When your company asks that you one, two, three etc. weeks notice, supposedly to give them enough time to find your replacement, how does that compare to the amount of time they give you to vacate the premises after you are fired/let go?
It probably depends on why you’re fired. Poor performance reviews, they’ll probably give you some standard amount of time, but criminal activity or gross breaches of professional ethics might be “Escorted out by security; we’ll eventually box up the stuff in your desk for you”.
Yes, but what about making this more personal and less “Factual Questions” statistical? What has been your personal experience?
There’s also the distinction between when you’re escorted from the premises versus how many more days you’ll be paid.
When I was working in or running smaller companies, we asked for two weeks notice. Of course we had no teeth in that: if folks wanted to just no-call no-show one day there wasn’t any sanction we could apply.
We also generally showed them the door right after firing, but also paid to the end of the pay period for work they’d never do, typically 2 weeks. And we didn’t game that to pick which day to fire to minimize future pay owed.
If it was more of a layoff, we made sure they had 2 weeks notice and typically paid 2 weeks severance after their last day.
Depends on labour laws where your job is, and more importantly, court decisions/precedents. What some company head thinks might be a rightful decision to fire is of little relevance. Same for amount of severance compensation. In other words, it depends on the circumstances. Why in many cases it’s prudent to speak with someone up on the laws.
Quitting a job often is a matter of common decency and or how easily replaced you are . . .& how much you hate the job and people there 
I was laid off twice. In both cases it was part of a larger layoff because of poor company performance. People who got hostile in the meeting with management and HR were escorted to their desk and watched while they took their personal belongings. In both cases they took my badge and told me that I could grab my stuff on my own and say my goodbyes. They are supposed to give you two weeks notice minimum but typically they will give you two weeks pay in lieu of notice but I got a better severance in both cases.
I quit three jobs. In all cases it was on very good terms. I gave two weeks notice the first time to wrap things up. The second time the boss asked me to stay an extra week and so it was three weeks notice. The last job was the one where I retired and I gave six months notice for strategic financial reasons and because I was a key player and it would take a while to train my replacement and finish up some projects.
As a professional, not giving sufficient notice will burn a bridge and it generally a dick move but there are certainly plenty of examples were it’s justified.
Voluntary and involuntary separations are completely different things (not to mention the varying types of involuntary separations, but you’ve specified being fired): why try to compare apples to oranges?
I was laid off once as part of a larger layoff that triggered the WARN Act. My last day physically at the company or with access to their systems was the day the layoff was announced. I was still technically an employee for an additional 60 days (so insurance, 401k match, etc.) and then I was paid the equivalent of 16 weeks salary as severance.
Vastly different than someone being let go for cause.
Fired = almost always stop working that very day, for security reasons. The employer doesn’t want a disgruntled employee fooling around with the databases, systems, etc. Yes, it can be an inconvenience if they hadn’t prepared your replacement, but sometimes they have no choice. But often, a firing comes stealthily and is prepped in advance; i.e. they knew for weeks that you weren’t going to meet quota and would still fail your benchmarks, etc.
Personal experience: I was one of two facilities managers at a company. We were both called into the director’s office on a Friday and handed a final check and a letter explaining that we were being terminated without cause THAT DAY. This was a money-saving move and they hired one person to do both of our jobs for a lower salary. I hope it failed. I did get even, but that’s a different story.
I’ve given a two-week notice in the past, as it was required by the company.
I quit a contractor company that treated me poorly and went to work directly for the contracting agency. The company made grumblings about a non-compete clause, to which I replied “So sue me.” They didn’t.
For my company, it really depends on why someone is being let go. If we’re terminating employment for gross misconduct or performance issues there is no notice given. Bam! You’re out. We’ll mail you your stuff. If we’re talking a reduction in workforce, especially if the WARN act is applicable, then we typically give our employees 2-3 months notice. We also have a severance policy we pay out so long as the employee works until their scheduled final day.
My company asks employees for two weeks notice when they decide to leave.
That’s not why they want notice - there are very few jobs where a replacement can be hired inside of two or three weeks. They want the notice so you can tie up loose ends and so they can make preparations for how your work will be handled until your replacement is hired. (if they even hire a replacement)
I can only speak for my last job - they wanted two weeks notice if you resigned. If you didn’t provide the two weeks notice, you wouldn’t be paid for any vacation time that was accrued. For retirement, you have to notify the pension sytem at least 15 days before the date you want the retirement to be effective and then they notify your employer , so it wasn’t uncommon for managers/coworkers to get little or no notice of retirement. I knew someone who submitted his retirement papers while he was on a two week vacation. He returned to work on Monday and turned in his keys and other equipment because his retirement was effective Tuesday.
If you were fired, almost no matter why , you were given 2 weeks’ pay in lieu of notice. Once, I was told two people were given a choice - they could both resign first thing the next morning or they would both be arrested. I assume they weren’t given the two weeks’ pay
Unless it’s an internal replacement which was the case with two of my jobs. A promotion for both of them.
The last two times I was laid off I was given no notice, but I was going to be paid until the end of the week. In addition I had severence and extended health benefits.
I’ve never worked somewhere with an official policy about how much notice to give before leaving. I’ve generally given two weeks and I’ve never been walked to the door. If things work out the way I hope, the next time I give notice it will be for retirement, and I’m willing to negotiate things with my boss.
In my experience.
If you were fired, you were taken into a meeting, when you got back to your office there was a cardboard box sitting on your former desk and you had 2 hours to pack up, say good bye, to co- worrkers, and get out, if they were being nice to you. If they expected trouble you were perp- walked right out the door and sent your stuff later.
To the OP. You are not going to be penalised for not giving any notice. You are not getting rewarded for giving notice either. The company cannot withhold any pay or benefits that you have earned. Call the Bureau of Labor or whatever it is called in your state, they hate hearing complaints about pay or benefits being withheld and they will quickly settle. The company must pay you out fully.
Your next job does not care one single bit if you quit your last job with or without notice. In fact, when they call to check on your work history most employers can only say “Bob worked here from X date to Y date” and will say nothing more. Anything else opens them up to financial liabilites.
When I retired from my first career in law enforcement they wanted 6 months notice. This was to insure you didn’t get assigned to anything that could be long and drawn out passed your retirement date, and so you could set up and structure your retirement pension benefits (which takes longer to do than you think).
Getting fired from a LEO job is usually long and drawn out. A suspension with or without pay, an internal affairs investigation, a police and fire commission investigation, meetings with the union, court proceedings if a crime was committed. It can take months.
Oh yeah, my wife got fired from a strong union manufacturing job. Took them about 6 months of her staying home and getting paid before it was final.
I gave Nissan three months notice that I was leaving for retirement, even though I technically wasn’t eligible for their retirement package. Then I asked them if I could extend it another three months so that I could continue to use their insurance for some fairly expensive heart test. Turns out there was nothing wrong with my heart other than anxiety due to not wanting to work anymore!
Since they were (and still are) in the midst of downsizing professional level people by means of working people into the ground they were OK with this.
Agree completely … for professional and managers and many office positions. Which just about every reply, including mine, has been about.
If instead we’re considering hourly low skill labor the replacement situation is a bit different. Waitstaff, diner cook, janitor, warehouse picker, delivery truck driver, retail cash register operator, etc.
Those may be more the sort of jobs the OP had in mind.
It’s still the case the worker’s notice is give management time to plan for the disruption in labor delivery. But getting a replacement on board can be real quick down near the bottom of the labor food chain.
What I had in mind was that people gave their personal experiences, no matter what their job was.