From 1 January 2010, the National Employment Standards (NES) replace the non-pay rate provisions of the Australian Fair Pay and Conditions Standard (the Standard).
Notice of termination forms part of the NES.
What's a notice period?
A notice period is the amount of notice an employer must give an employee if they plan to terminate the employee’s employment.
Under the National Employment Standards if an employer terminates the employment of a permanent employee they must provide at least the following notice:
| Not more than 1 year |
1 week |
| More than 1 year, but not more than 3 years |
2 weeks |
| More than 3 years, but not more than 5 years |
3 weeks |
| More than 5 years |
4 weeks |
The relevant notice period increases by 1 week if the employee is over 45 years old and has completed at least 2 years’ continuous service with the employer.
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Who doesn’t get notice of termination?
The notice periods above don’t apply to:
- a casual employee
- an employee engaged for a specific period or task
- a seasonal employee engaged for a specific season
- an employee whose employment is terminated because of serious misconduct (for example, an employee, in the course of their employment, engaging in theft, fraud or assault)
- an employee (other than an apprentice) to whom a training arrangement applies and whose employment is for a specific period or limited to the duration of the training agreement
- a daily-hire employee working in the building and construction industry (including working in connection with the erection, repair, renovation, maintenance, ornamentation or demolition of buildings or structures)
- a daily hire employee working in the meat industry in connection with the slaughter of livestock
- a weekly hire employee working in connection with the meat industry and whose termination is determined solely by seasonal factors.
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How is notice given?
The employer must give the employee advance written notice of the day of the termination.
An employer may give notice to the employee by:
- delivering it personally; or
- leaving it at the employee’s last known address; or
- sending it by pre-paid post to the employee’s last known address.
What notice should an employee give if they resign?
Employees should check their relevant modern, award, agreement or employment contract to find out how much notice, if any, they will be required to give when they resign.
Employees should also be aware that some modern awards, agreements and employment contracts provide that an employer can withhold money from an employee if they do not give the required amount of notice.
For help finding the correct amount of notice of termination and whether an employer can withhold money, call the Fair Work Infoline on 13 13 94 or chat online with a 
Live help advisor.
Before contacting us please read the key questions our Fair Work advisor may need to ask you.
Can workplace instruments (such as awards) give more notice?
The National Employment Standards set out the minimum periods of notice of termination employers must give employees. However, a relevant award, agreement or employment contract may contain longer notice periods.
If this is the case, an employer must follow the notice period in the instrument that applies to their workplace.
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Can the notice period be paid out?
An employer can pay an employee instead of giving notice.
The amount paid to the employee must equal or exceed the total amount (the full rate of pay) the employee would get had the employment continued until the end of the minimum period of notice (see table above).
An employee’s full rate of pay (other than a pieceworker) is the rate of pay payable to an employee including all the following:
- incentive-based payments and bonuses
- loadings
- monetary allowances
- overtime or penalty rates
- any other separately identifiable amounts
If the correct amount isn’t paid to the employee, they can complain to the Fair Work Ombudsman.
Find out the correct notice period. Call the Fair Work Infoline on 13 13 94 or chat online with our Live help advisor.
Before contacting us please read the key questions our Fair Work advisor may need to ask you.
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