Ask HN: What is the notice period for your current role? - JansjoFromIkea
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davismwfl
In the U.S. the standard for most positions is 2 weeks, and for key positions
30 days. Most executives have it listed in their employment agreement, which
is commonly 30 days. C level execs generally range from 30 to 90 days. The
larger the organization the longer the notice period in general, I have seen a
few extend up to 120 days but that isn't super common. It also isn't uncommon
for a C level exec to give 120-180 days notice even if it isn't required.

In the U.S. the vast majority of workers work in a right to work situation,
which means you could quit & walk out today and there is nothing the employer
can do about it. Likewise, an employer can fire you and only pay out what they
owe you in salary and benefits and not provide any severance too.

Of course some people work under unions too which changes everything, but that
is not common with professional positions, and definitely not in technology.
But even in those situations the notice periods are still pretty typically 2
weeks or 1 pay period, and generally do not exceed 30 days. But each union has
negotiated agreements so that can vary of course.

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JansjoFromIkea
OP here. I'm based in the UK and I've noticed a mix of 1 and 3 month notice
periods here among people I've asked across various experience levels. What's
more, I've been surprised how hard it is to actually find out this info...
I've asked some recruiters outright and have had to push the matter before
they answered. It's obviously a pretty awkward question to bring up when
you're trying to convince someone to hire you so I do wonder if that leads to
people agreeing to 3 month notice periods that they wouldn't have done so had
they known early in the process.

Was wondering a few things beyond the main question:

(a) how do you feel about your notice period

(b) if you've worked at places with drastically varying ones, were there clear
pros to the extended notice period? were these at all mutual for the employee
and the employers? (assuming it applies to more than the most senior staff,
I've seen obvious gains from having _vital_ people remain for 3 months to pass
on knowledge if nothing else that greatly helped everyone else)

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mytailorisrich
Notice periods are very clearly stated in employment contracts. They have to.

It's not really something that needs to be discussed early in the hiring
process: best not to show that you are worrying about leaving before they have
even decided whether they want you to join at all!

Most common is indeed 1 month and it depends on the company. Some have 3
months.

This usually works both ways so it also means that they would have to give you
3 months of notice to lay you off (in addition to whatever legal procedure is
required).

I doubt that trying to force you to give them a longer notice that they have
to give you would be a fair term.

In my current role the notice is 1 month. In my previous role it was 3 months,
which worked out well since they ended up making the whole team redundant. In
both cases this is the standard company contract and they wouldn't budge on
this for a 'simple' engineer.

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gshdg
I’m in the US. Never had a notice period specified in a contract.

