If you are changing your job, you are required by law to give your present employer notice of your decision to leave. The actual length of the notice you are required to give will depend on your contract of employment and on the minimum notice that you are required to give by law. The principal legislation governing this area employment law in Ireland is the Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Acts 1973–2005. You can read more in our document about minimum periods of notice from employers.
A contract of employment may be agreed by word of mouth or may be set out in writing. Requirements as to notice are among the items in a contract of employment that should, by law, be in written form. You should therefore check your contract of employment for any provisions as to the notice you are required to give and follow those provisions. Remember that it is always open to agree a different arrangement to that contained in your contract with your employer.
If you do not have a provision in your contract of employment dealing with notice, the statutory minimum notice of one week will apply and this is the notice that you should give your employer of your intention to leave. The statutory minimum notice of one week, is set down in Section 6 of the Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Act 1973.