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Can the interaction of notice periods and years of service create a paradox?
If an employer is making you redundant, they will normally give you a notice period and redundancy pay that are proportional to your full years of service. But years of full service are calculated backwards from the date of redundancy, which itself depends upon years of full service, because it is contingent upon one's notice period. For example, say my employer offer me four weeks of notice, because I have worked for them for four full years. But my notice period ends one day prior to the five-year anniversary of my employment with them. Could I then argue that my notice period should be five weeks, since that extension of my notice would increase my full years of service to five? How is this apparent paradox usually resolved? Are there conventions or laws (I'm in the UK)? Is it a matter of dispute between unions and employers?
If an employer is making you redundant, they will normally give you a notice period and redundancy pay that are proportional to your full years of service. But years of full service are calculated backwards from the date of redundancy, which itself depends upon years of full service, because it is contingent upon one's notice period.
For example, say my employer offer me four weeks of notice, because I have worked for them for four full years. But my notice period ends one day prior to the five-year anniversary of my employment with them. Could I then argue that my notice period should be five weeks, since that extension of my notice would increase my full years of service to five?
How is this apparent paradox usually resolved? Are there conventions or laws (I'm in the UK)? Is it a matter of dispute between unions and employers?
