# Notice Period: What It Means for Global Hiring and EOR Arrangements > Machine-readable page from EOR Overview (https://eoroverview.com/), an independent research platform for Employer of Record services. > Canonical page: https://eoroverview.com/glossary/notice-period/ > Methodology: how providers are researched, scored and compared is documented at https://eoroverview.com/methodology/. > Disclosure: EOR Overview is free to use. We may earn a referral fee from some providers; this never affects a rating or ranking position (https://eoroverview.com/disclosure/). A notice period is the time that must pass between one party giving notice of employment termination and the employment actually ending. In a domestic context the rules feel familiar, but when your workforce spans multiple countries, notice periods vary wildly by law, culture, and contract - and getting them wrong can expose your company to significant legal and financial risk. ## Explanation What is a notice period? A notice period is the interval between an employee or employer formally announcing the end of an employment relationship and the date employment actually ends. During this time the employee typically continues working, unless the employer opts for payment in lieu of notice (PILON) or places the employee on garden leave. Notice periods protect both sides. The employer gets time to find a replacement or redistribute work. The employee keeps income while searching for a new role and avoids a gap on their record. There are two sources of notice period obligations: - Statutory notice period: the legal minimum set by national or regional employment law. The employee or employer cannot contract below this floor. - Contractual notice period: the period agreed in the employment contract, which can exceed the statutory minimum but cannot fall below it. In practice, most employment contracts specify a longer period than the law requires, especially for senior or specialist roles. Notice period types explained - Working notice: The employee attends work as normal until the last day. The most common arrangement. - Payment in lieu of notice (PILON): The employer ends employment immediately and pays the employee the salary they would have earned during the notice period. Common when continued access to systems or clients poses a risk. - Garden leave: The employee stays on payroll and remains employed but does not attend work or contact clients or competitors. Often used for senior roles with non-compete concerns. - Probationary notice: A shorter notice requirement that applies during an initial employment phase, before the standard contractual terms take effect. - Immediate termination (summary dismissal): Applied only in cases of gross misconduct. No notice or payment is owed, though this must be defensible under local law. Why notice periods matter most in global hiring When a company hires internationally - whether directly or through an Employer of Record - the notice period is no longer a single policy question. It becomes a country-by-country compliance obligation. What works in the United States does not work in Germany, Brazil, or the Philippines. Several risks arise when companies apply a home-country standard globally: - Statutory minimums ignored: Many countries set notice periods that scale with tenure. Paying out only two weeks when local law requires three months creates immediate legal exposure. - Wrongful termination claims: Ending employment without the legally required notice, even by accident, can trigger fines, back-pay orders, and reputational damage. - Misclassification risk: Companies that engage workers as independent contractors to avoid employment obligations - including notice periods - face reclassification penalties in many jurisdictions. Courts in France, Spain, Brazil, and elsewhere have reclassified contractors as employees precisely because the working relationship resembled employment, and that typically triggers notice and severance obligations retroactively. - Garden leave and non-competes: Garden leave is only enforceable where local law permits it. Applying it in a country that does not recognize the concept, or where non-compete clauses require separate compensation, can make the arrangement unenforceable. How EOR arrangements handle notice periods When you hire through an Employer of Record, the EOR becomes the legal employer in the worker's country. That means the EOR's employment contract - governed by local law - sets the notice period, not your internal HR policy. Key things to understand: - The EOR will follow the statutory minimum and whatever the employment contract states. If you want to terminate a worker, you must give the EOR enough lead time to trigger the notice period correctly. - If you ask the EOR to terminate immediately without PILON, and local law requires a minimum notice period, the EOR will charge you for that statutory period regardless. Budget for it. - Garden leave clauses must be drafted into the original employment contract. You cannot impose them retroactively. - Offboarding timelines in EOR arrangements are often longer than companies expect, particularly in countries with extended notice requirements or mandatory severance calculations that depend on notice. Before offboarding an international hire, confirm the required notice period with your EOR well in advance of the date you want employment to end. Notice period lengths by country: a reference guide The table below shows typical statutory minimums. Contractual periods are often longer, especially for senior roles. Laws change - always verify current rules with local counsel or your EOR. Country Employee-initiated (resignation) Employer-initiated (termination) Scales with tenure? United States No statutory minimum No statutory minimum (at-will) No United Kingdom 1 week (statutory) 1 week per year of service, up to 12 weeks Yes (employer side) Germany 4 weeks to end of month 4 weeks scaling to 7 months at 20+ years Yes France 1-3 months (varies by category) 1-3 months (varies by category) Yes Netherlands 1 month 1-4 months based on tenure Yes Brazil 30 days 30 days + 3 days per year of service Yes India 30-90 days (contract-driven) 30-90 days (contract-driven) Varies by contract Australia No statutory minimum for employee 1-5 weeks based on tenure and age Yes (employer side) Philippines 30 days (statutory) 30 days (authorized causes require more) Partially Canada Reasonable notice (common law) Scales significantly with tenure and role Yes, significantly Canada deserves a specific note: common law "reasonable notice" for employer-initiated terminations can far exceed statutory minimums, particularly for long-tenured or senior employees. Courts have awarded many months of notice for roles that employees might assume warrant only weeks. Notice periods and misclassification risk One reason companies misclassify workers as independent contractors is to sidestep obligations like notice periods and severance. This is a high-risk strategy internationally. In most countries, a contractor who is reclassified as an employee becomes entitled to everything an employee would have received from day one - including notice periods for every termination that occurred during the engagement. Regulators in Spain, France, Germany, and Brazil have all pursued reclassification cases that resulted in back-pay, penalties, and statutory notice obligations applied retroactively. The safest approach when hiring internationally is to work with an EOR that employs workers correctly from the start, with notice periods built into compliant employment contracts. Setting notice periods in international employment contracts When working with an EOR - or hiring directly through a local entity - notice period clauses should address: - The notice length for resignation and whether it differs from the employer's notice obligation. - Whether PILON is permitted under local law and whether the contract explicitly allows it. - Garden leave provisions, only where local law supports them. - Probationary notice if a probation period applies. - How notice interacts with severance - in some countries they are calculated separately; in others, notice and severance overlap or one can offset the other. A blanket global template with a "two weeks notice" clause will breach statutory minimums in most of Europe, large parts of Latin America, and many Asia-Pacific markets. Each contract must reflect the law of the country where the employee works. Practical steps for HR and hiring managers - Before you hire: Map the notice period requirements for every country in scope. Factor longer notice windows into your hiring timeline - if a candidate must work three months' notice with their current employer, your vacancy will not be filled for at least that long. - When drafting contracts: Confirm the statutory floor, then decide whether your contractual period should exceed it based on role seniority and access to sensitive information. - When terminating: Notify your EOR or local HR partner immediately. Do not communicate a termination date to the employee before confirming the required notice period. Errors here are expensive to fix. - When managing garden leave: Restrict system and client access on day one of garden leave, document the arrangement in writing, and confirm that local law supports it. - During the notice period: Run a structured handover: document processes, transfer client relationships, and brief the incoming person or interim cover. A notice period that passes without a handover plan wastes the protection it was meant to provide. Notice periods and company culture in distributed teams For teams spread across multiple countries, a single notice period policy is rarely workable. What you can standardize is the process: how notice is given, what the handover plan looks like, and how departing employees are treated during the notice window. Treating notice periods as a genuine transition tool rather than a formality tends to produce better outcomes. Employees who feel respected during their notice period complete more thorough handovers, maintain client relationships through the transition, and leave as potential future collaborators or referrers. The same is true internationally: the tone of an offboarding in Germany or Japan carries reputational weight in local professional networks. For more on structuring employment terms internationally, see our guides on employment contracts and payroll compliance.