# You won the lottery. Do you give your employers 2 weeks' notice? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 6, 2015, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-won-the-lottery-do-you-give-your-employers-2-weeks-notice/733685 "2015-10-06T03:56:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-won-the-lottery-do-you-give-your-employers-2-weeks-notice/733685/161 "2015-10-15T15:47:25Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > The hypothetical involved winning $100,000,000. You’re seriously worried about maybe needing to return to work at some point? You never know what the future may hold. More immediately, it’s a question of upholding your reputation. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-won-the-lottery-do-you-give-your-employers-2-weeks-notice/733685/162 "2015-10-16T04:19:34Z")
There’s value in being decent to the other people in your life. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-won-the-lottery-do-you-give-your-employers-2-weeks-notice/733685/163 "2015-10-16T06:37:34Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Win enough and attempting to spend it all would be a full time job. You might not believe this, but I’d tire of that. I enjoy what I do and I’d miss doing it. If “they” said I could no longer work for pay because I’d won too much money, I’d do it for free. Not full time, as I said, but I wouldn’t give it up. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-won-the-lottery-do-you-give-your-employers-2-weeks-notice/733685/164 "2015-10-16T11:28:04Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > There’s value in being decent to the other people in your life. So, give them all Rolex watches, engraved with pithy wit. As an employer I’d prefer a nice gift over some dude who is a multimillionaire but still punches in and puts his egg salad sammich in the fridge. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-won-the-lottery-do-you-give-your-employers-2-weeks-notice/733685/165 "2015-10-16T11:33:10Z")
> [@jabiru](#): > > You might not believe this, but I’d tire of that. Man, not me. It would be fun to wake up and on a whim decide to have dinner at a French restaurant, in France. Leave the house with only my passport, wallet, and tablet. Buy luggage and clothes enroute. Carry a roll of hundreds to tip with, never passing a busker without making their day. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-won-the-lottery-do-you-give-your-employers-2-weeks-notice/733685/166 "2015-10-16T23:19:59Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > So, give them all Rolex watches, engraved with pithy wit. As an employer I’d prefer a nice gift over some dude who is a multimillionaire but still punches in and puts his egg salad sammich in the fridge. You wouldn’t want your employee to finish up the stuff he was working on and pass along some info on what’s what before he took off? I would. ---
**Author:** ![Satellite\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Satellite\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satellite_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-won-the-lottery-do-you-give-your-employers-2-weeks-notice/733685/167 "2015-10-17T03:18:11Z")
Yeah, Boss? _cough_ I’m not coming in today. _coughcough_ I’m calling in _ **RICH!!** _ 😃 😃 I didn’t read through the entire thread, so I don’t know if someone answered the same as I did. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-won-the-lottery-do-you-give-your-employers-2-weeks-notice/733685/168 "2015-10-17T09:30:29Z")
Well, for a start, my notice period is three months. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-won-the-lottery-do-you-give-your-employers-2-weeks-notice/733685/169 "2015-10-17T09:34:15Z")
> [@Kinthalis](#): > > Two weeks notice is part of the business transaction. It’s a way to not burn any bridges. With $100 million I don’t need no stinking bridges. And the reality is that if the company was going to lay me off or fire me, _I_ sure as hell wouldn’t get two weeks notice. > > So no. If it is in your contract you are opening up yourself to being sued. Here (Sweden) my notice period is three months, for both me and my employer. They not only are legally obliged they also have to discuss with my union before taking any steps. And yes, I have a white collar job, I am a programmer in a fringe/niche area of the games industry. Unions are simply more common here. ---
**Author:** ![Cell\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@Cell\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cell_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-won-the-lottery-do-you-give-your-employers-2-weeks-notice/733685/170 "2015-10-17T15:39:01Z")
Since Illinois isn’t paying out any winnings over $600 at the moment I would not give any notice until I had that cash in hand. Once I had the cash I would definitely give two weeks notice. Some friends at my company vouched for me when I was going through the hiring process. While I wouldn’t give a rats ass about my reputation in this situation I wouldn’t want to do anything to damage their reputations. They were friends before they were co-workers. However, if those friendships did not exist, my notice would consist of a postcard with a picture of me sitting on the beach in Hawaii, Mai tai in hand, middle finger firmly upraised. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-won-the-lottery-do-you-give-your-employers-2-weeks-notice/733685/171 "2015-10-18T15:14:29Z")
> [@amanset](#): > > If it is in your contract you are opening up yourself to being sued. > > Here (Sweden) my notice period is three months, for both me and my employer. They not only are legally obliged they also have to discuss with my union before taking any steps. And yes, I have a white collar job, I am a programmer in a fringe/niche area of the games industry. Unions are simply more common here. It is extremely unlikely that anyone in the US would be sued for not showing up at work. We have an anti-slavery clause in the constitution which has been interpretted as limiting how onerus “I quit” restrictions can be. There are a few people who have contracts that include (limited, reasonable) financial penalties for quitting with inadequate notice, but even that is uncommon here. And we are assuming you’ve won enough money that you could just pay off those clauses. It’s still the norm to give notice in professional jobs, for all sorts of reasons, of course. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-won-the-lottery-do-you-give-your-employers-2-weeks-notice/733685/172 "2015-10-19T23:38:43Z")
> [@Una\_Persson](#): > > …chauffeur ferry me to and from work, I’d have gourmet lunches with Fierra every day, I could hire a masseuse to visit me at work when I want… This. Also, I’d have my couturiers come conspicuously in, with hot assistants, and fit me for my Brioni suits. ---
**Author:** ![opinionator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/58956e/32.png) [@opinionator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/opinionator)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-won-the-lottery-do-you-give-your-employers-2-weeks-notice/733685/173 "2015-10-19T23:50:28Z")
If I won the lottery and could quit I would instead test the limits and see just how much I could get away with before they fired me. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-won-the-lottery-do-you-give-your-employers-2-weeks-notice/733685/174 "2015-10-19T23:56:49Z")
> [@amanset](#): > > If it is in your contract you are opening up yourself to being sued. > > Here (Sweden) my notice period is three months, for both me and my employer. They not only are legally obliged they also have to discuss with my union before taking any steps. And yes, I have a white collar job, I am a programmer in a fringe/niche area of the games industry. Unions are simply more common here. Work “contracts” in the US are very different from those in Europe. We mostly don’t have contracts (except if you are in sports or something.) We can be fired at will or we can walk at will. So giving two weeks notice here is commonly done, but not legally required. My son-in-law had to stay a month to finish his contract in Germany after my daughter came back to start her new job, so I’m familiar with the way you do it. Whether or not there is a union isn’t really essential - I don’t think he was the member of any union (he worked for a consulting company) but he was still bound by the contract. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-won-the-lottery-do-you-give-your-employers-2-weeks-notice/733685.md?page=8)