I have found a new job and now I should terminate my current employment. My employment contract includes a one-month mutual notice period, but I was wondering if my notice period would be 14 days according to the Employment Contracts Act. Is my notice period one month or 14 days?

Our employment lawyer answers

Regulations concerning the notice period of an employment relationship are set out in the Employment Contracts Act, in any collective agreement applicable to the employment relationship and usually also in the employment contract.

Chapter 6(3) of the Employment Contracts Act contains provisions on notice periods. The provision is dispositive, i.e. it is also possible to agree otherwise. Therefore, the statutory notice periods are only complied with if the notice period is not agreed on otherwise. Such an agreement is possible in the collective agreement or in the employee’s personal employment contract.

Similarly, the provision concerning the notice period in the collective agreement (TES) may have a dispositive form, in which case the notice period may be freely agreed upon otherwise in the employment contract. On the other hand, the collective agreement may stipulate a compulsory notice period, in which case the notice periods according to the collective agreement's provision are generally observed. If the provision concerning the notice period in the collective agreement is compulsory, the employment contract cannot be validly used to agree on a notice period that is less favorable than the collective agreement's provision for the employee.

However, it is possible to agree on a notice period that is more favorable to the employee, so in practice, an employment contract can therefore be used to shorten the employee’s own notice period or extend the notice period followed by the employer. If no collective agreement is applied to the employment relationship or the provision of the collective agreement concerning notice periods is dispositive, the notice period of the employment relationship will be determined according to what has been agreed upon in the employment contract.

The notice periods under the Employment Contracts Act are therefore only complied with if no notice period has been agreed upon in the collective agreement or employment contract. In the situation of the person asking the question, the correct notice period would  be one month as agreed upon in the employment contract.

Checklist for the person resigning

1. Sign the new employment contract first

When changing jobs, it is always advisable to sign a new employment contract first and then terminate the current employment relationship. This avoids the risk of finding yourself in a situation where you have already resigned and your new employment contract would be canceled for some reason.

2. Check your notice period

The notice period of the current employment relationship

should already be checked early during the recruitment process. You can find out more about the notice period from the enclosed question or contacting employment counceling services for Professionals of Business and Technology.

3. Preliminarily

Notice periods are minimum periods. If the employee wishes, they can also resign with a longer notice period. In that case, however, it is important to clearly indicate the desired end date of the employment relationship in the notice of termination.

4. Taking holiday bonus into account

If resignation becomes relevant during the holiday season, it is a good idea to check the conditions for the payment of holiday bonus in the applicable collective agreement. This is because some agreements include a condition according to which the holiday bonus will be paid if the employee returns to work after a holiday.

5. In writing

It is recommended that the notice of termination is always submitted in writing and that the employer confirms receipt of the notice of termination. This allows verifying the date of resignation, if necessary.

 

The tips and answers were given by Jere Vuorio, employment lawyer at Professionals of Business and Technology in Tradenomi-magazine 2/2025 (available only in Finnish).