Can an Employer Require 90 Days Notice? | Employers and Employees

Can an employer require 90 days’ notice? Well, first, you need to determine if you have signed an employment contract or not. Does that contract contain language that states you must give 90 days’ notice to the employer? When an employee signs a contract, there will be a termination section. It will list the ways employer and employee can terminate the contract. There are four ways. Generally, the agreement ends after a certain period and doesn’t automatically renew. Parties can terminate it through mutual agreement. Or terminate it for-cause. If one of the parties breaches the contract, the other party usually has the option to terminate the agreement without-cause. And this will be the section that will state whether you must give 90 days’ notice or not.

Without-cause termination is also called ‘for no good cause’ or ‘no good reason.’ Without-cause, I think, is the most common term used. It will state that either party can terminate the agreement at any time for any reason, with a certain amount of notice to the other party. If that notice states you must give 90 days’ notice to terminate the agreement without-cause, then yes, you must provide 90 days’ notice. Anywhere between 30 to 90 is kind of like an industry-standard amount. If you are in a job, haven’t signed an employment contract, and haven’t signed a binding letter of intent. If the employer asks that you provide 90 days’ notice, you don’t have to give 90 days’ notice.

What Can Happen if the Employee Does Not Comply with the 90 Days Notice?

In the professional world, if there’s no employment contract signed and no specification of how much notice is given. Two weeks’ notice is the industry standard for what would be a professional amount of time. But if the employment contract states that you must give this amount of notice and you don’t, you are in breach of contract. Employers could potentially sue you for several things. One, recruitment fees if they must get a recruiter to replace you, lost profits. Maybe the employer paid for licensure, credentialing, privileges, continuing education, signing bonus, or relocation assistance.

You must give the employer proper notice if it’s in the contract. Some language will be in an employment agreement that even explicitly says that if you fail to give the full notice, you owe us this amount of money. Usually, that would be whatever the daily rate for the professional is, how much they get paid per day. If you had a 90-day notice requirement and only gave 30 days, then you owe them 60 days of compensation, which can be a substantial amount of money for some people. 

Summary

Yes, the employer can require 90 days’ notice, but only if it’s in the employment contract or a binding letter of intent. Now binding letters of intent and binding offer letters are very rare. Typically, they are not binding. It would have to have specific language that states this is the entire agreement. These are the terms or conditions of the employment relationship. But so that you know, it is infrequent. So, usually, if it were 90 days’ notice, it would have to be through an actual employment contract that went through all the terms of the employment relationship.

Other Blogs of Interest:

• Consequences of Breaking an Employment Contract
• What is Without Cause Termination in a Physician Contract?
• What is Considered a Breach of a Physician Contract?
• How to Terminate a Physician Contract with Cause

What is the Best Without Cause Termination Length in a Physician Contract?

Nearly every physician’s employment contract contains a provision. It allows either party to terminate the agreement for any reason with a certain amount of notice to the other party. The typical amount of without-cause termination notice is either 60 or 90 days. 

Without Cause

Terminating employees is an important business decision to employers. There are two types of terminations: with-cause and without-cause. To fire an employee for violating company policies or committing unethical acts can be justified as termination with-cause. On the contrary, firing them for poor performance alone may not be enough to discharge the employee. This type of dismissal of an employee should instead fall under “termination without-cause.” You must understand which kind you’re terminating before deciding whether it would adversely affect other departments within your organization.

Termination Without Cause

Terminating an employee without-cause is a common practice among private employers. Employee dismissal can occur for several reasons, such as budget problems, operational restructuring, and downsizing. The phrase “termination with-cause” might be more accurate since the employer has grounds to fire someone who isn’t performing up to expectations or meeting certain criteria in their contract. However, they do have this right under work at-will laws present in some form across all 50 states. Unless moving forward would violate state or federal employment law.

How Does a Physician Provide Notice?

There will be a Notice Section in every physician employment contract. This section will detail how notice can be given: personal delivery, via certified mail, email, fax, etc. The physician must provide written notice of intent to terminate the agreement. Verbal notice is not sufficient. 

Considerations with Longer Notice

• Greater than 90 days’ notice
• More time to prepare for a new job (travel, credentialing, etc.)
• Awkward work environment
• Hostility from employe

Considerations with Shorter Notice

• Less than 90 days’ notice
• Less interaction with the employer
• The new employer does not have to wait long for the physician to start.
• Not enough time to prepare for a new job (tail insurance, credentialing, housing, etc.)

Term Length Of the Employment Agreement

The term of the employment agreement refers to how long the contract lasts. Most physician employment agreements are between 1 to 3 years, with automatic renewal after the initial term ends.

Contract duration clauses are often found in employment contracts to outline how long the contract would last. This is typically for an indefinite amount of time. But if the contract stated a specific date on when it would end, that could also be included. An example of this might include someone being hired with no specified term length and then coming back after they have completed their degree or reached some other goal set by both parties. For this reason, that work can resume more easily without starting from scratch whenever something happens outside their control. Specifically, graduating college in four years instead of six because you could go part-time while working during your first two years before going full-time once classes stopped for summer break.

Termination Without Cause

You would be wise to use a duration clause when defining an agreement’s effective period. This can help protect the employee’s interests should the contract need early termination. This also helps clarify what type of early termination is possible for both parties involved. It includes things like whether or not it would end on its own accord at some point, if any specific events trigger an automatic expiration date (such as a breach), and more!

When creating a contract, both parties should know what the terms are. If there is a duration clause in place, it’s common for either party to be able to renew with one another if they desire. And as long as you spell out your conditions within the duration clause, this can also prevent confusion about when their time would expire and how much notice one must give before termination of service takes effect.

Not every contract has an exact end date. Meanwhile, those that do usually allow flexibility on behalf of both parties. They may still want to continue after expiration or wish not to terminate before its conclusion. You could always include these personal clauses into the main document, explaining them clearly, so everyone knows where they stand at all times- including yourself!

For Cause Termination

Companies usually have an employee handbook to outline the standards of behavior expected from their employees. A separate code of conduct may also be in place, outlining specific incidents for termination should they happen within a company or on its premises. Common causes that lead to immediate dismissal include violence and drug abuse. On the other hand, theft is not uncommon either, as well as sexual harassment, depending upon the severity and number of offenses committed by one individual. The more severe cases typically result in automatic termination with lesser violations. Consequently, it might require progressive warnings before finally being terminated if it reaches a point where other options are no longer viable.

When the Length Does Not Require

The one instance where the initial term of the agreement matters is if the physician must repay a sign-on or relocation bonus if they leave within the initial term of the agreement. The agreement will dictate how much of the sign-on bonus is forgiven based on the physician’s employment length. For instance:

• If the initial term is 24 months, 1/24 of the sign-on bonus is forgiven monthly.
• If the initial term is 36 months, each year completed will forgive 1/3 of the sign-on bonus.
• Or, if the physician does not complete the initial term, they must repay all the sign-on bonuses.

Set Term With the Employer

Simply put, not all employees enjoy the same protections when it comes to employment. This is why it’s so essential for individuals negotiating a contract to be fully aware of their options before committing themselves and signing on that dotted line. For example, an at-will employee can get let go without notice if they don’t do what their employers want them to do. Think back to your favorite show where someone gets fired because she didn’t sell enough lemonade in one day! Meanwhile, some contracts specify fixed terms like two years or more. These agreements would detail specific reasons and probation periods (if applicable) for termination without-cause should either party fail to uphold certain obligations set forth by this agreement.

60-90 Day Notice

When an employee must quit their job, the employer requires the employee to give notice that the relationship is ending. It’s typical for a physician to provide between 60 to 90 days’ notice required before terminating employment so both parties can prepare accordingly.

An employment contract is a formal agreement between an employee and employer. In which the two of them agree to work together. Fixed-term contracts are one type. But there are also other jobs with more fluid timelines, such as hourly wages or commissions based on performance.

Termination | Terminated Without Cause

Employers can terminate employees early in a fixed service contract if the employer provides valid reasoning and proof. However, employers must provide evidence that an employee was not fulfilling their obligations before termination can occur. Suppose an employee wasn’t providing services agreed upon in a contract but had been given sufficient time for absences due to illness or injury. Hence, they could cancel it without giving notice. However, if either party provides no reason, this would fall under “constructive dismissal.”

An employee who signed a fixed term of employment has certain rights when considering being dismissed from work earlier than expected, based on agreement with the company during the negotiation stages. One such right relates to whether or not they met duties per the original terms set.

Can I Quit my Job if I Signed a Contract?

When we say contract, that means an employment contract, an employment agreement, and a contract that lists the terms of the employment relationship. So, can you quit if you sign a contract? Well, it depends upon what is in the contract. Every contract would have the length of the term of the agreement, like how long it lasts? and then how to terminate the agreement? There’ll be a section that’s called term and then termination. The termination section will dictate how to terminate the agreement and quit your job. There are four ways for a contract to be terminated.

4 Ways You Can Leave Your Job Depending on the Contracts You Sign

If it’s just a fixed-length, meaning it’s a one-year or two-year contract, it doesn’t automatically renew. Furthermore, the contract terminates at the end if neither party wants to continue it, and that’s the end. The second way would be through mutual agreement. If you and the employer decide, we wish to move on, and if you meet the agreement, then you can just leave. The third way is by breach of contract. What it’s called is for-cause or with-cause termination. If one party, I’ll just do this from the employee’s perspective.

If the employee believes the employer is in breach of contract, let’s say they are not paying the employee either on time or the amount that they agreed upon. Maybe they’re not paying out bonuses, whatever it is. The employee would then have to give written notice to the employer and say, hey, you’re in breach of contract. And then, normally, there’d be what’s called a cure period. 

What Is the Required Cure Period?

The cure period states whatever party that’s in breach of contract has a period to fix whatever the breach is. Usually, it’s between 15 to 30 days. If they were to cure the breach, the employee could not terminate the contract for-cause. Normally, if after the cure period, whatever the breach was isn’t fixed, then it’s the option of the employee to terminate the contract immediately. And then last, and this is kind of what I would consider quitting your job, there would be, or at least there should be, without-cause termination. Without-cause termination means either party can terminate the employment agreement at any time. For any reason, with a certain amount of notice to the other party. 

You can quit your job, but you may have to serve a certain amount of time. In most employment contracts, the required notice period will be somewhere between 30 to 90 days. In that scenario, if you wanted to quit your job and terminate the agreement, you would have to send a written notice to the employer. That just said, I’m exercising my right to terminate the agreement without-cause. And then, whatever the time was, say it’s 60 days, you’d say, my last day of work would be X date. Then you would have to work those 60 days. And then, at the end of 60 days, you’re free to leave. 

Read Your Employment Contract Terms Before You Quit

Remember if you decide to quit your job or terminate the agreement. One, many contracts would have some repayment obligation. If they paid a signing bonus or relocation assistance or they’ve paid for licenses or certifications. It’s essential to determine if I terminate this contract or quit my job, will I have to pay anything back? If you’re a healthcare professional, malpractice insurance obligations would likely be. So, if you must pay for tail insurance, you need to identify that and figure out what that cost will be. And then lastly, and usually most importantly, are there any restrictive covenants in the contract? Even if you quit your job? The restrictive covenants are still going to apply. The restrictive covenants would be a non-solicitation agreement and a non-compete—the two most common restrictive covenants. 

The non-solicitation agreement would say you can’t actively solicit patients, clients, customers, employees, independent contractors, and vendors for a certain period, usually one year. And then the non-compete is even more important. It will state that the professional can’t work within their specialty for a period. Usually, one to two years within a certain geographic radius. It could be 10 miles from their primary practice location for healthcare professionals. If you’re in sales, it could be that you can’t work in these counties or even can’t work within this entire state. Now, that’s broad. I don’t think that would likely be enforceable in most states, but that’s what the non-compete is. So, just because you quit the job, you no longer want to be employed there doesn’t mean these restrictive covenants won’t apply. 

Give Your Employer Notice To Avoid Blows in Your Career

You need to look at the language of the contract and determine. What are all the things that are going to follow me after I quit my job? Because if you terminate the agreement, it doesn’t mean that everything ends either. So yes, you can probably quit your job if you have an employment agreement. However, you are required to follow the terms of the agreement. What if you say, I have an employment agreement. I’m sick of working here. I’m just not coming back. You don’t give termination notice. You just don’t show up. Well, then you’re a breach of contract, and you’re opening yourself up for potential legal action, either through a lawsuit or if there’s an arbitration clause or maybe some mediation. 

There could be damages associated with you not giving the proper notice period length they’re requiring. It could be the lost profits of the company when you just left. It could be recruitment fees and finding your replacement. So, I suggest you follow the terms of the agreement. And then, when I talk to many unhappy employees, I always say, look, if they are in breach of contract, you must provide them with written notice. You can’t just sit there and take it and then use that as justification for not coming back. You must follow the terms of the agreement.