Read how your employment contract can be ended, by either side
The termination section decides how the job ends: the notice you and the employer must give, what counts as cause for ending it immediately, and whether the employer can put you on garden leave or pay you instead of notice. Ask Search+ about each route out and read the cited wording, including the definitions those clauses rely on.
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Last updated October 2026
How to read termination terms with Search+
- Upload the contract and related policies
Add the contract with any disciplinary policy or handbook it refers to. What counts as misconduct is often set out in a policy, not the contract.
- Ask about each route separately
Ask about resignation, termination with notice, termination for cause and payment in lieu as separate questions. Each tends to have its own conditions.
- Read the definitions and the after-effects
Ask how the contract defines cause or gross misconduct, and what obligations continue after termination. Open the citations and read them together.
Questions about termination
How much notice must I give to resign, and how much must the employer give me?
What conduct allows the employer to end my employment without notice?
Can the employer require me to stay at home during the notice period, and am I paid?
Can the employer end employment immediately by paying instead of notice?
Which obligations, such as confidentiality or restrictions, continue after employment ends?
What to look for in termination terms
Notice periods are not always symmetrical, and some grow with length of service. Read both directions in the cited clause.
A long list of examples of cause gives the employer more room to end employment without notice. Check whether policies add to the list.
These clauses let the employer control the notice period. They can affect bonus timing and when restrictions start.
Minimum notice and protection from unfair dismissal are set by law in many places, differently in each. The contract cannot always reduce them.
Asking across the workspace lets Search+ answer from the contract and the disciplinary policy together, citing each.
Termination wording and what it signals
| Wording you may see | What it usually signals | A follow-up question |
|---|---|---|
| "by giving not less than ... notice in writing" | The notice requirement | Is the period the same for both sides? |
| "summarily dismiss" | Termination without notice | Which conduct is listed as grounds? |
| "garden leave" | Paid absence during notice | Do my restrictions run during garden leave? |
| "payment in lieu of notice" | Immediate exit with pay | Which pay elements are included? |
| "shall survive termination" | Obligations that continue | Which clauses survive, and for how long? |
What is the termination section of an employment contract?
It is the part of the contract that sets out how employment can be ended by the employee or the employer, the notice required, the grounds for ending it without notice and what happens during and after the notice period.
Questions about termination terms
Can Search+ tell me my notice period?
Will it find what counts as cause?
Can it explain garden leave in my contract?
Can I compare termination terms between two offers?
Is this legal advice about being dismissed?
Know how the job can end before it does
Start a workspace, upload the contract, and ask how either side can end it.
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