sufficient notice

I'm requesting advice on behalf of a friend.

She has been working at a retail shop for over 3 years and got another job offer and early April (this year) she spoke to her boss and told him she was thinking about leaving.

Then, at the start of May, there was another conversation where she told him she was leaving. He knew she was going to leave and she made her mind up.

Around the middle of May, she sent a letter of resignation - dated late April - stated that she was leaving by 22nd May. The boss rang her the same day and said you need to give three weeks notice as per the contract and another letter needed to be drafted up.

Nothing was done until this weekened, she starts her new job on Monday and she spoke to him today and said she waives her rights to holiday which is about 10 days. She has worked out that it would be around 3 days which she would not be paid for taking into account the notice period and holiday pay.

The boss said to her that she won't be getting paid anything for the entire month and she later said to him 'I'm going' and gave him the key. She also found his conduct unhelpful and confrontational throughout.

Her concerns are whether she will get paid, what she is entitled to, action the employer can take and what steps to take next.

Thanks.

What date she put on the letter doesn't matter, it's the date she actually handed it in that should be counted as the start of her notice period. Her boss was right to ring her and say that.

She is not entitled to say she waives her holiday. She is entitled to the holiday and what she was actually asking was that she be released early and paid in lieu of holiday, or alternatively that she be allowed to take holiday at the end of her notice period and start another job at the same time. Her boss is under no obligation to do any of those things. If he wanted to make her work her notice period he could, and refusing to do so would make her in breach of contract.

It sounds as though she has essentially walked out. What she is entitled to is to be paid for any days she has worked. She is also entitled to holiday accrued, although she should check her employer's policy on holiday in the event of termination of employment, some only pay holiday for complete months worked.

What her employer could do is sue her for breach of contract, although that's unlikely to be financially worth their while. More realistically, they can give her a bad reference. It is possible to give a bad reference as long as it is based in substantiated fact. Because she's essentially walked out in the middle of her notice period a reference could say she breached her contract and is unreliable, for example.

Thanks for your reply.

In terms of reference, for her new job I think she obtained one from someone else and not the boss.

If she is not paid for the days she has worked, what can she do to? He said he wouldn't pay any money for the month.

She can put in a claim for non-payment of wages to the Employment Tribunal if he continues to refuse to pay her, it's relatively simple. She should write formally outlining what he owes her and requesting payment of it then if that doesn't work consider the tribunal claim.

Ok, thanks for your help.