ok to give 1 week notice

In My Humble Opinion
1

I know the custom is for employees to give two week notice. I also know that ‘at will’ means the employee doesn’t have to give any notice…and the company can just say ‘pack up and leave now.’

I may be leaving my company soon and would like to have a short period of relaxation between the start of the next job. I’m contemplating giving only 1 week notice. How bad would this be? I don’t think it would be terrible, I don’t know if I’d be ‘black balled’ for not giving full two weeks…but I’m not sure if that would be all that relevant anyway.

I just want to get a feel for generally how unprofessional it would be to do so. Apparently my company has no problem with firing 10% of the people on the spot as cost savings measures on a regular basis, so I’m not sure the ‘professional curtesy’ angle applies to them.

2

One week is better than zero. If the boss is human, the gesture may be appreciated.

3

It depends on the field you’re in, and the job situation. Will you be able to adequately train or teach your replacement all that they need to know? It’s nice if you have enough time for that. Is this an especially busy time of year for your company?

They’ll get over it, and while not ideal it’s not probably not something anyone will remember a year from now.

4

I suppose it depends on the company’s overall atmosphere and how you feel about it. I left a job once with less than a week of notice. My boss was a total ass - as close as I can quote directly: “As far as I’m concerned, everyone here rates average on evals unless you do something spectacular.” If he viewed us as a herd of “average” employees, my leaving the herd couldn’t be that big a deal, could it? My departure had very little effect on my coworkers, other than perhaps reducing the amount of time they could waste shooting the bull.

And in the grand scheme, it was my life, and the new job paid considerably more and ultimately turned into a 26 year career. Had there been a connection between the two jobs, I might have been more inclined to give longer notice, but the one I left had nothing to do with the field I was entering and when all was said and done, my abrupt departure was little more than a blip.

YMMV, of course.

5

The main issues with quitting abruptly seem to be using that company as a reference, or trying to get rehired at some point. If neither of those things bother you, then go for it. I’ve left with less than 2 weeks. I simply had a nice conversation with my manager telling her I had a great opportunity, but it starts soon. If they’re at all human, they’ll be happy for you.

6

When I left my last job, I gave one week notice. I was miserable there, and I was real tempted to give 8 hours notice. I decided against that. My boss complained a little about the short notice, but I’m guessing that they all survived. I had another job lined up, so I wasn’t real worried about repercussions.

7

It works like this at my company.If you quite to take a position at a customer they will want you to stick around for two weeks if possible so that they can kiss your behind, but will be more than be understanding if you leave right away in order to take a much needed break between jobs because we always valued your work. :rolleyes:

If you quite to go to a competitor they show you the door immediately and bad mouth you internally for two weeks so that everyone knows that you were a slacker and only cared about building up your resume by having our impressive name on it. How dare you make such a foolish career move, do not ever come back here! Oh and here’s two weeks pay so you don’t sue us for being assholes. :eek:

If you quite to go back to school or take a position outside of our industry they generally don’t care and give you a week or two. :o

Most of the positions in my office are highly technical and detail oriented, but they don't care if you stick around to train your replacement; mostly your boss sits down with you at your computer, gets your passwords and makes sure he knows where your files are at and adios amigo.  :D
8

For higher-level positions, and positions critical to a Company’s function, yes: It’s “unprofessional” not to give as much notice as possible for an elective transition to another Company.

How much notice you should offer depends on how much hurt a rapid departure will generate. Be aware that giving any notice at all will frequently trigger a response by an employer that severs you immediately.

There are many circumstances under which an immediate departure without any notice at all is justified, on both sides.

As a rule of thumb, a rapid departure burns a bridge, so be careful that it’s not a bridge you will need later.

9

Seeings how most business give zero notice when they fire you, I think a single week’s notice when you quit is being very generous.

10

As mentioned above, it really depends on how much in the lurch you’d be leaving your employer. Where I work, anytime anyone leaves it’s a serious burden, and the more notice the better, but the difference between one week and two is rarely that significant. (Two weeks isn’t enough to complete your current project, but one week should be enough to transition to a new worker, if one is available – and having two weeks might not make a huge difference in the latter regard.)

Frequently, here, people give management plenty of notice but management tells them not to mention it until just before leaving. I don’t like that, though I understand the reasons for it.)

I once gave my work a year’s notice that I’d be gone for six months, traveling. That worked out well, and I worked for them again after I returned (but not right away, not until they had new contracts coming in, which was fine.) They definitely appreciated the advance notice.

If you do decide to give only one week notice, I suggest tellng the truth to your boss: you want/need a week off between. Since you probably won’t be able to take vacation right away in the new job, you’ll really want that time off now.

A similar thing happened to me: I was offered a job; they asked me when I could start and I said I only needed to give two weeks notice and could start immediately after that. But before it was final, my wife pointed out that if I postponed it two more weeks, we could have a vacation and it would span Labor Day, after which I could start. I simply asked the new employer if I could postpone two weeks and they had no problems with that.

Maybe you could try this with your new employer: “I won’t want to take vacation right away after starting, but I need to have a vacation this year. However, I won’t be able to do that and give my current employer two weeks’ notice. Can we delay my start by one week?” As a hiring manager, I’d rather agree to that than to get a burnt-out worker, and I’d learn that the new hire was someone who takes responsibilities seriously.

11

It might also be in the realm of possibility to negotiate a start date with your new employer that would allow you to give 2 weeks notice and then take a week off before starting the new job. I realize that’s not always possible, but the last time I changed jobs, I negotiated a start date 4 weeks out from my acceptance of the offer, so I could give 2 weeks notice and have a 2 week vacation. As it happened, my former employer’s policy was to dismiss the person immediately and to pay them for the notice period, so I got a total of 4 weeks vacation, two paid and two unpaid. It’s reasonable to want a break in between jobs, because you are likely to have less vacation time available going into a new position.

12

A co-worker of mine gave notice Tuesday that her last day will be Sunday, she’s starting a new job on Monday.

She had previously warned people that she was just waiting for the new place to finish the pre-employment drug screen, so we were more pleased for her than anything else.

It’s not enough notice for us to hire someone new and get them screened before she leaves, but, well, we’re retail-- any notice at all is appreciated.

13

You already have another job lined up? Fuck 'em. One day notice and then enjoy your 2 weeks off. Burn that bridge and laugh in the glow of the flames, is what I say.

14

Quitting without notice is acceptable (actually, necessarily) under the following circumstances:

  1. Your physical and/or mental health is in immediate danger as a direct result of the job.

  2. You are being forced to violate the law, or your own personal ethics, to do your job. Not being paid would be included in this.

  3. You are not safe working there; this is not about inherently dangerous jobs unless common or required safety measures are not being taken, and would also include sexual or other forms of harassment, especially if no recourse is possible.

If none of those apply, at least give some notice.

I did have to quit a job without notice in early 2012 due to #1. I still think about it every single day. :frowning:

15

I don’t think it’s wise to burn bridges you may need to cross again. Maybe not with that particular employer but later applying for a similar position?..

Two weeks notice is the norm. Do that and you blend with no pointed questions further down the line. (Always try to fly under the radar. I think Batman [should have] said that once.)

16

Another awesome thread