I have a fear of giving any more than the customary “two weeks notice” to an employer, due to my dad having been fired twice when I was a kid for trying to do what he saw as “the right thing” and telling his employer he’d be working somewhere else a month or two in advance.
Is this a reasonable fear, or am I biased by my childhood experience?
Much depends on the particular employer of course, but I am wondering if valid generalizations can be made here.
I think giving more than two weeks notice would be very, very unusual for me. I’d need to be both exceptionally close to my employer (probably to the point of frequently socializing outside of work) and very essential to my job, likely requiring me to train my replacement. If those conditions weren’t in place, then 2 weeks it is. They can fire me at any time for nearly any reason, so for most employers, I’m not going to extend them tons more courtesy than they would extend to me.
When I left my old job, I gave a couple months notice - but this was an unusual situation, insofar as I was leaving one Federal civil service (technically, excepted service) position for one in another agency. Moreover, my boss (and her boss, my previous boss) both liked me, and wished me well. I made a point of giving as much notice as possible precisely because they’d gone far out of their way to treat me well, and I wanted to return the courtesy.
But, then, that’s me - and I had absolutely no reason to fear I’d be treated badly. It really does all depend on context.
It is a reasonable fear. But I gave six weeks notice at my last job, and I’m about to give four weeks notice at a job today (yay!). I will update this thread if I get summarily fired. 
There’s little reason to give more than two weeks. If you’re so indispensable that they’ll be screwed without you that’s their problem. You could die today and they’d be in an even worse position because they wouldn’t even get the two weeks. They start talking about “brain dumps” and “knowledge transfer” and training other people to do your job but that stuff is a waste of time. Two weeks is enough time for almost anyone to document any processes that they do that nobody else knows how to do. That stuff should really be documented while you work there, not when you decide to leave, because, again, you could die today. That’s the best argument against giving more than two weeks - you could die today and they would have to make their way without you. If they can’t survive without you it won’t matter whether you give two weeks or two months - they won’t survive in either case.
I got fired from a job for no good reason when I was 18. Scarred me for life, and even to this day after nearly 20 years of positive semiannual performance reviews, I’m always looking over my shoulder for the axe man. Sometimes an isolated negative experience just sticks with you.
As you said, it depends on the employers involved, but I think it makes sense to arrange with the new boss to take you in sooner than 2 weeks in the event your old boss says, “Not necessary, just get out of here.” Unless, of course, you have the means to swing a 2 week vacation without pay.
Definitely depends on the employer. A very good friend and long-time coworker gave six-weeks notice recently. She had the same debate and fears as the OP, but there were several factors that favored her choosing to give extended notice:
[ul]
[li]She’d been here 15 years[/li][li]We’re not a huge office, and she was very well-liked, so it would have been a complete moral-killer for the staff if they’d canned her[/li][li]Providing early notice allowed her to get some astoundingly glowing recommendations from bosses who are highly respected in the industry[/li][li]She was not moving on to a competing job (she moved to another city)[/li][li]Our team was struggling already with the work load, and we needed every hand we could get up until a replacement was found[/li][/ul]It worked out just fine for her. The recommendations she received landed her a new job (#1 out of a field of 167 applicants) very quickly, and the farewell party the firm threw for her was somewhat unprecedented for a staff member.
Clearly, YMMV.
One of the largest Corp security companies in the business recommends immediately handing the employee his last paycheck and escorting him out.:eek:
So, unless you know what they will do, figure this could happen.
It’s a reasonable fear. Even if your boss is a great guy who wants to do the right thing, their hands may be tied when it comes to company policy or the unofficial opinion of their higher-ups. And it’s not unheard to give an employee 2 weeks pay and “some time off” on the day they give notice.
If I had any doubt I’d wait until it was under a month. That said, you know your employer, you can always refer to what they did the last few times someone quit. If all those people gave 2 weeks … well, there you go.
I gave 30 days notice that I was leaving one job, I knew they were going to have a hard time replacing me and I was told they appreciated the extended warning. I worked for 2 more weeks then I came in one day, found myself locked out of my logins on the computer, found something else to do for an hour till my branch manager got in, and he handed me a check covering the last 2 weeks of my notice plus cashed out my PTO on top of it and wished me luck. It still took another 6 weeks for them to replace me.
Giving the standard two weeks notice is all I would give unless you are very sure of your relationship with the company.
If you give 6 or 8 weeks notice they are under no obligation to allow you to work up to your chosen end date. They can let you go as soon as you give notice. You might get a response like “I think this is a great opportunity for change, for both of us! Bob is ready to move up into your spot next week!” Don’t play your hand too soon.
Two weeks is the polite thing to do but even that isn’t always necessary. I left a 30 year job by giving 2 weeks, then I looked around after the first week and realized that I didn’t need to keep doing the job and the replacement situation was just fine.
I had emotionally checked out and staying wasn’t going to benefit the situation. Plus I wanted a bit more time off before starting my new job.
I went to the boss, who I had been working with all of that time and said, "I don’t need to be doing this anymore, and you don’t need me to either, how about tomorrow? " And it was just fine.
Some changes are best made soon. Giving more than the usual 2 weeks can lead to awkward situations. Kind of like deciding to get a divorce while planning to live together for the next 6 months.
If you think that you must take an unusual amount of time to train your replacement, you are probably wrong. If you are actually right in this assessment, then the organization is at fault, not you.
Be polite, be professional, and be prepared to have your ass and your last pay check handed to you at anytime after announcing your intention to leave.
Disclaimer: this applies mostly to the USA and ‘at will’ employment areas.
Maybe employment law is different where you are but here you’d still get your two weeks pay after giving notice - even if your boss spazzed out and fired you on the spot after hearing it; they owe you two weeks notice or pay if they get rid of you under most circumstances. YOU can quit with no notice and they owe you nothing, but if you give your proper notice you’ll get paid (whether they keep you working or kick you out right away).
I’d say in most circumstances the default best thing is to not give advance notice that you’re leaving; 2 weeks is enough. The likelyhood that you’ll experience some sort of negative consequence is a lot higher than the chance you’d benefit from it.
The last company I worked for had a general policy that anyone who gave notice of leaving was sent home that day; IOW the day you gave notice was your last day allowed there, and you didn’t even finish the day (they just showed you the door and paid you out). The only exceptions made were for long-term employees who essentially stopped doing that kind of work/retired, or 1 case of a critical long term employee who was in control of the company’s finances/payroll/and had fingers in all sorts of pots. This is an example of a common attitude among business owners:“if you don’t want to make me/my company money, then get lost”. Better or closer relationships certainly exist in the work world, but they are the minority and most jobs don’t consider you worth that much, whether you sweep floors or design hydroelectric dams.
I gave about six weeks notice at my last job. If I got fired, big deal - I was going on sabbatical anyway. They begged me to stay, so I don’t think it was a horrible decision.
Where is “here”? What if you give a year’s notice “here”? Do they have to pay you for a year?
I have had it both ways. One place I quit, and they insisted I work the full four weeks of notice that I had agreed to. (They tried to get me to work late my last day. :D)
One place didn’t even let me leave my manager’s office when she found out I was leaving - I sat there while they processed the paperwork, generated my last paycheck, and then did the perp walk to my desk with a box for all my stuff. Then they walked me out the door and shook my hand and I never saw the inside again.
I would give exactly the notice required in your contract/employment agreement/whatever. As noted above, the company is usually legally required to pay you for two weeks in lieu of notice. But if they want you out the door, that gives you leverage. I did not leave my last job until I had written notice that they would pay me my prorated year-end bonus, cash out my unused PTO, what they would say if any future employers contacted them, and that kind of stuff.
Regards,
Shodan
Thanks guys.
I work for a non-profit university. I teach courses here, and I also am the head of a non-academic administrative division. Some of the reasons I’m considering giving a few months notice are:
They’re planning on me teaching one or two courses in the Spring, but if I take this new job, I won’t be there. There are not people already here who can teach it, and there are not qualified people in the area willing to do it on an adjunct basis (we’ve checked).
I really, really, really want them to hire someone from outside to take over my position rather than the usual shuffling they do in cases like this. I want to be involved in helping find the right person, if at all possible.
Why the heck do I care about number 2? Well, I’ll be honest–I love this place, and I want to see it succeed. So there’s something personal in this I have to admit. It’s not like a big corp that will come or go without me needing to care about it. It’s a non-profit with a mission it takes seriously, and a mission I care about too. Even though I don’t care, I guess, quite enough to not think leaving for a better paying position (at another non-profit with a mission as it happens) is out of the question…
The disappointed faces of the people I work with when I spring on them at basically the last minute “oh by the way I’m leaving soon.” We’ve really put together something extraordinary in the division I’ve been put in charge of and, well, we’re comrades.
But on balance, I think it is best for me to handle this the traditional way. 
Just makes me sad is all.
Federal service is not an at will employer. You cannot be terminated without cause (budget considerations notwithstanding), including excepted service.
I make enough money and spend so much time at the office that a 2 week vacation without pay like that seems like a very appealing idea, especially since I wouldn’t have to worry about finding a new job (since I would already have one lined up).
When I left University employ, I told them about two months before the end of semester. I was an instructor, among other duties, so it was easier for me to finish the year. Went just fine, and they were able to find someone to fill the position by the time the next semester came around.
Given these reasons, I think you should consider giving more notice. Like you said, this is a nonprofit whose mission you care about, and they are counting on having you there in the spring. Do you have any reason not to trust your supervisor or the university in general?