Notice Period Rights in Europe 2025: What the Law Says When You Change Jobs

Notice periods determine how long you must continue working after handing in your resignation, or how long your employer must give you before terminating your contract. They sound like an administrative detail until you find yourself in a situation where a new employer needs you to start in four weeks and your current contract requires three months notice. At that point, the legal rules matter considerably.

European employment law sets minimum notice periods in most countries, but the actual duration in practice is often longer because employment contracts routinely specify more generous notice than the statutory floor. This guide covers the statutory minimums in major EU countries, how notice periods typically scale with length of service, what garden leave means and whether it applies, and what actually happens when someone leaves without serving the full notice.

Germany: the notice period framework

Germany's notice period rules are set out in the German Civil Code (Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch, BGB) and scale with how long an employee has worked for the same employer. The statutory minimum notice period for an employer terminating employment increases significantly with tenure, which reflects German employment law's strong protection for long-serving workers. For employees resigning, the basic statutory notice period is four weeks to the 15th or the end of a calendar month.

Employment contracts in Germany frequently specify longer notice periods than the statutory minimum. Senior roles often carry three or six month notice periods from both sides. Collective bargaining agreements in certain industries also set higher minimums than the BGB. If your contract specifies a longer notice period, you are bound by the contract, not just the statutory minimum.

German law also includes provisions for immediate termination (fristlose Kündigung) in cases of serious misconduct, and for termination with severance payment (Aufhebungsvertrag) where both parties agree to end the employment early and exchange a payment for the remaining notice period. Negotiating an Aufhebungsvertrag is common when a new employer has a specific start date that does not align with the contractual notice period.

France: the préavis and how it works

French law refers to the notice period as préavis. The statutory notice period in France depends on the length of service and collective agreements (conventions collectives) specific to the industry. Most French workers are covered by a relevant collective agreement which specifies notice periods for different job categories, and these agreements often give longer notice than the statutory minimum.

For employees with a CDI (contrat à durée indéterminée, open-ended contract), the typical statutory notice period on resignation is one month for non-managerial staff and three months for managers and executives (cadres). For employer-initiated termination, notice runs from one month for workers with less than six months service up to two months for those with two or more years, with the applicable collective agreement often extending these periods further.

France has a concept of dispense de préavis where the employer may release the employee from the obligation to physically attend work during the notice period while continuing to pay salary. This is common in practice for employees who have accepted jobs elsewhere and where continuing their presence would create awkwardness or conflicts of interest. The release from attendance must be explicitly agreed; you cannot simply stop attending without the employer's consent.

Spain: statutory notice periods and ERE

Spain's Workers' Statute sets notice requirements for both resignations and dismissals. For an employee resigning from a standard open-ended contract, there is no universal statutory notice period in Spain. The applicable notice period is determined by the sectoral collective agreement (convenio colectivo) covering the employment. Most agreements specify 15 days to one month, with some specifying longer periods for senior or highly specialised roles.

For employer-initiated terminations in Spain, the notice requirement depends on the nature of the dismissal. Individual dismissals for objective reasons (restructuring, redundancy) require 15 days notice plus a statutory severance of 20 days of salary per year of service. Collective redundancy procedures (ERE, Expediente de Regulación de Empleo) have specific consultation and notice requirements that vary by company size and numbers affected.

Netherlands: the opzegtermijn and UWV permission

Dutch employment law sets notice periods (opzegtermijn) that increase with length of service for employer-initiated terminations. For employee resignations, the statutory notice period is one month, though contracts often specify longer periods. An important feature of Dutch employment law is that employers generally cannot terminate employment without either UWV (Employment Insurance Agency) permission or court approval, unless in cases of summary dismissal for serious misconduct.

The Dutch system is notably employee-protective. The requirement for UWV or court approval before termination means that dismissal for performance or restructuring reasons goes through a formal process. This provides strong job security for employees but can make it slower for employers to restructure compared to other EU countries.

Garden leave in Europe

Garden leave is a practice where an employee who has resigned or been given notice remains employed and continues to receive salary, but is released from the obligation to attend work. It is widely used in the UK, and its use in EU countries varies. In Germany, the practice of Freistellung during notice periods is common, particularly for senior roles or positions with access to sensitive information. Legally, the employer can place an employee on Freistellung provided they continue paying salary and meeting employment obligations.

In France, the dispense de préavis achieves a similar result. In the Netherlands, employers frequently place employees on non-working notice, particularly where the notice period is long and the employment relationship has effectively ended. In all cases, salary and benefits must continue through the non-working notice period unless otherwise specifically agreed.

What happens if you leave without serving notice

Leaving a job without serving contractual notice exposes the departing employee to a claim for damages equal to the salary the employer would have had to pay to replace the work during the notice period. In practice, claims against individual employees for failing to serve notice are relatively rare across EU countries, because pursuing them through the courts is costly and the damages are typically limited to the period of notice not served. For most employees, the practical risk is losing any outstanding holiday pay owed and potentially affecting reference letters.

For senior employees with long notice periods or specific non-compete provisions, the situation is different. Leaving without notice and immediately joining a competitor when you have a non-compete clause can result in injunctive relief proceedings moving quickly in Germany and the Netherlands. Taking specific legal advice before walking out of a senior role with a long notice period and substantive post-termination restrictions is not overcaution in these markets.

Negotiating notice periods when moving jobs

The most practical route when you have a new job lined up and a long notice period is to negotiate an early release with your current employer. This is routine across EU countries and most employers are open to it, particularly if they can source a replacement or the role is being restructured anyway. Offering to assist with handover or to make yourself available for specific questions during the post-departure period often helps these conversations. A financial payment by the new employer to the old one to cover the notice period exists in theory but is rarely practical and almost never happens.