The basic employment law requires a person to give a week’s notice, once you have worked somewhere for a month. It can be one week for every full year that you have worked for the firm up to a maximum of 12 weeks if you have been in the firm for 12 full years. Notice period refers to the amount of time the employee gives to the company before he decides to quit the job until he actually stops working. In general, one can give a week’s notice, but for regular and contractual workers the employer can set out terms and conditions of employment that can be longer (or shorter) than the statutory notice period.