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Notice for a dental nurse or receptionist: one week per year up to 12 weeks, and what pay in lieu costs the practice
The minimum notice a dental practice must give a nurse or receptionist, from one week to 12, with the pay in lieu bill worked out for six lengths of service.
A nurse or receptionist is leaving the practice, or you need to end a contract, and someone asks how much notice is owed. The contract is the first place to look. The law sets a floor under it. GOV.UK's page on notice periods, which we read on 16 October 2026, gives the minimum an employer must give.
The minimum an employer must give
The page sets out three bands:
- from one month to under two years of service, "at least one week's notice";
- from two to twelve years, "one week's notice for each year";
- at twelve years or more, "12 weeks' notice".
The contract can give more than this but not less. If a nurse's contract says one month and she has seven years' service, the statutory minimum of seven weeks is longer, so seven weeks applies. If it says three months, the contract wins.
What it costs: six lengths of service
GOV.UK says notice pay is based on average weekly earnings over the 12 weeks before notice starts. For the table we assume a full-time dental nurse on the National Living Wage, £12.71 an hour, for 37.5 hours a week. That is £476.625 a week, shown as £476.63. These figures are our own calculation, and they cover basic pay only.
| Length of service | Statutory minimum notice | Basic pay for the notice period |
|---|---|---|
| 1 year | 1 week | £476.63 |
| 3 years | 3 weeks | £1,429.88 |
| 5 years | 5 weeks | £2,383.13 |
| 8 years | 8 weeks | £3,813.00 |
| 12 years | 12 weeks | £5,719.50 |
| 15 years | 12 weeks | £5,719.50 |
The jump from 8 to 12 years adds £1,906.50. After 12 years the figure stops rising, so the receptionist with 15 years is owed the same minimum as the nurse with 12.
To work out your own number:
- Find the whole years of service on the last day of employment.
- Apply the band: 1 week under two years, one week per year from two, a cap of 12.
- Take average weekly earnings from the 12 weeks before notice starts.
- Multiply the two.
- Add contractual extras, covered below.
Pay in lieu of notice
The page says an employer should either pay through the notice period or make a payment in lieu. If your contract includes a payment-in-lieu clause, employment can end without notice and the person receives "basic pay for the notice period, plus any extras in your contract, such as pension contributions or private health insurance". An employer may also offer pay in lieu where the contract is silent. If the employee accepts, GOV.UK says they "should receive full pay and any contractual extras".
For a practice that is the practical choice when a relationship has broken down and you do not want someone at the front desk for five more weeks. Price it first. For a nurse with five years, ending the contract on the day costs £2,383.13 in basic pay, plus the employer pension contribution if the contract provides for it. Our guide to pension auto-enrolment for dental staff shows how that contribution is worked out.
Notice is not the only date that matters
Notice is separate from the six-month point that affects unfair dismissal. Our guide to unfair dismissal and the 1 January 2027 change sets out the dates for new starters. If the role is going altogether, notice is separate again from redundancy pay, which our guide on statutory redundancy pay at a dental practice works through with the weekly cap.
The wage in the table above comes from our guide to the minimum wage for dental receptionists and nurses from April 2026. If the person is paid more, replace £476.63 with their real average.
What we did not read
The GOV.UK page covers the notice an employer must give. It does not set out what an employee must give the employer, so we say nothing on that here: check your contract and GOV.UK's guidance for employees. We did not read the rules on gross misconduct, where notice may not be due, nor the guidance on how to treat bonuses, overtime or holiday accrued in the average. The table uses basic pay only.
Overlyft builds AI staff who join the team, and one of them can do this specific task: draw up the notice calculation for the practice manager from the start date and the last 12 weeks of pay, and draft the notice letter for the manager to check and send.
This is not legal or financial advice. Check the GOV.UK page and your contract before you act, and take advice before ending anyone's employment.
Where this comes from: GOV.UK, Redundancy: notice periods, read 16 October 2026.
AEO Lookup editorial team
We write practical guides for people who run small UK firms, and we check every fact against its source on the date shown. Read how we review, or tell us if something has changed.
