the first; the table sets out how the other two compare.

 Work your noticeGarden leavePILON
Final working dayEnd of contractual noticeEnd of contractual noticeThe day PILON is paid
Pay treatmentNormal salary to last dayNormal salary to last dayLump sum equal to the unworked notice
Still bound by your contract?YesYes — including non-compete and confidentialityNo — employment ends immediately
Can you start a new job?After your last dayAfter your last day; restrictive covenants may delay furtherImmediately, subject to any post-termination clauses
Tax treatmentStandard PAYE on salaryStandard PAYE on salaryFully taxable as earnings (since the 2018 reforms — no tax-free element)
When it’s commonMost resignationsSenior roles, moves to competitors, sensitive transitionsWhen the employer wants you off the payroll quickly, or by mutual agreement

Whether your contract gives the employer the right to use garden leave or PILON is set out in the notice clause — it’s worth checking before you assume either is on the table.

Notice periods in the UK — a practical guide

How is a notice period calculated?

A notice period runs from the day you hand in your resignation to the last day you’re contractually required to work. If your contract says “one month’s notice”, you add one calendar month to the date you resign — so handing notice in on 15 March gives a final working day of 15 April. Weeks work the same way: two weeks is fourteen calendar days, not ten working days.

When the notice is in months and the target month doesn’t have your start day (e.g. resigning on 31 January with one month’s notice), the convention is to roll back to the last day of the next month — 28 February in most years, 29 February in a leap year.

Do weekends count in a notice period?

Yes. Notice is measured in calendar time, so weekends and bank holidays are included. If your final day lands on a Saturday or Sunday, most employers treat the previous Friday as your last working day — but that’s a practical convention, not a legal rule. The toggle in the calculator above mirrors that approach.

What is the minimum notice period in the UK?

If you’ve been employed for one month or more, the statutory minimum notice you have to give is one week — even if your contract is silent on the subject. Employers, by contrast, owe you at least one week’s notice for each full year of service, up to a cap of twelve weeks after twelve years.

Most contracts ask for longer than the statutory minimum (typically one or three months), and the longer of the two periods applies. Senior roles often have three or six months written in.

Can your employer ask you to work longer?

Not unilaterally. Your notice period is whatever your contract says (or the statutory minimum, whichever is longer). An employer can’t simply extend it. They can, however, ask you to leave earlier and pay you for the unworked notice (a payment in lieu of notice, or PILON), or place you on garden leave — keeping you on the payroll but away from the office.

If you’d like to leave sooner than your contract allows, the best route is usually a polite conversation. Many employers will agree to a shorter notice period in writing if cover is in place.

What should you do after resigning?

Get written acknowledgement of your resignation and the agreed final working day. Check that any accrued holiday will be paid out, and ask when to expect your final payslip and P45. Tidy up handover notes early so the last fortnight isn’t a scramble, and line up references before access to work systems is removed.

If you don’t already have your next role lined up, give yourself a week to refresh your CV and shortlist roles before starting applications in earnest — the resources below are a decent starting point.