When is my last day of work? Notice period calculator

Checked against legislation.gov.uk, GOV.UK and Acas on 1 August 2026. Every figure below links to its primary source so you can check it yourself. Bank holiday dates come straight from the GOV.UK bank holidays feed and cover 2026 to 2028. We are not employment lawyers.

Your last day is worked out from the day after notice is given, not the day it is given. Hand your notice in on a Monday with one week to serve and your last day is the following Monday. The complications are that “one month” is not four weeks, that the day your employment ends is often not the last day you are actually in the office, and that the notice you owe and the notice your employer owes are governed by completely different rules.

The calculator below handles all three. It gives you a dated statutory minimum and a dated contractual period side by side, tells you which one wins, counts the bank holidays that fall inside your notice, and separates the day your employment legally ends from the last day you are expected in.

When is my last day of work?

Give it four facts and it will give you two dates: the day your employment legally ends, and the last day you are actually expected in. It works out your statutory minimum and your contractual notice separately, shows you both dates side by side, and tells you which one wins.

Who is giving notice?

I am resigning I am being dismissed or made redundant

Date notice was handed in The day you told your employer.

Date you started the job Your first day of work, not the date you signed the contract.

How were you told?

In person In writing (letter or email)

Date you had a fair chance to read it If it was posted while you were away, this is the day you got home and opened it — not the day it was sent. This changes your dates.

Notice period in your contract

Unit of contractual notice calendar months weeks days

Leave blank if you do not have one, or cannot find it.

Where do you work? England or Wales Scotland Northern Ireland This sets which bank holidays fall in your notice period.

Work out my last day

General information, not legal advice. Your contract is the authority on your own notice period, and this page cannot see it. If something here does not match what your employer has told you, ring the Acas helpline — it is free.

The notice you owe and the notice you are owed are not the same

This is where most notice period calculators go wrong, and it is worth being blunt about it: the familiar escalating scale — one week per year of service, up to a maximum of twelve — is what your employer must give you. It is not what you must give them.

Read section 86 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 and the split is on the face of the statute. Subsection (1) sets the escalating scale and begins “The notice required to be given by an employer”. Subsection (2) deals with the employee, and it is one sentence: “The notice required to be given by an employee who has been continuously employed for one month or more to terminate his contract of employment is not less than one week.”

One week. However long you have been there. A person with twenty-five years’ service owes exactly the same statutory notice as a person with thirteen months. If you have been asked for longer, that will be your contract talking, not the law — which is perfectly legitimate, and enforceable, but it is a different thing.

Length of continuous service	Your employer must give you	You must give your employer
Less than 1 month	Nothing	Nothing, if your written statement is silent on notice
1 month to under 2 years	1 week	1 week
2 years	2 weeks	1 week
5 years	5 weeks	1 week
11 years	11 weeks	1 week
12 years or more	12 weeks (the cap)	1 week

Only complete years count on the employer’s side. Acas gives the worked example: someone with four years and nine months’ service is entitled to four weeks, not five. The nine months do not round up.

One subtlety in your favour: your first day at work counts as day one. Section 211(1) says a period of continuous employment “begins with the day on which the employee starts work”, and the Court of Session confirmed in Pacitti Jones v O’Brien [2005] CSIH 56 that this means inclusively. Start on 8 April and you have completed a year on 7 April, not 8 April. It sounds like pedantry until you are one day short of the one-month threshold that switches statutory notice on.

When the clock actually starts

The default is simple. GOV.UK: “Your notice period usually runs from the start of the day after you handed your notice in.” (Handing in your notice: giving notice) Hand it in on Monday, the clock starts Tuesday, and a one-week period runs to the following Monday inclusive.

There is one exception, and it runs in a direction that surprises people. Where the employer gives notice in writing, Acas says the period starts not when the letter is sent but “when the employee has had a reasonable amount of time to read it”, with two worked examples: a letter sent by registered post, where notice might start the day after it arrives; and an employee away on holiday, where it might start after they get home and open it. (Acas: when the notice period starts)

That rule is about notice coming to you. It does not work the other way round: nothing in the Acas or GOV.UK guidance says a resignation emailed on Friday starts running on Monday because that is when your manager opened it. If you are resigning, assume the day after you sent it — and if the timing matters to you, hand it over in a way you can evidence.

All of this is the default where the contract is silent. If your contract says when notice starts, the contract governs.

“A month” is not “four weeks”

Four weeks is 28 days, always. A calendar month is 28, 29, 30 or 31. On a notice period starting in August the difference is three days — enough to move you past a payday, a bank holiday, or the start date of the next job.

If your contract says “one month”, it means a calendar month. A month beginning on 4 August ends on 3 September. Where the notice period starts on a day that does not exist in the month it ends in — a period of one month starting on 31 January — it runs to the last day of that month instead, which is the rule Lord Diplock set out in Dodds v Walker [1981] 1 WLR 1027. So 31 January plus one month is 28 February, and 31 August plus one month is 30 September, not 1 October.

The calculator shows both readings whenever you enter a period in months, so you can see the gap rather than take our word for which applies.

Your last day and your last working day are different things

If your notice expires on a Saturday, your employment ends on the Saturday. You were last in the building on the Friday. Both dates matter and they are used for different purposes: the Saturday is the date that goes on your P45, that your continuous service runs to and that your holiday accrues to; the Friday is the day you hand your pass back.

The same applies to a notice period expiring on a bank holiday, and this is where the country you work in starts to matter. The last Monday in August is a bank holiday in England, Wales and Northern Ireland but not in Scotland, which takes the first Monday instead. Scotland also has 2 January and St Andrew’s Day; Northern Ireland has St Patrick’s Day and the Battle of the Boyne. Identical notice dates therefore produce different working-day counts depending on where you are. The calculator names every bank holiday falling inside your notice period so you can see which ones you are counting.

One caveat on working days: there is no legal right to bank holidays off at all. Your employer is allowed to count them towards your 5.6 weeks of statutory holiday. Treat the working-day count as a planning figure, not an entitlement.

Marking the day: gift ideas for a leaving or retirement collection

Once you have the actual date, it is usually the moment someone starts thinking about a card — or a collection, if it is a bigger send-off. Retirement and “moving on” gifts tend to fall into a few reliable categories, so here is a practical starting point rather than an exhaustive list.

Putting it in writing

You do not have to. Acas is explicit: “You do not have to put your resignation in writing, for example in a letter or email.” (Acas: how to resign, updated 30 June 2026) But do it anyway. A dated letter or email settles when you resigned, which is the fact everything on this page hangs off, and it is the difference between a clean handover and an argument in six weeks’ time about what was said in a corridor. Check your contract first — some require notice in writing, and giving it verbally when the contract says otherwise can itself be a breach.

Acas asks for three things, and only three: that you are resigning, how much notice you are giving, and the date you want to be your last day at work. Everything else is optional. You do not have to give a reason, and your employer cannot refuse — “An employer cannot reject your resignation”.

Keep it short, and do not burn the bridge

This next part is our view rather than anybody’s official guidance, but we would stand by it. Whatever you are feeling on the day you hand it in — and people rarely resign because everything is wonderful — the letter is not the place to put it. Short, polite and professional. Five sentences is plenty.

It is a small world. Industries are smaller than they look, the manager you cannot stand today turns up on an interview panel in four years, and the colleague you never rated ends up running the company you want to join. A resignation letter is a document that sits on a file for a very long time, and it is the last thing you write from inside the building. Make it the kind of thing you would be relaxed about someone reading aloud.

There is a practical edge to this too, not just good manners. Acas notes that failing to work your proper notice “might affect your final pay or references for future jobs”, and warns that this matters especially in financial services or any role with responsibility for other people’s welfare. Nobody has to give you a reference at all unless your contract says so — which is precisely why you want the people writing it to remember you as someone who handled their leaving well.

If you have grievances worth raising, raise them properly: in an exit interview, through the grievance procedure, or in a separate conversation. Do not braid them into the letter that confirms your last date.

If you change your mind

Tell them immediately. GOV.UK deals with the classic case — resigning in the “heat of the moment” during an argument — and the answer is not comforting: “They can choose to accept your resignation or not.” Acas agrees your employer does not have to let you withdraw it, though it says they should give the request serious consideration where you changed your mind very quickly, or where your state of mind was affected by something like a bereavement or a health condition. Which is the strongest argument there is for going home, sleeping on it, and sending the letter in the morning.

Probation does not change any of this

Probation periods have no basis in statute. Acas is unambiguous: “There’s no legal requirement to have a probation period. And they can be any length of time.” (Acas: probation periods, updated 30 June 2026) It is a contractual arrangement, not a legal status, and it does not switch off the statutory clock.

So an employee resigning during probation must still give “either the minimum statutory notice period” or the contractual period, and an employer dismissing someone five months into a six-month probation still owes at least a week. A contract can shorten notice during probation, but only down to the statutory floor — below one week after a month’s service, the clause simply does not bite.

Day-one rights apply throughout probation, including the minimum wage, paid holiday, sick pay, protection against discrimination and whistleblowing protection. The Employment Rights Act 2025 does not change probation: Acas confirms “The Act does not affect probation periods. There is still no legal requirement to have one, and they can be any length.” What the Act does do is reduce the unfair dismissal qualifying period from two years to six months for dismissals from 1 January 2027. Until then it remains two years.

If you are not working your notice

Three things can happen instead of serving out your notice, and only one of them moves your last day.

What happens	Does your last day change?	What you get
Garden leave	No. Your employment runs to the same date.	“You’ll get the same pay and contractual benefits.” You are still employed — you are simply told not to come in. (GOV.UK, Acas)
Payment in lieu of notice (PILON)	Yes. Employment ends straight away.	Full pay for the notice period. Your employer can only insist on it if there is a PILON clause in your contract; otherwise they have to ask and you can say no. (GOV.UK)
Agreeing to leave early	Yes, to whatever you agree.	Only pay for the time you actually work. Get the agreement in writing — leaving early without it is likely a breach of contract. (Acas)

During a notice period you actually serve, you will normally get your usual pay, and GOV.UK confirms you keep your entitlement to bonuses and commission “unless your contract states otherwise”.

Holiday you have not taken

You may be able to take what is left of your statutory leave during your notice period. Whatever remains untaken must be paid: leaving a job is the only occasion on which statutory holiday can lawfully be paid out rather than taken.

Two points worth knowing, both verbatim from GOV.UK. First: “Employers must pay for untaken statutory leave, even if the worker is dismissed for gross misconduct.” Second, if you have taken more leave than you had accrued, your employer “must not take money from their final pay unless it’s been agreed beforehand in writing”.

Common questions

Does my notice period start on the day I hand it in?

No. It starts the day after. GOV.UK says notice “usually runs from the start of the day after you handed your notice in”, so a week’s notice given on a Monday ends on the following Monday.

How much notice do I have to give?

One week, if you have worked there a month or more. That is the statutory minimum under ERA 1996 s.86(2) and it does not increase with length of service. Your contract may require more, and if it does, the contract applies.

Is one month the same as four weeks?

No. Four weeks is 28 days; a calendar month is 28 to 31, so the two can be up to three days apart. If your contract says one month, it means a calendar month.

What if my notice period ends on a weekend or a bank holiday?

Your employment still ends on that date. Your last day physically at work is the previous working day. Both dates are real and they are used for different things.

Do I have to give more notice because I have worked here a long time?

Not as a matter of law. The escalating scale of one week per year up to twelve weeks is what your employer owes you, not what you owe them. Anything longer on your side comes from your contract.

Does being on probation change my notice period?

No. Probation has no statutory basis. The same statutory minimum applies from day one, and a contract cannot reduce notice below it once you have a month’s service.

Does garden leave change my last day?

No. You remain employed to the same end date on the same pay and contractual benefits. You are simply asked not to come in.

What should I say in my resignation letter?

Acas asks for three things: that you are resigning, how much notice you are giving, and the date you want to be your last day. You do not have to give a reason, and you do not legally have to put it in writing at all — but a dated letter or email settles when you resigned, which is what every other date depends on. Keep it short, polite and professional.

Do I have to give a reason for resigning?

No. Citizens Advice puts it plainly: you do not have to give a reason for your resignation. The exception is if you are resigning because of something your employer has done — in that case you should say so in writing, because it is evidence if you later bring a claim.

Can my employer refuse my resignation?

No. Acas is explicit that an employer cannot reject a resignation. You do still have to follow the right process, though, or you may be in breach of your contract.

Can I take my resignation back?

Only if your employer agrees. GOV.UK says that if you resign in the heat of the moment and change your mind, you should tell your employer immediately, but “they can choose to accept your resignation or not”. Acas says employers should give the request serious consideration where you changed your mind very quickly or your state of mind was affected by something like a bereavement or a health condition.

Do the rules differ in Scotland or Northern Ireland?

The notice rules are identical. Northern Ireland is governed by article 118 of the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 rather than section 86 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, but the two are word for word the same. What does differ is bank holidays, which changes your working-day count.

Where these figures come from

• Employment Rights Act 1996, s.86 — minimum notice, employer and employee. Extends to England, Wales and Scotland.
• Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996, art. 118 — the Northern Ireland equivalent, identical in substance.
• Employment Rights Act 1996, s.211 — continuous employment begins with the first day of work.
• Acas: when the notice period starts — the day-after default and the written-notice rule. Updated 24 November 2025.
• Acas: notice when resigning and Acas: notice when being dismissed or made redundant — the statutory tables and the four years nine months worked example.
• Acas: probation periods — updated 30 June 2026.
• Acas: how to resign — what a resignation letter needs to say, and that an employer cannot reject a resignation. Updated 30 June 2026.
• Acas: resignation notice letter template — free to use, updated 15 November 2024.
• Acas: constructive dismissal — updated 18 February 2026.
• Citizens Advice: deciding whether to resign — that no reason need be given, and why to give one where the employer is the reason.
• Acas: when an employee does not have to work notice — PILON, garden leave and leaving early.
• GOV.UK: handing in your notice, including payment during your notice period and garden leave.
• GOV.UK: taking holiday before leaving a job.
• GOV.UK bank holidays — dates taken from the published JSON feed on 1 August 2026, covering 2026 to 2028.