Notice Period in Perm finance Contract

[Cimaguy]

Hey folks,

I am about to sign an employment contract for a senior finance role. It is with an American PE backed tech company. They are only offering 2 months notice period and HR won't move on this. It is their standard for senior roles. My concern is if the business folds or is sold the role is likely to be made redundant - 2 months isn't much notice! Am I being too cautious. Is this the new norm in tech firms?

Thanks all.

[Alorotom]

Cimaguy said:

Hey folks,

I am about to sign an employment contract for a senior finance role. It is with an American PE backed tech company. They are only offering 2 months notice period and HR won't move on this. It is their standard for senior roles. My concern is if the business folds or is sold the role is likely to be made redundant - 2 months isn't much notice! Am I being too cautious. Is this the new norm in tech firms?

Thanks all.

Seems to be a common norm in mid-seniority roles now IMO/IME

[dibblecorse]

Define Senior within a tech company ?

Anything below a proper VP role is basically middle management, titles in tech have been inflated since salesforce came in with their investment banking style naming conventions, ie a VP at Salesforce is really a Dir elsewhere and most of the org architecture follows suit.

2 months for a middle management finance role is not unreasonable, they are viewed as being readily replaceable.

[RC1807]

I wouldn't worry too much about it. Should you resign, they're not going to keep you around - if you tell them you're off to a competitor.... . You'll probably leave immediately and will have 2 months off as gardening leave.

(I had 6 months' notice as an Exec Director in financial services. Nice gardening leave. )

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

Cimaguy said:

Hey folks,

senior finance role.

That being the case get in there & change it to what you want it to be!

[Cyberprog]

I'm in a mid-level tech role, and I have a 3 month notice period - mainly because it's hard to replace people and bring them up to speed. Mind you, they've not managed to hire to replace me and I leave on Thurs!

[Cimaguy]

Thanks folks for your replies.

The title is 'FP&A director' and reports into the CFO.

It might be worth talking it through with the CFO. I dont want to piss him off though. He has bent over backwards to get me into the business!

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

Cimaguy said:

Thanks folks for your replies.

The title is 'FP&A director' and reports into the CFO.

It might be worth talking it through with the CFO. I dont want to piss him off though. He has bent over backwards to get me into the business!

Get in, do a great job & renegotiate. (Or, if P & A involve human remains just rewrite it)

[Panamax]

I can't comment on current practice in the particular industry but 2 months strikes me as being on the short side. It's a long time since I saw any decent job with less than 3 months notice.

[Cimaguy]

Panamax said:

I can't comment on current practice in the particular industry but 2 months strikes me as being on the short side. It's a long time since I saw any decent job with less than 3 months notice.

Agreed. This post made me pick it up with the CFO. He agreed to 3 months!

Thank you all!

[bigandclever]

Cimaguy said:

Hey folks,

I am about to sign an employment contract for a senior finance role. It is with an American PE backed tech company. They are only offering 2 months notice period and HR won't move on this. It is their standard for senior roles. My concern is if the business folds or is sold the role is likely to be made redundant - 2 months isn't much notice! Am I being too cautious. Is this the new norm in tech firms?

Thanks all.

In my (limited) experience US companies tend to have 2 weeks notice, never mind 2 months.

[dibblecorse]

Cimaguy said:

Thanks folks for your replies.

The title is 'FP&A director' and reports into the CFO.

It might be worth talking it through with the CFO. I dont want to piss him off though. He has bent over backwards to get me into the business!

I wouldn't as he will need to get the CPO to approve the amendment and they are unlikely to do that and create an internal anomaly, it also rings alarm bells internally if on entry you are already trying to negotiate your exit terms, its not unreasonable as it is and not out of whack with industry norms, I've spent the last 15 years in house hiring for tech firms.

[bigandclever]

dibblecorse said:

Cimaguy said:

Thanks folks for your replies.

The title is 'FP&A director' and reports into the CFO.

It might be worth talking it through with the CFO. I dont want to piss him off though. He has bent over backwards to get me into the business!

I wouldn't as he will need to get the CPO to approve the amendment and they are unlikely to do that and create an internal anomaly, it also rings alarm bells internally if on entry you are already trying to negotiate your exit terms, its not unreasonable as it is and not out of whack with industry norms, I've spent the last 15 years in house hiring for tech firms.

You're half an hour too late.