Pitting the bitch who didn't give two weeks notice!!!

The BBQ Pit
41

I’ve only had one job that I quit (well, without notice when I took the job, like summer work). I did give two weeks’ notice, though I didn’t feel I owed it to them.

I had a horribly awful boss. I was trained over the span of several months by a woman who often vocally (and around me, though not TO me) complained that she had never wanted to train people and felt it was just awful that she was being so put upon. This individual, while often sociable, would lie about training me badly and put the blame on me.

A typical review meeting (weekly with trainer and supervisor):

Supervisor: I heard you did X! This is awful and completely against the rules!
Me: (shocked) I’m sorry, that’s how I was supposed to do it. I saw other people doing it this way when they were demonstrating for me.
Trainer: Nobody does it this way.
Supervisor: I could have you fired for that! It’s against the rules in the training manual!
Me: No, it’s not. I’ve read the manual several times [aside: because of poor training, I didn’t have much else to do. Other people would be surfing the web and I wasn’t allowed because I was in training, but they wouldn’t teach me anything] and it’s not in there.
Trainer: Yes it is!
Me: Ok, can you show me where it is?
Supervisor and Trainer look through manual.
Supervisor: Ok, it’s not in there. But this is a rule. We tell all of our trainees this rule.
Me: I’m sorry, nobody ever told me this rule.
Trainer: Yes, I did. I tell everyone this.
Me: We never even covered this. I just read the manual and took the test, and it’s not on the test.
Trainer: No, I did!
Supervisor: We train everyone on this!
Me: [getting worn down] I’m sorry, I’m trying to do what I’m supposed to do. Now that I know, it won’t happen again.
[Supervisor and trainer continue to tag-team berate me for several minutes.]
Now, said supervisor took to coming in every morning (I worked third shift, so I would dread the end of my shift) and glare at me, and ask my co-workers questions about my performance in my presence without looking at me or acknowledging me in any way. She got in the habit of, whenever she needed to berate me about something, coming over and saying “I NEED TO TALK TO YOU!” rudely. Eventually she poked me really hard when she did it, and it hurt. That was pretty much it. I don’t like being touched without permission and I found this really abusive.

Eventually I started contemplating running my car into trees on the way to work and fantasizing about being hospitalized because I wouldn’t have to go to work and dread all day getting chewed out at the end of my shift. I have always been a motivated worker, and every job I’ve ever had before had supervisors that (while sometimes taking advantage of my time and my work ethic) would praise me. I hated feeling like a slacker when I was trying so hard. I decided to quit. Now, with two weeks notice, they’re still screwed because it’s 3 months of training (it was a 911 dispatch center). Because of the nature of the job I would have felt really bad just quitting without notice, because someone has to staff these places for the safety of citizens. On the other hand, they weren’t getting more than two weeks because I wanted to keep my sanity.

That morning, my supervisor came in. I looked at her and said out loud, not discreet at all (just as she did with me): “I need to talk to you.” I went into her office and said I was quitting and this is my two weeks notice. This panicked look came into her eyes and she said (I shit you not):

“I’m sorry to hear that. I thought you would have been a great dispatcher.”

I must have looked at her like she was from another planet. I mean, WHY DIDN’T YOU SAY THAT BEFORE INSTEAD OF CHEWING ME OUT EVERY DAY?! I was so shocked, I just said thank you, but I couldn’t deal with the “work environment”.

Word got around pretty fast. People starting coming up to me and congratulating me. Before this, everyone was really backstabbing, trying to make all their mistakes appear to be mine (because I was new and was a convenient scapegoat) or were just generally distant. Now, half the crew, the young people that weren’t ‘in’ with the supervisor, came over and would quietly tell me how much they hated the job but that they couldn’t afford to quit. People out and out said that they envied me and wished I would take them with me.

Every day, the supervisor would come in all ticked off and look at me. I just glared back. If she had said anything I would have walked out and never finished my tenure there. She never did say anything to me and never chewed me out again.

42

Wait wait wait wait. Is this Henry Rollins’ standup or music? Because if it’s music, you’re not missing much. But if it’s his standup, I’d call in sick.

I’m a huge fan of Henry Rollins’ standup. I’ve got about 9-10 of his performances downloaded, and am always searching for more.

43

Yes, It is possible that sometimes it is unethical to not give two weeks notice and sometimes ethical. The world isn’t THAT simple. :slight_smile: I have heard several stories in this thread alone where I feel it was perfectly ethical to not give two weeks. In the case of employee abuse you must get out of there as soon as possible. Two weeks isn’t set in stone either. If you only have a week, give them that week, that is also fine.

Before anyone else yells at me, I would like to say that at least once in my life I have worked two jobs for a week so that I would feel I did right by everyone. I don’t expect anything out of others that I don’t expect of myself.
Oh, and by the way, I still get to go to Henry Rollins. My manager jumped through hoops to get me the day off because she knew I was excited about this. She pulled in a favor from a manager at another store. She is going to help my co-worker do it. :slight_smile:
I love my boss and my co-workers. My poor manager is pulling close to 70 hours a week to ensure that we all get our days off. With all she does for us, I can’t beleive that this woman would quit without notice just because “she doesn’t like working nights”.

44

Not that I don’t have sympathy for your boss or anything, but as the manager of a store, she should expect to be there every hour the store is open. If it turns out she isn’t needed for a few hours, she should be glad, but be prepared to buckle down again the next day,and the next.

That is what she was hired, and is paid, to do.

45

And if the manager feels that she’s working too many hours to suit her or to fulfill the requirements of her position, then she needs to either hire additional workers or better schedule the ones that she has. If her budget doesn’t allow for the hiring of more workers, then she’s got a problem much larger than one woman walking out because she “doesn’t like working nights.”

46

It occurs to me that the OP isn’t really mad about “the bitch” quitting without giving notice.

The OP is mad because certain days off, plans, and engagements have been screwed up or endangered. In short, y’r mad because YOU have been inconvenienced.

This is nothing to be ashamed of; it’s human nature to be upset when something blows up in your face through no fault of your own, certainly.

…but I gotta go with them what says judge not, until you know the WHOLE score.

I pride myself on always giving two weeks notice, although there have been a couple times I haven’t.

Once, I gave two weeks notice because I was sick to death of my supervisor. He made a point of being a dick during those last two weeks. I ignored him and did my job the way I always had. He made lots of noise, and I simply said, “If you don’t like the way I work, fire me.”

He about went nuts, and finally did manage to have me yanked from the schedule… one shift ahead of the time I would have been gone anyway.

Once, I walked out in mid-shift because a manager insisted on putting me on closing every night. I’d told him I was going to school, and had to be up to go to class at 7 a.m. every day, and could NOT work until 2 a.m., and he simply shrugged and said, “Tough.” So I told him I quit. I didn’t have to. I could simply have finished my shift and not shown up the next day…

…but I didn’t want to screw my coworkers any worse than I had to. So, if I felt that way, why not give notice? Because I was simply not willing to stagger to class feeling like the living dead for two weeks, just because my manager was being an ass. I mean, who’s worse? The employee who quits without notice, or the manager/employer who drives them to do so, then dumps the extra workload on the remaining employees?

On the other hand, there have been situations where I gave notice and stuck to it, even though it was hard for me. Why? Because I felt loyalty to those with whom I worked… and, more importantly, to the firm itself, and to my immediate superiors. One manager I remember in particular was very sorry to see me go, said so to my face, and offered me my job back any time I wanted it if things didn’t work out. She was the kind of boss that made you WANT to go the extra mile for The Company, and these days, that kind of management seems to be a vanishing breed…

…replaced by those who seem to think that it’s okay to intimidate or threaten an employee into abandoning her children in order to fill a damn shift…

47

I gave my two weeks notice at my last job before I moved out-of-state. When I told my manager I was leaving, I said that I really would like to work the last two weeks, since I do need the money, and she even said that it wouldn’t be a problem, and that she would need that time to find a replacement. You know, the reason why companies want two weeks notice.

She completely cut me out of the schedule. I raised hell - then she had the nerve to say that she didn’t recall me saying anything about two weeks notice! What the hell? One of the first things I said when I went to talk to her is, “I’m giving you my two weeks notice, because I’m moving to another state.”

Anyway, there were two other managers that were there for that conversation, and needless to say, I got my hours back.

That manager got fired (well, asked to quit, or she would be canned) about one month after I left…for being, but put in nicer words, a shifty bitch.

48

I used to believe in that “two weeks notice” crap. I don’t anymore.

I have found it’s virtually impossible to find a new/better job if, when the interviewer asks “when can you start,” you say, “I need to give two weeks notice…”. They will say, “thanks for coming in for an interview” and hire the person who may not be as well qualified, but can start the next day.

Also, most companies, especially the ones who expect two weeks notice when an employee quits, regard the people who work for them as, well, let’s be realistic, replacement parts. They don’t give employees two weeks if they feel the need to let them go, they just say, “you’re fired,” and that’s that.

Having said that, in a situation where I knew I had a couple of weeks between my hire date and my start date, I have been known to not only give notice, but actively try to help recruit my own replacement. This was when I was working at a casino where I really liked my boss, and his boss… but was going off to take a job where I would be making twice the money. I went back to the dealer’s school I had gone to and asked the instructors if there was anyone who was ready to “go out” for a job.

That, however, is a rare luxury. Right now, I’m looking at going back to work next week after a three week medical leave from Wal-Mart. I’m not at all confident that I am well enough to work at the job I was hired for, but they refuse to transfer me, and I can’t afford to be off any longer. Since the holiday craziness is over, I am going to begin job hunting this week. If I get a job offer, do you think I’ll be giving Hell Mart two weeks notice?

Fuck no.

Wally World doesn’t have any more regard for their employees than they would for any randomly selected inanimate object. They probably have more regard for the inanimate object.

I owe them nothing in the way of courtesy. They just laid off forty cashiers and I don’t know how many employees from other departments, and this from a store that was already dangerously understaffed. One more won’t make that much of a difference.

49

I gave my two week notice and worked it out because I didn’t want to burn any bridges in the industry I would like to stay in. I haven’t felt loyalty to a company or a supervisor since, oh, forever.

50

** Torie ** I’me glad that you are getting to see Henry Rollins. I hope that your manager gets some new help in so she is not working so many hours. She sounds like one of the good ones, who you and your coworker don’t want burning out.

It depends greatly on the situation that your coworker was in why she left. Since she is not around to now tell you why its hard to judge. If she left just because she woke up and thought *I’me tired of working this job, I’m going to quit today * yes, your right, she should have given the two weeks notice. If, on the other hand, one of her parents was in an accident and she was needed at home or, as others have said, she felt that this job was sucking the life out of her and it was quit or do violence to herself or others, then quitting without notice was the right thing to do.

51

You may be taking a gamble by giving two weeks notice. I have seen it happen that the boss is so pissed that the person is quitting that they just ask them to leave right then and there. So if you are relying on that two weeks pay, you are screwed.

It’s true what a lot of people have said. No employer gives you the courtesy of notice before being let go, so why does the employee owe the employer that courtesy? The company continues to go on, but for the fired or laid-off person, their whole life could crumble by being suddenly let go.

52

Loyalty is earned. Regardless of what the manual says, no individual or corporation has a right to it.