Employment contract for a senior employee with a long notice period

A long notice period gives the employer time to replace a senior employee and keep them away from competitors while it does, at the price of paying them for the period whether they work or not. The contract has to set the notice on both sides, say how the employer holds the employee to it, pair it with garden leave so that the time is useful, deal with pay, bonus and benefits during a period that may last half a year, give the employer the alternative of paying in lieu, and stay within the limit that company law puts on guaranteed periods for directors. I draft that contract for the employer for a fixed fee of £595, delivered in five working days.

Who this is for

Employers in England and Wales appointing senior managers, heads of function and specialists whose departure would take time to absorb, and employers reviewing notice periods that have never been thought about.

What matters in a long notice period

Why long notice protects the employer and what it costs

Notice longer than the statutory minimum under section 86 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 protects the employer by delaying the date the employee is free to work elsewhere, giving time to recruit, hand over and secure relationships, and it costs the employer the same period of pay when it wants the employee gone; the contract should set the notice (three to six months for senior roles) by reference to how long the employer needs rather than by habit, and should make the employee's notice the same or longer, because a short employee notice and a long employer notice gives the protection to the wrong side.

The employee's notice and holding them to it

An employee who leaves without giving contractual notice is in breach, but the court will not order them to work, so the employer's remedies are damages for loss caused (rarely worth pursuing) and an injunction holding the employee to the contract's negative obligations (not to work for anyone else during the notice period), which the court will grant where the contract contains a garden leave clause and the employer continues to pay; the contract should therefore contain the garden leave clause and the express prohibition on other work during notice, which are what make a long notice period enforceable in practice.

Garden leave as the companion to long notice

A long notice period without garden leave leaves the employer with a disengaged employee in the business for months, and the contract should give the employer the right to place the employee on garden leave for all or part of the notice period, with the restrictions on contact with clients and colleagues, the duties that continue (fidelity, confidentiality, availability for handover), the obligation to resign offices, and the garden leave period set off against the post-termination covenants so that the total restraint stays reasonable.

Pay, bonus and benefits during a long notice period

Salary and contractual benefits continue through notice and garden leave, and the contract should say what happens to bonus and commission (eligibility for a bonus period that ends during notice, the plan's rule on being under notice at the payment date, commission earned before notice as wages under section 13 of the Employment Rights Act 1996), to holiday (the employer may require accrued holiday to be taken during garden leave on the notice regulation 15 of the Working Time Regulations 1998 requires), and to benefits such as a car or private medical cover; a long notice period that the employer did not budget for is an expensive surprise, and the contract should state the cost.

Pay in lieu of notice and the choice between the two

The contract should contain a pay in lieu of notice clause allowing the employer to end the employment at once by paying salary (and, if the clause says so, benefits) for the notice period, so that the termination is lawful and the covenants survive; the employer then chooses between garden leave (the employee is out of the market for the period) and pay in lieu (the employee is free to compete subject to the covenants, and the employer saves nothing in cash), and the contract should preserve both options, because the right one depends on who the employee is and where they are going.

The two-year rule, covenants and the rest of the contract

Where the employee is a director, a provision guaranteeing employment for more than two years is void without shareholder approval under section 188 of the Companies Act 2006, and a notice period or fixed term should stay within it; the covenants should be drafted to follow the notice period and garden leave rather than to duplicate them, the written particulars under section 1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 must state the notice, and the probation clause should be drafted with the Employment Rights Act 2025 changes to the early months of employment in mind on the timetable the regulations set, because a senior employee with six months' notice can still be in probation.

What it costs

Senior or director service agreement, £995. With properly drafted restrictive covenants and garden leave. Five working days.

Employment contract, £595. One template you can reuse for a grade of staff. Five working days.

Buying online forms the engagement on payment. The scope is what the employment contracts and handbooks page describes, you accept the Terms of Service at checkout, and I email you within four working hours to get started. If you would rather ask something first, email me.

What you get

• A bespoke contract drafted for how you employ people
• Restrictive covenants drafted at a scope a court will uphold
• Confidentiality and intellectual property provisions that put ownership where it belongs
• The statutory particulars, so the document does the job section 1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 requires it to do
• Flexibility clauses where you genuinely need them, drafted to survive challenge
• Core policies: disciplinary, grievance, sickness absence, equal opportunities, data protection and, increasingly, AI use
• One round of amendments

What is not included

• Acting for employees
• Employment tribunal representation
• Payroll, pensions auto-enrolment and tax
• Immigration and sponsor licence work
• Day to day HR handling, disciplinaries, grievances and redundancy processes

Questions I am often asked

Our head of operations gave one month's notice on a six-month contract. What can we do?

Hold them to the negative obligations: no work for anyone else during the notice period, with garden leave and continued pay, enforced by injunction if necessary. The court will not make them work; it will stop them working elsewhere.

Do we have to pay a six-month notice period if we dismiss?

The notice period has to be paid, either by keeping the employee on (working or on garden leave) or by paying in lieu under the clause. The cost of the protection is the pay for the period.

Can we make the employee's notice longer than ours?

You can, and for senior roles the employee's notice should be at least as long as the employer's, since the protection runs in the employer's favour. The statutory minimum applies to the employer's notice only.

Related guidance and services

• Employment contracts and handbooks, £995, the service this page describes
• Shareholders agreement, £995
• Settlement agreements for employers, £795
• Employment contract with garden leave
• Director service agreement

This page is general guidance for businesses in England and Wales, not advice on your own circumstances. Last reviewed: October 2026. Email geoffrey@caesar.co.uk.