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Notice Period Calculator

Enter your resignation date, the notice your contract asks for, and the last working day you have agreed. You get back the notice served, any shortfall, and what a buyout of that shortfall would cost.

Includes buyout recoveryUpdated 10 August 2026

Your details

The date you submitted written notice, not the date it was accepted.
As stated in your appointment letter.
Use basic or gross depending on what your contract specifies for buyout.

Notice and recovery

Enter both dates to see your result.

How notice periods work in India

For most private-sector staff, notice period is a contract term rather than a legal one. What you owe is what your appointment letter says. Most letters ask for 30, 60 or 90 days, and senior roles sit at the higher end. Where the Industrial Disputes Act covers a workman, a legal floor of one month applies beneath the contract.

The clock starts the day you hand in written notice, rather than the day you told your manager or the day HR accepted it. Resign on 1 March with 90 days to serve, and your notice runs to 30 May.

Shortfall and buyout

Leave before the notice ends and the unserved days count as a shortfall. Most contracts let you buy out those days. They also let the employer take the same sum from your final settlement. Many leave that choice to the employer rather than to you.

Recovery is worked out on a 30-day month:

  • Per-day salary = Monthly salary ÷ 30
  • Buyout amount = Per-day salary × Shortfall days

Some contracts base the buyout on basic salary. Others use gross. The gap between the two is wide, so read the wording before you assume the smaller figure.

Working out a 60-day shortfall

An employee resigns on 1 January. The contract asks for 90 days. They agree a last working day of 31 January. That serves 30 days and leaves a shortfall of 60.

On a salary of ₹60,000 a month, the per-day rate is ₹2,000. The recovery comes to ₹1,20,000. It is either cut from the final settlement or paid by the new employer as a buyout.

Serving the full notice avoids the recovery. That is why it pays to check the shortfall before you agree a joining date elsewhere.

Points worth checking in your contract

  • Whether the buyout runs on basic salary or on gross pay. This can double the sum.
  • Whether accrued leave can offset notice. Many policies allow it only with approval.
  • Whether the employer can waive notice on its own, and whether a waiver ends the recovery.
  • Whether the relieving letter depends on serving full notice, since your next employer will ask for it.
  • Whether notice is shorter during probation, as it often is.

Sources

Notice periods for most private-sector staff are a matter of contract, not statute. The legal floor that does exist comes from the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 for workmen, and from the shops and establishments Act of the state you work in.

This calculator is an estimate, not tax or legal advice. Where a figure here and the statute disagree, the statute governs.

Frequently Asked Questions

From the day you hand in written notice, not the day it is accepted. Add the contract notice days to that date to find the required last working day. Days served run from the resignation date to your actual last working day. Anything below the requirement is a shortfall.
Per-day salary times the number of unserved days. Per-day salary is monthly salary divided by 30. Whether the sum runs on basic pay or gross pay depends on your contract, so check the wording before you work it out.
Once you have served the full notice, the employer has no ground to hold you. Withholding a relieving letter after full notice can be disputed. In practice an HR escalation usually settles it faster than a legal route.
Only where your leave policy allows it, and usually only with approval. Many employers bar it so that the handover is worked in full. Where it is allowed, accrued earned leave cuts the days you must serve.
For most private-sector staff it is a contract term rather than a legal one, so your appointment letter binds you. For workmen under the Industrial Disputes Act, a legal floor of one month applies beneath whatever the contract says.
The employer can take the full notice amount from your final settlement. It may also hold back your relieving and experience letters. Most employers check these during background screening, so an unserved notice can slow your next joining more than the money does.

Settle exits without the spreadsheet

Engage HRMS runs notice tracking, shortfall recovery, leave encashment and full and final settlement as one flow. Finance and HR no longer trade exit numbers over email.

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