Can you agree a shorter notice with your employer?
Yes. Employer and employee can end the contract by mutual agreement at any time and set the conditions, with or without a payment, as the SPF Employment explains. No formality is required, but put it in writing, with the end date and what each side waives.
This is the usual solution when your new employer wants you sooner. Your current employer often agrees, especially after a resignation. Ask early, and offer a handover plan. Leaving earlier than planned does not change your right to exit holiday pay.
What is a counter-notice?
A short notice you give when your employer has dismissed you with notice and you have found another job. Instead of working the whole notice, you leave after the counter-notice, according to the SPF Employment table:
- Less than 3 months of seniority: 1 week
- 3 to less than 6 months: 2 weeks
- 6 to less than 12 months: 3 weeks
- 1 year or more: 4 weeks
For contracts that started from 1 August 2026, the counter-notice is 1 week during the whole first six months. Your employer cannot give a counter-notice. When you leave this way, the rest of the employer’s notice is no longer paid.
Can you leave early without your employer’s agreement?
Yes, but it costs you. If you stop working before the end of your notice without an agreement, you owe your employer an indemnity equal to your pay for the weeks you did not work. The calculation is the same as in a notice indemnity.
Some new employers offer to cover that cost in your package. If so, have it written into the offer. And note that the contract may still bind you on confidentiality, even if you leave early.
Which option suits you best?
If you resigned: ask for a mutual agreement first, and pay the indemnity only if your employer refuses and the new job cannot wait. If you were dismissed with notice: use the counter-notice, which needs no agreement.
In all cases, keep in mind that leaving early on your own initiative can affect unemployment benefits if the next job falls through, and check your non-compete clause. Your notice length itself is set out in how much notice you give when you resign.
