Discussion: Robert Peston and the BBC/ ITV

I do have access to UK employment law though.

The statutory minimum notice period is a week, unaffected by length of service. As Markymark says, anything beyond that is set in the contract. You might be getting confused with the employer's notice period.

Seems to be the case. Guilty.

Broadcast confirming ....

ITV rules out Robert Peston versus Andrew Marr clash

Peston on Sunday will avoid a head-to-head clash with BBC1’s The Andrew Marr Show when the ITV political format launches next year.

That makes sense to me, it'll mean that both programmes can interview high profile politicians, rather that having to fight for them, if you get what I mean

Not sure I get your point. I doubt either show will want the same guests that the other has on the same weekend - so the TX time allowing people to appear on both is not hugely relevant.

I guess avoiding a head-to-head clash avoids accusations of the audience not being able to watch both shows.

ITV have either done a Sunday politics show either during the breakfast franchise hours or at lunchtime (Jonathan Dimbleby springs to mind).

So I'd speculate on a 1230-1330 tx which is less likely to clash with Sunday Politics on BBC One.

Similar timing to Weekend World with Brian Walden?

So he's not on gardening leave... must be working his notice as he was on BBC News yesterday.

I'm sure my contract allows my employer, at their discretion, to decide how my notice period operates. It could be full gardening leave, fully worked or a combination. In reality we are unlikely to know especially as ITV might chose for Robert to work off screen for a period so that he can work on reports or exclusives to maximise impact early on.

Don't want to turn this thread into a debate about legal HR law, but employment contracts are actually quite difficult to enforce. Courts tend to regard them as non-binding agreements of service. In other words, they view them as a gentlemen's agreement. You do work for your boss and your boss agrees to pay you. Notice periods are notoriously difficult to enforce and, in court cases, tend to fall back on previous legal precedent. The unwritten rule is that an employer cannot force you to work any more than 4 weeks of notice if you don't want to - regardless of what you signed. (4 weeks is the time period agreed because it is accepted as sufficient time to find a replacement and avoid damaging a business) The thought process being that no business can prevent you from earning a living. Not that any of this will apply to Peston. Broadcasting is actually a very amicable industry and my experience when I worked in the industry was that they completely acknowledged that talent would move around.

The interview with Tom Bradby linked to in the News at Ten thread says Robert Peston begins as political editor in January.