Notice Periods in Finance: Negotiating Your Exit

Notice is the part of changing jobs that most finance professionals think about last and that most often causes difficulty. It is the reason offers lapse, the reason start dates slip by a quarter, and occasionally the reason a move falls through entirely. At Financial Controller level and above, three to six months is normal, and a new employer who needs someone in six weeks will move on. This guide covers what notice periods look like by level, what garden leave and restrictive covenants actually mean, how to negotiate an early release, and how to hand over in a way that protects the relationship you are leaving.

This is general guidance rather than legal advice. Your contract governs your position, and where something is genuinely contested it is worth taking proper advice — Acas is a good free starting point and gov.uk sets out the statutory minimums.

What is typical by level

Two things worth knowing. The statutory minimum is far shorter than contractual notice — one week after a month of service, rising by a week per year to a maximum of twelve — but your contract almost certainly says more, and the contract governs. And notice is mutual: the same period that binds you binds your employer, which is worth remembering when weighing security against flexibility.

Garden leave and what it means

Garden leave is where an employer requires you to serve notice away from the business — still employed, still paid, not working. It is common at Financial Controller level and above, particularly where you are moving to a competitor or where you hold commercially sensitive information.

For you it means full pay and benefits for the period, no work obligations, and continued employment — which means the duty of good faith still applies and you cannot start elsewhere. For an employer it means keeping you out of the market while the covenants run.

The practical implication is worth understanding: garden leave frequently makes an earlier start possible rather than harder, because a business that has already removed you from operations has less reason to hold you to the full period. It is one of the better circumstances in which to ask.

Restrictive covenants

Most senior finance contracts contain post-termination restrictions, typically three kinds: non-compete (not working for a defined competitor), non-solicitation (not approaching clients or customers), and non-poaching (not recruiting former colleagues).

Three practical points. They must be reasonable to be enforceable — in scope, geography and duration — and courts assess that against the legitimate business interest being protected rather than the employer’s preference. A twelve-month UK-wide non-compete on a Management Accountant is unlikely to survive scrutiny; a six-month restriction on an FD moving to a direct competitor may well. Garden leave usually offsets — well-drafted covenants set off time spent on garden leave against the restricted period, and where the contract is silent it is worth asking. And enforcement is a commercial decision: employers weigh cost and appetite, and most do not litigate. That is an observation rather than advice, and anyone facing a genuinely restrictive covenant on a move that matters should take proper legal advice rather than rely on general expectation.

The time to read all this is before you accept a new role, not after you resign.

Negotiating early release

Most notice periods are negotiable in practice, and the request succeeds or fails on how it is framed.

Make the business case, not the personal one. “I would like to leave four weeks early” invites a no. “The close is complete on the 8th, the audit file is handed over, and I have documented the reconciliation process — would you consider releasing me from the 15th?” is a proposal your employer can evaluate.

Offer something. Completing a specific piece of work, training your replacement, remaining available for questions for a period afterwards. Employers release people early far more readily when the handover is genuinely covered.

Time the ask. Immediately after resigning is the worst moment — emotions are fresh and nothing has been handed over. Two to four weeks in, with the handover visibly progressing, is far better.

Understand what they are protecting. Continuity of the close, the audit, a system implementation, or simply not being short-staffed at year-end. If you can remove the specific concern, the period usually shortens.

And be prepared to serve it all. Some employers will not release, particularly in regulated firms or where you hold a named responsibility. That is their right, and pushing hard against a firm no damages a reference you may want for years.

Managing the new employer

The other half of the problem, and the one people handle worst. Be honest about the notice period at first interview. Concealing a six-month notice until offer stage wastes everyone’s time and starts the relationship badly.

Give a realistic date rather than an optimistic one. A start date you miss is worse than a later date you meet.

Keep them warm through a long notice. Six months is a long time to be forgotten, and businesses do occasionally reshape roles in the interim. Periodic contact — and, where offered, meeting the team before you start — protects the appointment.

And expect a counter-offer. They are near-universal at this level and frequently generous. The moves that stick are made for scope and trajectory rather than money, which is why our guide to counter-offers is worth reading before you resign rather than after.

Handing over well

The most under-valued part of the process, and the one that pays back longest. Three things.

Document what is in your head. The reconciliation quirks, the accrual bases, the reason a particular account behaves oddly, the supplier who always disputes. Whoever follows you will discover all of it eventually; leaving a note is the difference between being remembered well and being remembered in February.

Brief your successor or your manager properly, in writing as well as verbally. Our handover guide covers what a good one contains — it applies equally to a permanent departure.

And leave the relationship intact. Finance in any given city is a smaller world than it looks, and the FD you leave this year may be the one hiring you in five. Serving notice gracefully — even where you are leaving because something was wrong — is a genuinely worthwhile investment.

The mechanics of resigning are covered in our guides to writing a resignation letter and negotiating, accepting and resigning.