Free tool
EU notice period calculator
Pick your country, tell us if you (the employee) or your employer is initiating the termination, add your tenure and the notification date — we compute the statutory notice period and the latest possible last working day. Covers Germany, Austria, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Poland, Portugal and the United Kingdom with the 2026 statutory references and explicit handling of trial period, special protected status (pregnancy, parental leave, disability, works council) and tenure-based extensions.
- 1Country›
- 2Contract›
- 3Tenure & date›
- 4Result
Pick the country whose law applies
Notice rules differ enormously between EU countries. The calculator applies the labour code of the country you select, with collective-agreement notes where relevant.
Why notice periods differ so much across Europe
A notice period is the time that has to pass between when one party announces it wants to end an employment contract and when the contract actually ends. In most European labour codes the period is set asymmetrically: the employee usually owes a shorter notice than the employer, and the employer's obligation often grows with the employee's tenure. Belgium and Poland are the main exceptions to that pattern — they apply the same scale in both directions.
Beyond the headline number, four practical layers interact: the labour code minimum (the floor that no contract can undercut), the applicable collective agreement (Tarifvertrag, CCNL, convention collective — often longer than the floor), the individual employment contract (which can extend the collective period for senior roles), and the protected-status overlay (pregnancy, parental leave, long-term sickness, recognised disability, works council membership) which can suspend or override every layer above. Trial period is the only situation in which most countries allow same-day termination with no notice at all.
WorkDaten's calculator returns a CONSERVATIVE estimate based on the statutory floor for ten European countries. Where the country's rules are heavily sector-driven (Italy CCNL, France conventions, UK contractual supersession), a warning prompts you to check your actual contract before relying on the number. The result page also displays the legal reference and links to the official labour-code source so you can verify the figure independently. It is a planning estimate, not a substitute for advice from an employment lawyer or your country's labour authority.
Frequently asked questions
Short answers to the questions people most often ask before relying on the page.
- Is the result good enough to plan my resignation date?
- Yes for the planning conversation, no for the binding date. Use the calculator to brainstorm scenarios, compare countries and write a draft letter; then read your contract and the applicable collective agreement before delivering the resignation. If the contract or sector agreement specifies a longer notice than the statutory minimum, that longer period prevails.
- Why is the employer notice longer than the employee notice?
- Because labour law in most EU countries treats the employee as the weaker party in the employment relationship. Asymmetric notice gives a fired employee more time to find a new job, while the employer (which has more resources) can usually backfill quickly. Germany, Austria, Netherlands and Belgium all apply asymmetric scales; Spain and Poland apply equal scales.
- What happens during the trial period?
- Most EU countries allow either party to end the contract during the trial period with little or no notice — Netherlands and Austria allow same-day termination, Germany requires two weeks, France's notice depends on time elapsed (24h–1 month). The calculator switches to the trial-period rule automatically when you select that contract type.
- Does the calculator account for special protections?
- Partially. The calculator surfaces a clear warning when you select pregnancy, parental leave, long-term sickness, recognised disability or works council membership — these scenarios are too country-specific and procedurally complex to capture in a generic estimator. In every flagged case the recommendation is to consult a labour lawyer or your works council before any termination action.
- Are notice periods the same for fixed-term contracts?
- No. Fixed-term contracts in most EU countries cannot be terminated by either party before the agreed end date except for serious cause. The calculator handles this by switching to a 'consult your contract' note when fixed-term is selected — the legal regime is too case-specific to estimate in a generic tool.
- Is the tool free?
- Yes. All ten countries, all calculation paths, all the localised UI and the official source links are free with no signup. The site is supported by contextual advertising. Future paid features (saving multiple scenarios, downloadable PDF letter templates) will be opt-in additions.