My company is making me redundant and I am working my notice period. Trouble is, there is no work to do! I have asked whether I can go home (ie take garden leave) but I’ve been told I must come into work every day throughout my notice period in case they have work for me. I feel very uncomfortable sitting with a book while everyone else is working. What can I do?
Unfortunately, if an employer insists on you working your notice period, then you have to work it, or you may forfeit your right to redundancy pay. At least you are allowed to bring a book: we know of some employers who won’t even allow that.
However, there are some rather more constructive ways to use your notice period.
Under redundancy law, you are entitled to take ‘reasonable time off’ in order to find another job. This means you should be able to spend time at your public library or home researching and applying for jobs, and attending interviews, seeing recruiters, or networking at conferences and industry events. What is ‘reasonable’ isn’t laid down in law, but most employers won’t object to you spending one or possibly two days a week doing this. Be careful to state that this is what you are doing, though, so that you are not perceived as simply not attending.
Your current employer may also have online, video or book-based training courses which you could ask to do while waiting for them to give you some real work. Look especially for topics that will enhance your CV.
