Notice period calculator

This calculator tells you how much notice must be given when your employment ends, whether you are resigning or your employer is ending the contract. It applies the minimum periods in the Basic Conditions of Employment Act 75 of 1997, known as the BCEA, and then checks whether your written contract gives you more. It is for employees who want to resign properly, employees who have been given notice and want to check it is enough, and employers who want to get it right.

What this calculator works out and who it is for

Notice is the warning period between the day one side says "this employment is ending" and the day it actually ends. The law sets a minimum. A contract may extend it. The calculator gives you the period that applies to you and flags the common mistakes.

You enter three things: your months of continuous service (counted from your start date to your intended last day), whether you are a general employee or a farm or domestic worker, and, if you have one, the notice period written in your contract in weeks. The contract field is optional. Leave it blank if you do not have a written contract or if it says nothing about notice.

The result shows your length of service, the statutory minimum, the contract figure if you gave one, and the notice period that applies. Where the two conflict, the calculator tells you which one wins.

The tool applies to employees covered by the BCEA. It does not cover independent contractors, and it does not override a sectoral determination or a bargaining council agreement that sets different notice rules for a particular industry.

How the calculation works

The service runs a short, fixed sequence.

First, it reads your months of service and your worker type and looks up the statutory minimum in the LawMatch rate table. The table has three bands for general employees. Six months or less of service gives one week. More than six months and up to twelve months gives two weeks. More than twelve months gives four weeks. The bands are checked in order and the first one that fits your months of service is used.

For a farm or domestic worker there is one extra rule that runs before the bands. If you have more than six months of service, the minimum is four weeks straight away. There is no two-week middle band. With six months or less, a farm or domestic worker gets one week, the same as everyone else.

Second, it reads the contract notice period if you entered one. The number is rounded up to a whole number of weeks. The calculator then takes whichever is higher, the statutory minimum or the contract period. That is the "notice period that applies" line. The comparison is a simple "whichever is greater" test.

Third, it checks for two warning conditions. If your contract gives fewer weeks than the Act requires, it warns you that the statutory minimum overrides the contract. If you are a general employee with six months or less of service, it reminds you that a probation clause does not reduce notice below one week.

The calculator does not convert weeks into days, does not work out a calendar end date, and does not calculate notice pay in rands. For notice pay, use the retrenchment package calculator, which uses the same notice rules and multiplies them by your weekly pay.

The law behind the numbers

The Basic Conditions of Employment Act 75 of 1997 sets the minimum notice periods. The rate table names the Act as its source and records an effective date of 1 January 2019. The Act says that a contract of employment may be ended on notice of not less than one week during the first six months, two weeks if you have been employed for more than six months but not more than a year, and four weeks if you have been employed for a year or more. It also gives farm and domestic workers who have been employed for more than six months the full four weeks.

The Act allows a collective agreement to reduce the four-week period to two weeks in some cases, but the calculator does not model that exception. It also allows an employer to pay you for the notice period instead of requiring you to work it. Notice must be given in writing, unless the employee cannot read. Notice may not run at the same time as annual leave, and an employer may not require you to take leave during your notice period.

A contract of employment may set a longer notice period than the Act. It may not set a shorter one. Where a contract requires longer notice from the employee than from the employer, that is not allowed either; the periods must be the same for both sides.

The BCEA does not set notice for a dismissal for misconduct. After a fair hearing an employer may dismiss you summarily, meaning without notice, but you are still owed pay for the work you have done and for accrued leave.

The figures are reviewed whenever the Act is amended. Always check the current text if your case turns on it.

Worked example

This example is illustrative. Sipho has worked as a general employee for nine months. His written contract says he must give one week's notice.

The calculator looks at the general bands. Nine months is more than six and not more than twelve, so the statutory minimum is two weeks. His contract says one week, and one is less than two, so the calculator takes the higher figure. The notice period that applies is two weeks. A warning tells Sipho that his contract gives less than the Act allows and that two weeks overrides it.

Now suppose Sipho stays another two years, so he has 33 months of service, and his employer moves him to a new contract with an eight-week notice clause. The statutory minimum is now four weeks. The contract says eight. Eight is higher, so the notice period that applies is eight weeks. No warning appears, because a contract may always require more than the minimum.

Finally, suppose Sipho's sister Zanele is a domestic worker who has been with the same family for seven months. The farm and domestic rule applies because her service is more than six months, so her minimum notice is four weeks, not the two weeks a general employee with the same service would get.

What the calculator does not include

The real notice period in your case may differ for a few reasons.

Sectoral determinations and bargaining council agreements can set their own notice rules for particular industries, such as hospitality, security, contract cleaning or the motor trade. If one covers your workplace, it may replace the BCEA bands.

The calculator does not work out the calendar date on which your notice ends. Notice usually starts on the day after it is received, and a "calendar month" in a contract is not the same as four weeks. If your contract says one month, the calculator's four-week figure may be a little shorter than what the contract actually requires.

The calculator does not handle fixed-term contracts, which usually end on their end date without notice, and it does not handle probation clauses beyond the reminder that probation cannot shorten notice below the minimum.

Payment instead of notice, garden leave, and what happens to benefits during notice are not covered. Neither is the question of whether the termination was fair. A dismissal on proper notice can still be an unfair dismissal if the reason or the process was unfair.

When to get advice

Get advice if any of these apply.

Your employer is refusing to accept your resignation or is trying to hold you to a notice period far longer than the calculator shows. Our guide on the notice period when you resign explains how to resign correctly.

You have been dismissed without notice and without a hearing. Read can I be fired without a disciplinary hearing and consider referring an unfair dismissal dispute.

You resigned because your employer made it impossible to stay. That may be a constructive dismissal, which is treated as a dismissal even though you were the one who resigned.

Your employer has deducted money from your final pay because you gave short notice. Deductions of that kind are tightly restricted and are often unlawful.

The free route is the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration, the CCMA. Referring a dispute is free and you may represent yourself. Disputes about unpaid notice pay or other BCEA amounts can also be reported to the Department of Employment and Labour, whose inspectors can order an employer to comply. If you need a lawyer and cannot afford one, Legal Aid South Africa on 0800 110 110 may help. See our legal aid page.

LawMatch is not a law firm and this page is general information rather than legal advice. Use the calculator to understand your position, then confirm it with the CCMA, a union or an attorney before you act on it.

Frequently asked questions

Does the notice period apply to both me and my employer?

Yes. The same minimum applies whether you resign or your employer terminates. A contract may not require longer notice from the employee than from the employer.

What if my contract says one month?

The calculator works in weeks, and it will treat a month as roughly four weeks. In practice a calendar month can be a few days longer than four weeks. If the difference matters, count the days on a calendar and read your contract carefully.

Can my employer make me leave immediately?

Yes, provided you are paid for the full notice period. The BCEA allows an employer to pay you out instead of having you work your notice. What it cannot do is send you home immediately and pay you nothing.

What happens if I do not work my notice?

You are in breach of contract. Your employer may not simply keep your salary as a penalty, but it may have a claim for the loss it suffers, and it can refuse to pay you for notice you did not work. Many employers agree to a shorter notice period if you ask in writing.

I am on probation. Do I get less notice?

No. Probation affects how easily your employer can dismiss you for poor performance. It does not reduce the notice period below the statutory minimum of one week.

Does notice run during my annual leave?

No. The Act says notice may not run at the same time as annual leave. Your employer also may not force you to take leave during the notice period.