In that case, I'd cover myself. I think more in terms of like a weldor out on some job. There's always another (job or weldor, doesn't matter). Apparently Art's wife's school thinks of her as just another line worker. These companies that layoff dozens to hundreds at Christmas time make me think the way I think. Which is, plain and simple, fvk them.

Brett, just because they would not do the right thing would not induce me to behave in a similar fashion. I would be ready to move on the day I gave notice, but would be every bit as prepared to continue in my previous capacity. It is customary to provide two weeks notice, and I would always provide at least that, unless contractually required to provide more. If they wanted me to continue for longer than two weeks, it would depend on what our relationship was at that time and how they asked.

My last employer was very disappointed I would not stay another month or two, but was a bit of a sociopath asshat. I smiled and advised him that our contract had expired, oh and BTW, there are some billing discrepancies that need to be resolved. He paid me as little of the money he owed me that he felt he could and not end up in court. I almost sued him on general principles but saw the wisdom of moving on with my life.

tell the new job you need two weeks until you can start, quit and leave the current job that day and then spend two weeks in key west fishing and going strip clubs :D

Voted best post of the thread. Even better, take your 2 week vacation and return to work for one day before reporting to the new job.

I don't advocate hating anyone. Do unto other as they would do unto you.

Good point, but I still give notice. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Pretty simple.

Al

Do employers expect 2 weeks notice even when they don't give laid off employees notice or worse, walk you to the door when you give them notice? Of course they do. Its what I call the "21st Century Golden Rule of Business": the man who pays the gold gets to make the rules. Life isn't fair. Get over it. If you don't give them notice it may come back to haunt you. Besides, you can't out-stink a skunk. Why lower yourself to their level for no benefit and a possible penalty in the future?

I made a decision to leave after a 2nd tier manager pissed me off royally (he was repositioned shortly after my departure). I took one week of vacation, secured a MUCH better position just down the street, and returned for one day to turn in my immediate resignation. If you are really good at what you do, you will ALWAYS land on your feet imo. While no one is irreplacable, I was always secure in the fact that I could "replace any job a hell of a lot easier than I could be replaced". I was an AVP at a mega-bank at the time...I'm still standing and the bank no longer exists :).

Think of it this way - bad behavior on the part of your employer does not justify it on your part. All you can control is your own behavior, I believe in doing the right thing and letting the chips fall where they may. Why stoop to their level?

An observation I have made: People either refer to an employer/their workplace as we/us or they/them. In other words, they either feel that they are a valuable, contributory part of the organization or merely an unappreciated worker bee manipulated by it. This attitude obviously colors every interaction they have in the workplace – including the announcement of their imminent departure.

Zeke summarized it best: Do unto others. Life is too short to live it as an azzhat.

Ian

I'm still a little curious about the 2 week thing. Why is it in the industry standard? Who figured out that was correct # of days it took to do what? With the jobs I've had in the past, either I easily wrapped up the things I was working on in a couple days, or there was no way I could finish my work in 2 weeks and no way they could find someone and train them in that amount of time.
If 6 months were the norm, I could see how that would be plenty of time (for most jobs) to wrap up projects. find a replacement, train them and make a somewhat smooth transition...2 weeks seems like too short for anything substantial.

One of the reasons I started this was the original guy who quit had a much different attitude that was I normally see. People who quit right there, right then usually are pissed at something that caused that reaction. From what I was told, he simply said he was moving on that day and that was that. There seems to be a hint of something underlying there so who knows.

I agree...but only up to a certain breaking point. I was "rode hard, put away wet", overworked, stressed out to the max and did what I had to do to maintain some sanity. You really had to be there to understand...my teammates did and I had their support. I had already warned another 3rd tier manager (who came to me to apologize for losing his cool in a crisis) that I would walk out "on the spot" if it EVER happened again. I'm not one to take "undeserved" crap from anyone...but that's just me "warts and all" :). A two week notice is just a professional courtesy....not extending a "courtesy" doe not make one a "bad guy" imo.

Hope everything turns out OK Art. My last job, my boss/owner shows up & asks why the city is calling for a reference. I asked him how much longer he needed me. This was just before Thanksgiving, so he let me go on the spot so he didn't have to pay me for the holidays. That was fine with me, I asked the city not to call my boss unless they were sure they wanted to hire me. That was one of the best days of my life.

Good way to work things. Give notice but be ready to walk that day or even that hour. I know very few companies that would let you stay two weeks...

I've wondered about this myself--why two weeks is "traditional"--and I think it may be related to the "traditional" pay periods of bi-weekly paychecks. Of course there are a wide variety of pay periods in business but, maybe in early corporate America, two weeks became the norm and it just has carried over. Two weeks advance notice would allow accounting to prepare your final check and get you off the books for the next pay cycle. Just speculation though, as I have no direct information.

BTW, I re-read you original post and picked up the part where your friend quit without notice because the company did not have a severance package, the implication being that he would be terminated the moment he gave notice. He could have given a two week notice on that day, knowing full well that he had no intention of staying and the company would terminate him anyway. That would be sort of a "fake professional courtesy" but it would have done no harm. He simply chose not to.

Two weeks is traditional as it gives the employer time to find a replacement for your position. In the old days they trusted the employee and even at times had the person leaving help train the replacement for their old job. Rarely done these days...

That's right. The 2 weeks thing started before we were born. Went out when things like a floppy disk appeared at the office. Or should I say disappeared.

Reviving my own thread from the dead as this situation came up again a couple weeks ago when a project manager gave about 24 hours notice then he was gone.

I mentioned it to my wife's aunt who is now a CFO but used to be in HR and she said that's becoming the norm. People used to give 2 weeks notice because the incentive would be you would be bad mouthed in the industry, etc if you didn't but she says those days are long gone. Because of defamation lawsuits left and right, her HR dept. is allowed to give out 2 pieces of information... dates of employment
and yes/no if asked about salary level. Doesn't matter if the person was the worst employee or the best, they can only give out that info. They won't even give references any more because say the wrong thing and the company may find itself in the court room.

2 weeks notice has always seemed to be to be one of those policies that only benefit the company. Just like the "employees cannot discuss salary levels with any other employees"

At my last job I was the only person who, when I gave two weeks notice, didn't get immediately walked out the door. They let me stay eight more days, wouldn't let me use my vacation at the end, didn't pay me out for it and, because of that, no one else gives any notice at all anymore. They say they're leaving and they leave that day. The woman who quit after I left did so on 12/31. HR asked her why she wasn't giving two weeks. She said because RL didn't get to work two full weeks after he gave notice and she didn't want the unpaid time off between jobs.

We recently hired a new guy here, who only gave his old employer a couple day's notice. Now I know why - he sucks. He was probably desperate to get out of the old job before they handed him his hat.