Guide
Statutory notice period UK: the section 86 minimums explained
Updated
Every employment contract in Great Britain sits on top of the same statutory floor. Here is what section 86 requires, on both sides.
What section 86 requires
Once an employee has one month's continuous service, the Employment Rights Act 1996 sets a minimum notice period on both sides (s.86 ERA 1996). The employer's minimum scales with service: one week up to two years, then one additional week for each complete year, capped at 12 weeks from 12 years onward. The employee's minimum is one week, and it never increases by statute.
| Continuous service | Minimum notice |
|---|---|
| Under 1 month | None |
| 1 month to under 2 years | 1 week |
| 2 to 12 years | 1 week per complete year |
| 12 years or more | 12 weeks |
Statutory versus contractual notice
The contract can lengthen notice but never shorten it below the statutory floor. If a contract says one month and the employee has eight years' service, the employer must give eight weeks. If the contract says three months, three months applies, on whichever side the clause binds. Where a contract is silent, the statutory minimum plus "reasonable notice" case law fills the gap; in practice tribunals start from the statutory scale.
When no notice is due
- Service under one month: no statutory notice either way.
- Gross misconduct: an employer may dismiss summarily, without notice or pay in lieu, where the conduct destroys the contract. This is a high bar; take advice before acting on it.
- A fixed-term contract reaching its agreed end date follows its own terms rather than s.86 (though limited-term expiry is still a dismissal in law for other purposes).
Notice pay during the notice period
During statutory notice an employee is normally entitled to full pay, including when off sick or on leave in certain cases (ss.87 to 91 ERA 1996). One quirk worth knowing: where contractual notice is at least one week longer than the statutory minimum, some of those pay protections fall away. See gov.uk: handing in your notice for the plain-language summary.
This page states the statutory position at its updated date, and it is corrected in place if the law changes. It is not legal advice on any individual dismissal or resignation.