Notice period in unsigned contract

[cookiedough]

Hello!

I’ve been working for my current employer for 16 months but am currently job hunting for numerous reasons.

It is a family-run business and they take leavers very personally and I know that when I eventually come to hand my notice in, things are likely to turn sour and I’ll want to get out of there as quickly as possible.

I didn’t sign my contract of employment (they actually only gave this to me after I had been with the company for 1 year, despite me regularly chasing this up) as my line manager said we would be issued with new contracts as we were going to have changes to our car allowances. This change never actually happened and no one pushed for my signed contract to be returned. I have since found the original contract and noticed that it appears that I have a 3 month notice period. Is there any way they can enforce this given that I have not actually signed anything to agree to this?

Thanks in advance!

[ULA]

A short answer is yes they can enforce this, the fact you did not sign a copy of the contract and return it is immaterial. I think you need to be very honest with any prospective new employer and state that you are on 3 months notice. When you do hand it in then you can always ask your current employer whether they would consider a reduced notice period.