Would you give more than 2 weeks notice when leaving your job?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’m faced with a dilemma of sorts. I’ve been offered and accepted a new job. I need to stay with my company through the end of June in order to get my yearly bonus, and now I’m not sure when to give my notice.

I could wait and give them 2 weeks notice some time during the week of 6/17, but we’ve got a bunch of projects in the pipeline and I think my department needs to suspend the projects in order to allow me time for knowledge transfer.

I’m reluctant to give them too much of a notice, though, because I’m concerned they might term me on 6/28 just to fuck me out of my bonus. I’ve heard in the past that they have tried to cheat employees out of bonus money because they gave their notice before the end of the performance period (even though they worked through the end of the period). The stated policy is “Employees are eligible for bonus payments if they are active employees through the end of the performance period dates of Dec. 31 or June 30”. There is an additional rider that states “Voluntary or Involuntary Terminations - prior to the end of the Performance Payment Period are NOT eligible for a Bonus payment”. It’s my personal opinion that this statement is deliberately crafted to be ambiguous, so that the company can try to refuse bonus payments to folks like me, giving their notice at the end of the fiscal year.

They rely heavily on me, and my only leverage is institutional knowledge, so if they say they’re not going to pay my bonus, I’m willing to walk out on them, and will tell them so. I hate to do that, as it would be potentially burning a bridge, but that’s really the only bargaining chip I have, and I’ll play it if I have to.

FWIW, SmithWife says I need to give notice as soon as possible. I was prepared to do so today, but my boss is out of the office.

2

Do not risk the bonus. You come first.

I once gave 3 weeks notice, knowing I had two weeks of vacation pay coming to me. On the last day, they pulled out an obscure rule that basically erased my two weeks pay totally because I gave more than two weeks notice.

I was not happy, my exit interview was uncomfortable, and I learned a lesson.

3

Jeez. Maybe I should keep my mouth shut and come in on July 3 and tell them I resign effective immediately.

4

Burning bridges behind you is not automatically a bad idea. It keeps the crazies from following you. :slight_smile:
mmm

5

It depends on whether you’re willing to pursue legal action if they don’t come through with your bonus or other benefits. If you’re an at will employee they could just fire you on the spot and deny your bonus. Assuming an honorable employer though, there’s nothing wrong with giving more than two weeks notice. And actually there’s nothing wrong with giving less notice when the company can terminate your employment at any time without notice.

6

Since you state that the company policy is that if you voluntarily terminate prior to the end of performance period that you will not be eligible for a bonus…I would be willing to bet that you will not get your bonus if you go in and quit. Sounds like those are the terms of your employment and for you to expect otherwise would be unreasonable. It’s not like they hid this policy from you before you went out and started looking for work with someone else.

If you want to keep your bonus, you need to not voluntarily terminate prior to the end of June.

7

I concur with all those who said don’t quit until you get your bonus. That’s like “bonus 101”.

As for “burning bridges” I wouldn’t worry about that. At least not such that quitting is “burning a bridge”. Do you plan to travel back down that road?

8

“Employees are eligible for bonus payments if they are active employees through the end of the performance period dates of Dec. 31 or June 30”

I suspect there’s a bit of red tape that says if you’ve given notice, you’re no longer considered an active employee. So another vote for don’t say anything until July.

9

Maybe I could put a provision in my resignation letter, stating my resignation is effective immediately, unless bonus payout is guaranteed, in which case my last day will be July 1. That sounds kind of like extortion, though.

10

I would argue the other way around. If the OP gives notice that his last day is past June 30 AND works for the company through June 30, he has done everything required for the bonus.

Which is not to say the company can’t fire him on the 28th, presuming at will employment they can just terminate him. They may need to pay any accrued leave according to applicable laws and company policy.

I see two options. First, see if new employer can wait so that you can give notice on July 1. Of course, many companies will try to be weasels and still not pay the bonus.

Or burn that bridge, wait until you have earned the bonus and then come in and quit. Give as much notice as possible at that point. But no need to pass on any details when the new job starts or was offered. If the old employer is offended, point out their own past poor behavior made you reluctant to give more notice. it is doubtful they will change their ways, but at least you told them.

11

My response to that sort of statement from an employee would be. “No, your last day is today, effective immediately. We’ll have a box of your personal belongings waiting for you at the front desk that you can pick up at 5:00. Please hand my your keys, security badges, etc. Thank you.”

12

Yeah, give the notice after you’ve gotten the bonus pay.

13

That’s not really a “no,” though, that’s just going with Option A the employee has already given.

But, yeah, I’d keep my mouth shut until June 30 passes to not miss collecting the bonus, unless, for some reason, I really don’t care about the bonus.

14

Your realistic options are to:

  • give notice and to almost certainly get no bonus - but possibly better future references if you need it
  • get your bonus and give notice

Guaranteed money or possibly better references, your choice.

15

One thing I haven’t seen in the thread so far:

There’s two parts to burning a bridge: not working there again and references.

As far as not working there again, depends a bit on the industry. If you have a very small industry and there’s a chance you’ll need to go back to your old company, burning the bridge might not be such a good idea. On the other hand, if you hate your current company and wouldn’t go back even if they tripled your salary, who cares?

The one I would be more concerned about would be references. Sometimes it can be hard to get a new job if you can’t get references from previous employers, and burning a bridge is going to ruin your chances of a reference.

For example, here’s a personal story. I was working for a mega-corp, but the product was circling the drain and management had their heads up their asses, so I found a new job. I had no intentions of burning bridges, although I am never working there again, I just figured it’s better to leave on good terms. However, the VP for my department called me in his office to ask why I was leaving. I should have given a song and dance about how I wanted a shorter commute, which they wouldn’t have any particular response to. However, I instead told him the real reason I was leaving: the product sucked, everyone knew it, and the management treated the employees like serfs. He got quite huffy at the idea that we didn’t think management was a great benefactor.

Anyway, after that meeting he had me escorted out of the building that day. As soon as my badge was turned in, he called a meeting of my direct bosses, and told them that I had tried to get in a fistfight with him, yelled obscenities, and was no longer allowed back on premises. Now, this was ludicrous, because he was at least 6 inches taller and 50 pounds heavier than I am, he had a glass office, the door was open the whole time I was in there, and there are people that would have been able to see in if I pulled a stunt like that.

Didn’t matter. None of my managers would give references. Luckily I like my current job (the references were, quite honestly, just to see if I could get Google to give me an offer, which they didn’t), so it doesn’t matter for the foreseeable future. But it might matter for you.

It also somewhat matters how big the bonus is. If the bonus is just a couple hundred bucks, I wouldn’t care. If the bonus is five figures, well screw the company, I’m waiting until that money is in my grubby little hands.

EDIT: of course I would get scooped on references if I typed out my story. sheesh.

16

The time to quit is after the check clears, not before.

17

If an order came down from higher HQ to do away with your position in two weeks, would anyone in management argue that they should keep you around so you could have your bonus?

No, it would be ridiculous.

Stay until after bonus, give your notice, be graceful and professional - it may surprise you that you will not burn as many bridges as you thought.

18

Saved me all the typing. :slight_smile:

19

I drove to the company’s bank and cashed out, THEN I gave notice with a wallet full.

20

I don’t see anything ambiguous about it.

“If you give notice before June 30, we fire you. Then you don’t get your bonus.” What could be clearer?

I concur with the chorus - give your notice on July 3. If they want you to do knowledge transfer for two weeks, fine. If they want you to leave immediately, also fine - you are eligible for, and should receive, your bonus.

I don’t see why it would affect your references if you stuck around so as to collect a bonus.

If you really don’t trust them, wait until you have the bonus in hand before resigning. They can’t make you give it back. If they threaten to withhold your vacation pay or something like that, make sure you have a copy of the resignation letter, with the date on it, and a copy of the company handbook where it says you were an active employee as of June 30.

Good luck with your new job.

Regards,
Shodan