s 1 Minimum period of notice
(1) The notice required to be given by an employer to terminate the contract of employment of a person who has been continuously employed for twenty-six weeks or more— (a) shall be not less than one week’s notice if his period of continuous employment is less than two years, and = (b) shall be not less than two weeks’ notice if his period of continuous employment is two years or more but less than five years, and (c) shall be not less than four weeks’ notice if his period of continuous employment is five years or more. (2) The notice required to be given by an employee who has been continuously employed for twenty-six weeks or more to terminate his contract of employment shall be not less than one week. (3) Any provision for shorter notice in any contract of employment with a person who has been continuously employed for twenty-six weeks or more shall have effect subject to the foregoing subsections, but this section shall not be taken to prevent either party from waiving his right to notice on any occasion, or from accepting a payment in lieu of notice. (4) Any contract of employment of a person who has been continuously employed for twenty-six weeks or more which is a contract for a term certain of four weeks or less shall have effect as if it were for an indefinite period and, accordingly, subsections (1) and (2) of this section shall apply to the contract. (5) Schedule 1 to this Act shall apply for the purposes of this and the next following section for ascertaining the length of an employee’s period of employment and whether that period of employment has been continuous. (6) It is hereby declared that this section does not affect any right of either party to treat the contract as terminable without notice by reason of such conduct by the other party as would have enabled him so to treat it before the passing of this Act.