A lot of HR depts. have a form they keep on file for former employees with two check boxes "would rehire" and "would not rehire." I want the "would rehire" to always be checked on mine.

All in here with this view as well. As an employee you 'under the thumb' of the company you work for. It is their game; you are just a player. Never burn bridges unless you just won Lotto and have millions coming your way. At some point in the next 10-12 years that person will need to use them on their resume'

By walking out it may have made them feel 'tall' that day, but will hurt them over the long haul

Just a question to clear things up for me.

Many of you mention giving the two weeks notice, being escorted out that day, and receiving two weeks pay. Others mention not getting the two weeks pay, under the same circumstances.

My question is, if you give the two weeks notice and are immediately escorted out without the two week compensation, haven't you been technically fired, at least with regards to unemployment insurance? It seems to me (someone who has no experience with this issue) that you were fired for tendering your upcoming resignation.

Advance notice is giving the employer "professional respect" in that it allows him to prepare for your departure and lets him know you intend to continue your work while the change transpires. If he has you removed and does not pay for the two weeks you intended to work, that sounds like immediate termination. I'm surely missing something here and that's why I asked the question.

That's a good question Ossi...I wonder if that's why so many people are commenting on receiving the final 2 weeks paycheck even though they were walked. That might give an out to the company to deny unemployment benefits.

I was going to give my two weeks notice at a job once after getting a better offer and suspecting things were going to get bad pretty soon. While driving to work that day I heard on the radio that our largest supplier had filed for bankruptcy. As I walked into the boss's office, before I could get the words out of my mouth, he said, "We're going to have to let you go." So I just kept my new job to myself and asked if he wanted me to finish out the day or week or when to leave. He told me I could leave right then. So I drove straight to the state employment commission and filed for unemployment. I had been laid off and my next job wasn't starting for about a month. I was able to collect three wks. of unemployment and heard from a former co-worker that the boss had been pretty pissed when he learned I had filed for UI, as that raises their UI rates.

When I went to quit the next job, I tried to give two weeks notice and they walked me out the door within the hour. The boss told me they wanted me to sign a statement, saying I had fudged my sales reports so they could withold my commissions. They paid commissions there based on weekly sales reports, long before the sales were actually invoiced. I refused, she crumpled the form up, threw it in the trash and I was walked out the door. And they continued to pay me for a while thereafter too.

It comes down to company policy. Where I work, you can give notice of resignation but you don't get to decide how long you'll stick around. What if someone gave 6 months notice, or a year? Is the company obligated follow your schedule? Typically, you're out the door that day, period. If the higher-ups feel they need you to stick around a bit, they bring in an HR rep and you negotiate a term date (typically with a bonus for the inconvenience).

This seems a bit "cleaner" to me than the traditional 2 weeks notice. People talk about burning bridges and do not re-hire flags, but if it's company policy that you leave the day you give notice, why ding someone for not giving any? We're not talking about someone defecating on their desk and then heading out the door with a boom box blasting Johnny Paycheck while giving everyone the finger.

This. Most industries are pretty small worlds, you can't underestimate the impression that your departure will leave. I recently received a job offer from an engineer that I sat next to four years ago who had since left our company. He remembered our casual conversations and contacted me with a position that he felt would fit my personality. Totally random and out of the blue. I also left my current employer and returned back a few months later to a better position, that is an opportunity that would not have been available had I given no notice and burned bridges.

I actually had that happen in San Diego. We made the decision to move to Houston, but I was still working for Solar. Eventually it made it around that I had sold my house and bought one in Houston. They asked when I was moving and when was my date of resignation.

At first, I hadn't planned to leave. I still had a couple of bonus checks (around $30K) which were due and I knew they would not be paid if I didn't stay. Eventually, I had a discussion with HR, and set a date. I really wanted a transfer, but I wasn't getting any help from my boss. Stupid on her part, really. In 3 years, I had $15M in project savings/new product growth, which was the highest in all of Caterpillar, not just Solar Turbines. I was a great 6 Sigma project manager.

If I had stayed 4 more months, I would have recieved another project bonus (project was complete, but the payout was always 6 months afterwards), for about $10K. That one I was willing to give up. And that one was the solution to why they were having problems with all aftermarket part sales, year over year. It was potentially worth Hundreds of Millions!

Very timely indeed... My wife was laid off from her teaching job on the last day of the school year today. Not good...

As an outsider, this makes the most sense if the company has a written policy or one that has been made clear to all employees. It appears from most of the posts that that is not the case and the "traditional" two week notice is just that--a tradition. If there is no formal policy, written or unwritten, regarding notification of leaving employment, then the company can either terminate the employee immediately and consider that a "firing," escort the employee out immediately and pay for the remaining two weeks, or expect employees to give no advance notification without retaliation. Two weeks notice is a professional "courtesy" extended by the employee. If the company chooses not to accept it, there should be no fall-out on the employee.

Any advance notice longer than two weeks should, IMO, be negotiated.

You must have had a moron for a boss...who wouldn't go file for unemployment?!? Sure, you were planning on leaving but you said you kept that to yourself so how would they know?

Well, he was notified as soon as I filed and my best friend was still working there. He probably told the boss I landed on my feet. I also got him a job with me a few mos. later.

I would ALWAYS give notice.


Their poor behavior is no justification for me to behave poorly. This is true in all situations, not just employment.

Sometimes you fire your boss, sometimes you are moving to a better job. I let that be my determining factor.

Sorry to hear this, Art. Hopefully, it's just a temporary layoff and she'll be called back in the fall.

But who is to say you would be behaving poorly? There is no written rule that says you have to give 2 weeks... I think most do because that is what everyone else says.

Behaving poorly could be in the eye of the beholder. You could think you're doing the right thing by giving two weeks but what if the employer really wanted more? or less? I personally had an owner (who was a jackass, admittedly) tell me he never understood giving notice because he felt once a person had mentally moved on, he didn't want to pay them 2 more weeks to sit around and do nothing. Not a lot of faith in people, that guy had:)

+1

Sorry to hear... I was wandering if you were talking about yourself at post 24.

Not sure how your system work but hopefully she was paid against 12 months vice the 10 months, so it would give her a few weeks.

Not much brighter up here for teacher but hopefully there will be a silver lining.

Thanks, guys! She won't be going back to that school (local charter school), and she gets paid through mid August, but school districts around here aren't actively hiring, so it will be a challenge.

My employment status may also be changing... More on that later...

I believe there are 14 people who do what I do in the United States, I'd give two weeks, all our bosses meet monthly.