Best date to resign: what you give up by leaving now
What you lose by resigning depends on your last day, not the day you give notice. If a bonus needs you employed on its payment date, shares vest later, or a sign-on payment must be repaid if you leave early, a few weeks can be worth thousands. Enter your notice and the dates: the calculator shows the money at risk and the earliest date to give notice that keeps it.
Worked out for the example. Change the boxes to make it yours.
Giving notice 93 days later, on Wednesday 3 February 2027, keeps $21,273.97 that this date gives up.
| Notice given | Monday 2 November 2026 |
|---|---|
| Notice | 4 weeks |
| Last day of employment | Sunday 29 November 2026 |
| Bonus of $8,000 paid 18 Dec 2026 | Lost: $8,000 |
| To keep the bonus, give notice on or after | Saturday 21 November 2026 |
| Shares or options worth $12,000 vesting 1 Dec 2026 | Lost: $12,000 |
| To keep the shares or options, give notice on or after | Wednesday 4 November 2026 |
| Sign-on or relocation payment of $5,000, repayable until 2 Mar 2027 | To repay: $1,273.97 |
| To repay nothing, give notice on or after | Wednesday 3 February 2027 |
| Money at risk on this date | $21,273.97 |
| To keep everything, give notice on or after | Wednesday 3 February 2027 (last day 2 Mar 2027) |
- Whether a bonus, award or repayment depends on your still being employed is set by your employment agreement or the scheme rules, not by law. Read the clause: some pay a bonus pro rata to leavers, and some repay a sign-on payment by whole months.
- Annual holidays are not lost: untaken leave and the 8% since your last anniversary are paid in your final pay. Sick leave is not paid out.
- An employer can take a repayment out of your final pay only with your written consent, or as the law allows.
- Parental leave depends on 6 or 12 months with the same employer, so a new job starts that count again.
Your Career, on the Career and Timesheets plan. Your account puts the notice period, in weeks, on your job in Your Career, after asking. The dates and amounts stay on this page.
Your last day is what counts
The notice period runs from the day you give notice to your last day of employment, and you are employed, and paid, all the way through it. So a bonus paid during your notice is usually still yours unless the clause says otherwise. The calculator counts the notice from the day you give it, as Employment New Zealand's examples do: 4 weeks given on Monday 2 November 2026 ends on Sunday 29 November. Months end the day before the same date in the later month, the way the Legislation Act 2019 counts them (section 56). Check our notice period calculator for public holidays and the last working day.
Bonuses, shares and clawbacks
No law says a bonus is lost when you resign. It depends on your employment agreement or the scheme rules: a bonus clause may require you to be employed on the payment date, or not to be serving notice. Share and option schemes usually set what happens to awards that have not vested when you leave. A sign-on, relocation or study payment may have to be repaid if you leave within a set time, in full or reduced for the time you stayed. In the example, giving notice on 2 November loses an $8,000 bonus and $12,000 of shares and repays $1,273.97 of a $5,000 sign-on payment: $21,273.97 in all. Our article on valuing a bonus in a job offer helps you weigh what a new employer offers against it.
What is not lost
Annual holidays are paid out. Your final pay must include any untaken annual holidays, at the greater of your ordinary weekly pay and average weekly earnings, and 8% of your gross earnings since your last anniversary; with under a year's service, it is 8% of everything you have earned (Holidays Act 2003, sections 23 to 25). Sick leave is not paid out (section 67). An employer can take a repayment out of your final pay only as the law allows, such as with your written consent, so a clawback is otherwise a debt to settle. Our final pay calculator works out what your last pay must include.
Other dates worth checking
Parental leave depends on 6 or 12 months with the same employer, so a new job starts that count again; parental leave payments look at any work in the 52 weeks before a due date. A new employer may also use a 90-day trial period. If the new job can wait, a later notice date that keeps a large payment is often worth asking for: our article on negotiating a start date covers the conversation. This is the law as it stands; your agreement's wording decides the rest.
Questions
Do I get my bonus if I resign before it is paid?
It depends on the bonus clause or scheme rules. If they require you to be employed on the payment date, you keep it only if your last day is on or after that date. Notice counts as employment, so a bonus paid during your notice is usually still yours unless the clause says otherwise.
Do I have to pay back a sign-on bonus if I quit?
Only if your agreement says so, usually for leaving within a set time such as 12 months, in full or pro rata. An employer can deduct it from your final pay only as the law allows, such as with your written consent.
What happens to my unvested shares or options if I resign?
The scheme rules decide, including whether awards that have not vested lapse when you leave. Check the vesting date against your last day of employment, not the day you give notice.
Do I lose my annual leave if I resign?
No. Untaken annual holidays are paid in your final pay, plus 8% of your gross earnings since your last anniversary. Sick leave is not paid out.
When is the best time to resign?
Money-wise, on a date whose last day falls after every bonus payment, vesting date and clawback end date that needs you employed. The calculator gives that date for your notice period.
What happens when I save this?
Your account puts your notice period, in weeks, on your job in Your Career, after asking. The dates and amounts are not saved. Your Career is part of the Career and Timesheets plan.
Sources
- Employment New Zealand: notice periods.
- Employment New Zealand: resignation.
- Employment New Zealand: final pay.
- Employment New Zealand: deductions.
- Holidays Act 2003.
- Legislation Act 2019.
More free tools: see all the calculators.