Notice periods: All about notice periods in the US

All about notice periods in the US

Feeling burnt out or unappreciated at your job? Or maybe you’re ready to take the plunge into remote work, and explore the digital nomad lifestyle? Are you lacking the right vocabulary to say it in English? Whatever the reason may be for reading this article now, chances are you’re ready for a change. And, to do so, you need the right information to make this transition a smooth process. So, let’s explore everything you need to know about employment contract notice periods in America, laws surrounding this situation, and how to inform your employer about your plans. 

• Employment contract notice periods in the US
• Is there a law that stipulates notice periods?
• How to determine if you have a notice period
• How can you inform your employer about your resignation?
• What happens when a contract is terminated due to employee misconduct?

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Employment contract notice periods in the US

Generally speaking, the US doesn’t enforce a specific notice period nor is there an average notice period. However, some specific states or jobs might be exceptions to this so to clarify these misconceptions.

Important vocabulary related to notice periods

Before we jump into the legal aspects of notice periods, I’ve listed some business English words and phrases you can get familiar with to ensure you understand the process:

• Notice period: the length of time either you or your employer are required to give notice about the termination of your employment contract
• Dismiss: when an employer ends an employment contract
• Resign: when an employee decides to leave a job or position
• Terminate: to end (a contract)
• COBRA: health care that is offered during the gap of leaving one job to find another
• At-will employment: an employer can dismiss an employee, just like an employee can leave a job position at any time for any reason (aside from illegal reasons) without any negative consequences.

Phrases to use to resign from your job

In addition to the above vocabulary words, you don’t want to burn any bridges, or to act unpleasantly in a situation that you’re leaving. Why? Well, because in case your next job doesn’t work out, it would be easier to go back to your previous job if you have a good relationship with your boss.

With that said, here are some professional phrases you might consider using when you’re ready to tell your boss you quit:

How to say “I quit” professionally:

• Next Friday is my last day of working and I’m happy to finish up everything necessary before then.
• I’m putting in my two-week notice, but I greatly appreciate my time working here.
• I shouldn’t pass up this other opportunity.
• Thank you for all the growth, but I’m taking a break from this job.

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Is there a law that stipulates notice periods?

The Department of Labor in the US protects employees in the areas of wages, workplace safety, employee benefits security, workers’ compensation, and others, but it does not stipulate that notice periods are legally required for employment contracts.

Nonetheless, it’s cordial in the US to allow employees at least two weeks after their resignation in advance as a notice period to allow them time to fill the position and delegate tasks. For example, when my colleague quit her 3rd-grade teaching position, she gave her boss a year’s notice, because that’s how much time she needed to make a transition to becoming a digital nomad and entrepreneur. With that said, that doesn’t mean that’s a suitable notice period for every particular job, but make sure to consider all angles and remain professional when making your decision to resign.

How to determine if you have a notice period

Although it’s uncommon that notice periods are required for work contracts in the US, there can be some circumstances where they are still applied if they have been agreed upon in advance.

Check your contract

You most likely signed a contract at the beginning of your employment period. Dust it off, and use it as a guide moving forward to help you with your specific situation. It’s also helpful to contact your human resources department if you would like further clarification about the process outlined in your contract. Furthermore, please note that if you work under the conditions of “at-will employment”, no notice period applies for both the employer and employee.

Pro Tip: At this stage, inquire about COBRA healthcare, which will fill in the gap between the time you’ve quit your current job until the time you’re situated in your next position, which helps reduce stress during an already chaotic time.

Consider your seniority in the company

The other element to consider for notice periods is your seniority. In general, the longer you’ve been at a job, the longer notice you should provide. Think about it like this: the more expertise you have, the harder it is to replace you, so to be considerate of your boss (especially if you know the hiring process is long) and think about giving at least 2 weeks notice.

What if your boyfriend or girlfriend came up to you and just blurted out: 

“We’re over!”

You’d be like, “wait, what!? Why?”

All humans are the same: they want an explanation. Bosses especially understand that everyone grows, and we’re not required to be bound to any one job or position for our entire life. 

With that said, you should still create a formal letter of resignation as proof of the date you resigned.

Make sure to include:

• Your boss’ full name
• Today’s date
• Your notice period time frame
• The date when you’ll officially resign
• A statement of how the company helped you grow, or what you are most grateful for from your position
• Signature

In addition to giving a written form to your supervisor, it would be helpful for your team to be informed about your plans too. This way, they have time to make necessary adjustments. 

Again, leaving your position with grace might open up networking opportunities, or provide you with helpful recommendation letters, so be sure to put some thought into your letter of resignation.

What happens when a contract is terminated due to employee misconduct?

An employer has the right to dismiss an employee due to misconduct, but the dismissal shouldn’t happen without proof. An employer should refrain from dismissing anyone on the spot, as that’s most likely an act of anger and can result in legal issues. 

If a dismissal situation gets ugly and either party conducts themselves in a manner that does not abide by the contract, this could end up in court.

In this case, double-check your contract to ensure if and which agreed-upon statements were broken, and that both parties signed the contract. If worse comes to worst, seek legal counsel if you feel you’ve been taken advantage of in the situation.

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Typical Employee Notice Periods | BrightHR

Are you drawing up a new employment contract, or preparing to say goodbye to a member of staff? Then you need to know how much notice the employee should work before you let them go.

In most cases, typical employee notice periods work just fine. But in others, you’ll need to think more carefully about your organisation’s needs and obligations — and those of the departing employee. Here’s what you need to know.

Employee notice periods are determined by the contract of employment and the law.

Organisations typically ask employees who have been in their jobs for more than two years to work one month’s notice, via the employment contract. A notice period of a month gives you a reasonable amount of breathing space to recruit a replacement employee.

For employees who have been with you less than two years, a notice period of one week is common.

The law on notice periods

Under the Employment Rights Act 1996, both the employer and the employee are legally entitled to a minimum period of notice when the employee leaves. Your contracts should be compliant with these laws.

The minimum notice period is:

• One week for employees who have been with your organisation for more than a month, but less than two years
• Two weeks for employees who have been with your organisation over two years

Notice periods then increase by one week for each year worked, up to a maximum of 12 weeks. These rules don’t apply to retiring employees older than retirement age.

Terminating an employee without giving the contractual or legally-required notice period could lead to a wrongful dismissal claim.

Agreeing payment in lieu of notice

There might be cases where you and the employee agree it would be better for the employee to leave straight away, without working the notice period.

The Employment Rights Act 1996 does not prevent you and the employee waiving your right to notice. However, in such cases, you will still need to pay the employee for the duration of their notice period.

What if the termination is related to conduct?

In some cases — for example, when an employee has been found guilty of a serious crime or gross misconduct — you may wish to terminate employment immediately.

The Employment Rights Act 1996 does not affect your right — or the employee’s right — to terminate the contract for reasons related to the other party’s conduct.

When should you put an employee on garden leave?

When an employee leaves to work with a competitor, they might have a conflict of interests — so you might not want them in your workplace during their notice period. For example, you might not want a salesperson who now works for a rival company talking to your customers.

A typical solution is to put the employee on garden leave. Employees on garden leave stay on your payroll for their notice period, but are asked to stay away from the workplace.

You can include rules in your employment contract about garden leave for employees joining competitors.

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How to fill in the period code in the notice of calculated tax amounts – Kontur.Extern

Follow Extern news, be the first to learn about new clarifications from experts and communicate with colleagues on social networks

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According to the memo of the Federal Tax Service, the choice of the period of obligation in the notification and the reporting period should be filled in based on the data in columns 9, 10, 11 of Appendix 1.

At the same time:

• for corporate property tax, simplified taxation system (STS), transport tax, land tax (payment of tax in advance payments quarterly) quarter;
• for personal income tax (hereinafter referred to as personal income tax) and insurance premiums, the Notifications indicate in field 5 “Reporting (tax) period/Month/Quarter number” the code of the reporting period, which corresponds to the ordinal number of the month in the quarter;
• for personal income tax withheld and calculated for the period from December 22 to December 31, in field 5 “Reporting (tax) period / month / quarter number” the reporting period code corresponds to 34/04.

Information on taxes in the context of the KBK, for which taxpayers must submit a notification of the calculated amounts in 2023, is indicated in the attachment to the letter of the Federal Tax Service dated December 30, 2022 No. 8-7-02/0001@.

BCC of tax: 18210101040011000110, 18210101060011000110, 182101010

000110.

Category of payers: taxpayers (tax agents) who submit declarations no later than 25 calendar days from the end of the relevant reporting period (those who submit a tax return quarterly).

Due date: 28th day of the month following the reporting period.

For March in April, for June in July and for September in October tax notifications are not provided, since the deadlines for filing declarations and notifications coincide.

KBK tax: 18210101030011000110, 18210101050011000110, 182101010

000110.

Category of payers: tax agents submitting tax calculations no later than 25 calendar days from the end of the relevant reporting period (quarterly).

Due date: 28th day of the month following the reporting period.

Tax payment deadline for agents calculating tax in accordance with Art. 310.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, comes no later than the 28th day of the month following the month in which the tax is calculated.

For March in April, for June in July and for September in October, tax notifications are not provided, since the deadlines for filing declarations and notifications coincide.

BCC of tax: 18210101070011000110.

Category of payers: payers (tax agents) who submit declarations no later than 25 calendar days from the end of the corresponding reporting period (those who submit a tax declaration quarterly).

Due date: 10th day of the month following the reporting period.

18210102010011000110 18210102080011000110, 182101020

000110, 18210102100011000110, 18210102110011000110 011000110, 18210102140011000110.

Category of payers: tax agents, individual entrepreneurs, lawyers, notaries.

Payment due: no later than the 28th of the current month. For the period from December 23 to December 31 – no later than the last business day of the year.

If the salary was paid on 01/21/2023, that is, this is the period from 01/01/2023 to 01/22/2023, then the notification must be submitted before 01/25 and indicate the period 21/01, if the salary was paid on 01/25/2023, then the notification deadline — 25. 02 and specify the period 21/02 in it.

CBC: 18210201000011000160 160, 18210208000061000160, 1821020

61000160, 18210210000011000160, 18210211000011000160.

Payer category: payers making payments and other remuneration to individuals.

Payment term: no later than the 28th day of the month following the reporting month.

For March in April, for June in July and for September in October, for December in January, notifications are not provided, since the deadlines for submitting the calculation and notifications coincide.

Tax Code: 18210602010021000110, 18210602020021000110.

Category of payers: legal entities-owners of taxable real estate.

Due date: 28th day of the month following the reporting period.

Notification is not provided when the legislative (representative) body of a subject of the Russian Federation in accordance with clause 6 of Art. 382 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation provided for certain categories of taxpayers the right not to calculate and not pay advance tax payments during the tax period.

BCC of tax: 18210604011021000110.

Category of payers: legal entities.

Due date: 28th day of the month following the reporting period.

Notification is not provided when the legislative (representative) body of a subject of the Russian Federation in accordance with clause 6 of Art. 362 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation provided for certain categories of taxpayers the right not to calculate and not pay advance tax payments during the tax period.

BCC tax: 18210606031031000110, 18210606032041000110, 18210606032111000110, 18210606032121000110, 18210606032141000 110, 18210606033051000110, 18210606033101000110, 18210606033131000110.

Category of payers: legal entities.

Due date: 28th day of the month following the reporting period.

Notification is not provided when the regulatory legal act of the representative body of the municipality (the laws of the federal cities of Moscow, St. Petersburg and Sevastopol, the regulatory legal act of the representative body of the federal territory Sirius) in accordance with paragraph 2 of Art. . 397 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation provides that taxpaying organizations do not make advance tax payments during the tax period.

Tax Code: 18210501011011000110, 18210501021011000110.

Category of payers: legal entities and individual entrepreneurs.

Payment term: advance payments are transferred no later than the 28th day of the month following the reporting period. Organizations pay annual tax until March 28, individual entrepreneurs – until April 28.

The deadline for submitting the notification for the fourth quarter (year) coincides with the deadline for submitting the annual declaration, so the notification by the deadline of March 25 (April 25) is not submitted.

BCC of tax: 18210503010011000110.

Category of payers: legal entities and individuals.

Due date: half-year advance payment no later than July 28, annual tax no later than March 28 of the following year.

Recall that from 2023, notifications of calculated amounts are submitted for taxes and insurance premiums, the deadline for filing a declaration or calculation for which is later than the deadline for paying taxes, advance payments for taxes, fees, insurance premiums.

How to submit a notification of the calculated amounts to the Federal Tax Service through Extern, they said in the news.

How to fill in the period code in the notification of calculated tax amounts – Kontur.Extern

Follow Extern news, be the first to learn about new clarifications from experts and communicate with colleagues on social networks

• Telegram
• VKontakte
• Odnoklassniki

According to the memo of the Federal Tax Service, the choice of the period of obligation in the notification and the reporting period should be filled out on the basis of the data in columns 9, 10, 11 of Appendix 1.

At the same time:

• tax, land tax (payment of tax in advance payments quarterly) in notifications in field 5 “Reporting (tax) period/Month/Quarter number” the reporting period code corresponds to the quarter number;
• for personal income tax (hereinafter referred to as personal income tax) and insurance premiums, the Notifications indicate in field 5 “Reporting (tax) period/Month/Quarter number” the code of the reporting period, which corresponds to the ordinal number of the month in the quarter;
• for personal income tax withheld and calculated for the period from December 22 to December 31, in field 5 “Reporting (tax) period / month / quarter number” the reporting period code corresponds to 34/04.

Information on taxes in the context of the KBK, for which taxpayers must submit a notification of the calculated amounts in 2023, is indicated in the attachment to the letter of the Federal Tax Service dated December 30, 2022 No. 8-7-02/0001@.

Tax Code: 18210101040011000110, 18210101060011000110, 182101010

000110.

Category of payers: taxpayers (tax agents) who submit declarations no later than 25 calendar days from the end of the relevant reporting period (those who submit a tax return quarterly).

Due date: 28th day of the month following the reporting period.

For March in April, for June in July and for September in October tax notifications are not provided, since the deadlines for filing declarations and notifications coincide.

BCC of tax: 18210101030011000110, 18210101050011000110, 182101010

000110.

Category of payers: tax agents submitting tax calculations no later than 25 calendar days from the end of the corresponding reporting period (quarterly).

Due date: 28th day of the month following the reporting period.

Tax payment deadline for agents calculating tax in accordance with Art. 310.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, comes no later than the 28th day of the month following the month in which the tax is calculated.

For March in April, for June in July and for September in October, tax notifications are not provided, since the deadlines for filing declarations and notifications coincide.

BCC of tax: 18210101070011000110.

Category of payers: payers (tax agents) who submit declarations no later than 25 calendar days from the end of the corresponding reporting period (those who submit a tax declaration quarterly).

Due date: 10th day of the month following the reporting period.

Tax CBC: 18210102010011000110, 18210102020011000110, 18210102050011000110, 18210102070011000110, 18210102080011000110 182101020

000110 18210102100011000110 18210102110011000110 11000110, 18210102140011000110.

Category of payers: tax agents, individual entrepreneurs, lawyers, notaries.

Payment deadline: no later than the 28th day of the current month. For the period from December 23 to December 31 – no later than the last business day of the year.

If the salary was paid on 01/21/2023, that is, this is the period from 01/01/2023 to 01/22/2023, then the notification must be submitted before 01/25 and indicate the period 21/01, if the salary was paid on 01/25/2023, then the notification deadline — 25. 02 and specify the period 21/02 in it.

CBC: 18210201000011000160 160 18210208000061000160, 1821020

61000160, 18210210000011000160, 18210211000011000160 individuals.

Payment term: no later than the 28th day of the month following the reporting month.

For March in April, for June in July and for September in October, for December in January, notifications are not provided, since the deadlines for submitting the calculation and notifications coincide.

KBK tax: 18210602010021000110, 18210602020021000110.

Category of payers: legal entities-owners of taxable real estate.

Due date: 28th day of the month following the reporting period.

Notification is not provided when the legislative (representative) body of a subject of the Russian Federation in accordance with clause 6 of Art. 382 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation provided for certain categories of taxpayers the right not to calculate and not pay advance tax payments during the tax period.

Tax Code: 18210604011021000110.

Category of payers: legal entities.

Due date: 28th day of the month following the reporting period.

Notification is not provided when the legislative (representative) body of a subject of the Russian Federation in accordance with clause 6 of Art. 362 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation provided for certain categories of taxpayers the right not to calculate and not pay advance tax payments during the tax period.

CBC tax: 18210606031031000110, 18210606032041000110, 18210606032111000110, 18210606032121000110, 1821060603214100 0110, 18210606033051000110, 18210606033101000110, 18210606033131000110.

Payer category: legal entity.

Due date: 28th day of the month following the reporting period.

Notification is not provided when the regulatory legal act of the representative body of the municipality (the laws of the federal cities of Moscow, St. Petersburg and Sevastopol, the regulatory legal act of the representative body of the federal territory Sirius) in accordance with paragraph 2 of Art. . 397 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation provides that taxpaying organizations do not make advance tax payments during the tax period.

Tax Code: 18210501011011000110, 18210501021011000110.

Category of payers: legal entities and individual entrepreneurs.

Payment term: advance payments are transferred no later than the 28th day of the month following the reporting period. Organizations pay annual tax until March 28, individual entrepreneurs – until April 28.

The deadline for submitting the notification for the fourth quarter (year) coincides with the deadline for submitting the annual declaration, so the notification by the deadline of March 25 (April 25) is not submitted.