Notice periods vary according to staff category, please see below:

Academic Staff

Academic staff wishing to resign from the University are required to give 3 months' notice ending on 31 January or 31 July, in writing to the Vice-Chancellor and the HR Business Partner. Your letter of resignation should be accompanied by a completed Resignation Form.

Your period of notice is a condition of your contract of employment.  Should you wish to work a shorter/longer notice period this may be possible, subject to agreement with your line manager.

In the case of fixed term contracts employment is terminated on the date specified on the letter of appointment.

Employment may be terminated by the University by giving 3 months' notice of termination in writing for reasons which comply with the provisions of Education (Academic Tenure) (Northern Ireland) Order 1988, namely good cause or redundancy as defined in that order.

Employment may be terminated summarily on behalf of the Vice-Chancellor by the HR Director in the event of gross misconduct.

Research/Academic-Related Staff

Research/Academic-Related staff wishing to resign from the University are required to give three months’ notice in writing to the Head of School/Director and the HR Business Partner. Your letter of resignation should be accompanied by a completed Resignation Form.

Your period of notice is a condition of your contract of employment.  Should you wish to work a shorter/longer notice period this may be possible, subject to agreement with your line manager.

In the case of fixed term contracts employment is terminated on the date specified on the letter of appointment.

Employment may be terminated by the University by giving three months’ notice in writing, to end on the last day of a month, or by giving payment in lieu of notice.

Employment may be terminated summarily on behalf of the Vice-Chancellor by the HR Director in the event of gross misconduct.

Other Categories of Staff

Clerical, Technical, and Operational staff wishing to resign from the University are required to give notice in writing to the Head of School/Director and the HR Business Partner. Your letter of resignation should be accompanied by a completed Resignation Form.

Your period of notice is a condition of your contract of employment.  Should you wish to work a shorter/longer notice period this may be possible, subject to agreement with your line manager.

The amount of notice to be given varies with length of continuous service as follows: Less than 5 years’ service - 1 month's notice from Employer and Employee / 5 but less than 9 years’ service - 2 months' notice from Employer and 1 or where possible 2 months' notice from the Employee / 9 years or more service - 3 months' notice from Employer and 1 month's notice or where possible 3 months' notice from the Employee.

In the case of fixed term contracts employment is terminated on the date specified on the letter of appointment.

Employment may be terminated by the University by giving notice (as above) in writing, to end on the last day of a month, or by giving payment in lieu of notice.

Employment may be terminated summarily on behalf of the Vice-Chancellor by the People and Culture Director in the event of gross misconduct.

Internal Roles

If you are leaving your current role to take up another role within the University you do not need to resign. There should be a discussion with you and your existing manager and new manager as to when you will be able to start the new role.  Any start date should be mutually agreed subject to business need.

The University’s annual leave year runs from 1 January to 31 December.  If you leave part-way through the year, your annual leave will be pro-rated based on the portion of the year you work.  You can find out what your remaining annual leave is by contacting your line manager.   

Any outstanding annual leave should be taken during your notice period. You will need to discuss and agree this with your Line Manager. If this is not possible, you will be paid for any outstanding amount. If you have taken more leave than you are entitled to, a deduction will be made from your final salary payment.

For further information on annual leave including calculation of leave, please visit the annual leave section.

Please ensure that we have your current address to send out your P45. You can log into QOL to update your personal details.

You must check with your Line Manager to ensure that all necessary arrangements are made for the handover of your work and the return of all University property; your staff card and keys, etc, before you leave.

Retirement

From 1 October 2011, under the Employment Equality (Repeal of Retirement Age Provisions) Regulations 2011, the University no longer operates a Default Retirement Age of 65. Staff, wishing to retire, should do so in accordance with their normal contractual notice period, which dependent on staff category, will range from 1-3 months. To ensure that Pension benefits are available at the date of retirement, staff are encouraged to seek information on their pension benefits as early as possible and to provide at least 3 months notice of their intention to retire. Please note that for Academic and Research staff, the notice requirement from the employee remains three months but now ends on: 31 January or 31 July. This is necessary to enable the University to effectively plan the delivery of teaching and other related activities.

Flexible Retirement

The University is committed to adopting a more flexible approach to retirement, and as an alternative to full retirement, employees may reduce their working hours whilst drawing some of their accrued pension benefits.

The University is proud to offer Flexible Retirement at Queen’s. The Scheme is designed to give employees a pathway into retirement that recognises the value they bring to the University. It provides numerous benefits, allowing colleagues to gradually transition into this new phase of life in a way that best suits their individual needs, while continuing to contribute to working life at Queen’s. 

Policy and Application Form

Please refer to the Retirement Policy and Flexible Retirement Application Form for further information on the procedure to arrange and support flexible retirement.

If you require further advice or guidance in relation to the application process, please contact reward@qub.ac.uk.  All pension related queries should be directed to the Pensions Help Desk, pensionshelpdesk@qub.ac.uk.

We would be grateful if you could complete the exit questionnaire before you leave. We are keen to hear your views about the University and your role. This will help us to understand why you are leaving and to identify any improvements we could make for the future.

Please complete this on the Resignation Form to tell us where you will be working. This information is required for our HESA records.