I don’t read that the same way. The case focuses on the indefinite time frame:
“The claimant’s informing of the employer of his new job was not a resignation in itself; the claimant did not intend to resign at that time.”
“By informing the employer in May that he had accepted another job which was to begin at some indefinite time in the future, the claimant did not resign, nor did he show the intention to resign.”
I don’t think you can conclude from that case that: “I’m leaving in two weeks” would have the same result.
If she waited 2 weeks and said I will be leaving after tonight ,how would that be received. It is a one way street. That can say pack your stuff your employment is over. Try to do the right thing and give notice they can escort you out the door.
I wonder about the use of the word “entitlement” here. It’s an accepted custom that one gives two weeks’ notice to an employer and is paid for those two weeks regardless of whether the employer demands actual work for those two weeks.
Regardless of whether the law creates such an obligation, what the employer did in this case was clearly misleading and it would be appropriate for other employees to be informed about this action.
unless you have a very very good reason to trust your employer never ever give notice, there is simply no reason to. they will fire you at any time for any reason but expect you to give them notice? why would you play that game? its a literal game of heads I win tails you lose.
There is one good reason to give proper notice – the old “don’t burn your bridges” reason. This is a small world and you never know when your career path will cross with a former employer. My strategy has always been to give proper notice and to offer transitional support before I leave. However, if told to pack up and leave immediately (which incidentally has never happened), to comply without any hard feelings. After all, I just fired my employer and not the other way around.
OK, talked to her a bit more about the situation and it appears there was no particular promise from the employer to keep her on the full notice period. She’s got no standing to claim pay for the unworked part of the notice period, that much is clear. It would further appear that the reason she was let go in advance was in part because her immediate boss is leaving with her to the new employer, and the former employer was annoyed with that. That of course begs the question as to why they are keeping her boss on for the full notice period, but I’m not gonna try to sort that one out.
She remains owed one or two commision checks for leases she closed prior to being dismissed. One presumes that the former employer will pay up for that, and that if they don’t it would be a slam dunk for recovery in small claims, should she decide to press the issue, as she has documentation of the leases and her immediate boss would back her up in court.
Employers who want their employees to actually give two weeks’ notice should not make a habit of showing people the door (or failing to pay them for two weeks). Otherwise, other employees will observe this and simply give NO notice (i.e. walk out the door).
FWIW, I just gave my notice at two different jobs in the last three months. In both cases, I did not give notice until I had the new job offer in hand with a start date. I also discussed with both new jobs the possibility of starting early if I was shown the door upon giving notice.
Both firms kept me on for the full two weeks.
Heck, I gave two weeks’ notice to the second company after having worked there for only six weeks! (Another, much better government job offer came after I’d already started at the firm.) I have to hand it to them. They were very gracious, and I worked my tail off for them in my last two weeks. They even had a good-bye lunch for me! :dubious: They also told me that if the government job didn’t work out, to just give them a call.
This certainly impressed me. If I’m ever inclined to get back into consulting, it would be with that firm.
At my last regular paycheck job I was in a fairly advanced narrow specialty high responsibily job in a place that didn’t pay very well. I knew that they would have a hard time replacing me. I gave them 30 days notice, and informed them I was giving this duration because I knew it would not be a simple matter to locate someone else with my skillset.
Funny thing is, someone got a bee in their bonnet that I was gonna try something crazy like sabotage our who inventory database for the western US or something. Granted I had access to do that kind of damage, but I had no such plans. They cut me loose on monday of week 4 and handed me a check paying me through friday and told me to pack up and go home, my email and network access had been cut 2 hours before I arrived, which sucked because I had a bunch of personal emails I wanted to save.
Wow. Over here in South Korea the law requires the employer to either give:
[list][li]30 days notice, unless the contract requires a longer period of notice, or[/li][li]30 days pay, unless the contract requires a longer period of notice.[/li]
If the contract states a shorter period, that cluase is invalid and the employer must adhere to the “30 days notice or 30 days pay” rule. Sadly, it’s a major pain to fight through the Labor Board (which has exactly zero enforcement powers) and then the courts to get the
pay if you get stiffed.
Back to the OP’s friend’s situation: what does the contract state?
Few workers in the U.S. have employment contracts. Every professional job that I’ve had since leaving the Navy has been an “at-will” position. I could quit with no notice, and I could be fired with no notice.
The two weeks’ notice is a courtesy only, and is not generally enforceable.
For the Navy, I had to give 6-9 months notice! (It was a formal letter to the Bureau of Personnel informing them of my intention to resign my commission.)
You never know what an employer is going to do. That’s why you should never give your notice without being ready for the possibility that you could be shown the door at any time between giving notice and your last scheduled day.
Before I gave my notice, I had all personal info (emails, etc.) forwarded and/or cleaned out of my computer, as well as the vast majority of personal belongings removed. (Actually, I didn’t want to spill the beans, so I intentionally spread the few remaining personal items around to not make it too obvious that my office had been cleaned out. My desk drawers were basically empty, though.)
