Notice period for an employee who has been employed for two and a half years
I have been employed by my current employer for 2.5 years and I am wanting to leave the company to take on a new job. In my employment contract it states that I have a 2 weeks notice period. I have heard from other people that I have the legal right to 2 months notice, considering I have been employed by the company for longer than 2 years. I know that if I resign from my current position, my company will not want me to work my notice period and instead ask me to leave immediately with full pay up until the end of my notice period.
Can you tell me; If I was to resign from my position, would my employer be obliged to pay me for two months notice period, even if they do not want me to work? Or would it be 2 weeks notice period?
Lawline svarar
Hello!
Thank you for choosing Lawline with your legal questions.
In the following answer, I assume that you do not have a position of a CEO or resembling of such a position in the company you are employed by.
According to the Swedish law for protection of employment (lag om anställningsskydd), which do not apply for CEOs or other employees in leading positions, both the employer and the employee have the right to a notice period of one month minimum, which is stated in section 11 in the mentioned law. The same section also provides that if the employee has been employed for more than two years, the notice period shall be two months minimun. Consequently, this would give you a notice period of two months since you've been employed for two and a half years.
However, section 2 suggests that exceptions from these regulations can be made if the employment contract is a so called ''collecitive agreement'' (kollektivavtal) which has been approved by a union on the employees' behalf and an employers' organization on their behalf.
Thus, in order to provide you with a certain answer, one would have to know whether or not your employment contract is a collective agreement or an individual contract signed by you and your employer exclusively. If your employment contract is an collective agreement then exceptions from the mentioned law are perfectly legal, but if it is an individual contract exceptions can't be made and the contract is invalid regarding the notice period of two weeks.
An employee who has resigned or has been terminated always has the right to his salary and other benefits from his employer during the notice period according to section 12 in the mentioned law. However exceptions on this part can also be made if the employment contract is a collective agreement and the contract differs from these regulations.
I hope you will find my answer satisfactory!
Yours sincerely,
