Notice period
Also called: notice
Typical lengths in Europe
Notice periods stack tenure and seniority:
- Germany: 4 weeks during probation, growing to 7 months at 20+ years of tenure.
- France: 1-3 months depending on contract category (cadre vs. non-cadre).
- Spain: typically 15 days unless the contract specifies longer.
- UK: 1 week per year of service after 1 month, capped at 12 weeks (statutory minimum).
Senior roles often carry longer notice in the contract — 3-6 months is normal for managers in DACH.
Why notice matters for hiring
Notice is the gap between offer-accepted and start-date. For an SMB, this is when you lose candidates to counter-offers, when you have to keep the seat warm, and when preboarding lives or dies.
When you screen, ask about notice early. A 3-month notice on a senior candidate changes the start date math for the whole team.
Where Join fits
Join surfaces notice-period as a screening field on the application form so it’s visible from the first review. See the features page.
