Hello,

I'm leaving my job at a restaurant. The contract says the notice period is one month.

I informed my employer today (1/12) of my leaving as I want to leave at the end of this month (31/12). However, she said that I need to work until the end of January.

Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks.

You should have resigned by November 30 to be able to leave at the end of December.

Ask your employer again, maybe they are willing to let you go earlier?

Yes, your employer is right. Notice is measured in full calendar months, and the notice must be received by the employer before the notice month begins.

Thanks. She doesn't want to let me go earlier. That's the problem. I guess I need to work until Jan then.

Does the contract (and all the employment conditions etc) actually only say one month?

I wouldn't kick up a fuss because you still want a decent reference and so on, but the contract should say something like "and can take effect only at the end of the month".

In any case you'd still be slightly wrong, your exit date would be 1st January.

"Auf das Monatsende" is not only a standard wording but also the default by law. Art. 335c Code of obligations

It is a restaurant job we can also look into the L-GAV/CCNT : https://l-gav.ch/fr/convention-actue...delai-de-conge
It conveniently also specifies that the resignation must be in reach of the employer within the prescribed notice period..

But if the employment contract varies the notice period, and does not include the end-of-month part, does it still apply?

I would have thought that the whole clause in the law is replaced with what is in the contract, so if end-of-month is wanted then it needs to be written.

Usually it will come with “any day” verbiage.... if not as far as I know, it must follow the law...

I don’t know for sure

Colleagues of mine have it in their contracts now that "the notice period is 30 days" i.e. you leave 30 days after giving or getting the notice, regardless of how many years you've worked their.


The trouble with the word "month" is that it's not a clear until of time like day or week. Someone new to Switzerland could easily and understandably take "one month's notice" to mean if you resign on the xth of the month you work until the xth of the next month.


One thing you can do if you have the balls is to simply tell them when you're leaving and stop working on that day.

But the meaning is clear - one month means to the same date in the next month. Every contract I've had (I checked) explicitly stated the end-of-month thing.

The question is whether it still means "end-of-month" even if not stated, due to the underlying law aSitUS quoted, or whether any contract has to completely state the period including that part. I don't think "it's always that way" is a valid contractual argument, although sometimes it can be for very clear "unwritten" standards.

I wouldn't recommend just leaving - unless the new job is dependent on the earlier date and is obviously secure and better than the current one.

I would say so. If a contract does not specify something than the default set by the Code of Obligations takes precedence. That is exactly the reason for its existence. Nevertheless, the contract parties can mutually agree that it should be interpreted differently. If both are happy the Code of Obligations, even the wording of the contract, is not that relevant.

See also Art. 18 and 19 Code of Obligations

In the UK I would tend agree with you.
However, there are 12 months in the year. "One month's notice" could easily also be interpreted as being "one of those months", otherwise it's a proportion of one month and a proportion of the next which is often referred to in English as "a calendar Month" but that it also not clear as it also means one of the 12 months in the calendar.