My friend and I are trying to figure this out:

If you give 2 weeks notice, let's say on the 15th, can they fire you right then and there or choose to not pay you through the 2 weeks? Cause I know technically you are supposed to give two weeks, but if they fire you because you give 2 weeks and don't pay you, do you have a cause to fight?

yes they can

they legally have to pay you. I was with a company and let me go right away due to privacy issues. So I got paid my vacation time plus two weeks. it was great.

hmmmm...so which is it....

I'm pretty sure they can fire you whenever they want without having to pay you for anything more than any overtime owed (if it applies).

they have to pay you if they let you go. Unless of course, you're a contractor.

No, they do not legally have to pay you. Texas is "right to work" state, and all employment is "at will". Two weeks notice is a courtesy. Accepting the two weeks notice is also a courtesy. I normally never accept two weeks notice. The only exception is if the employee is going back to school or a mom going home to raise kids. Otherswise the reasons that an employee is quitting can poison the work playce during the notice period. You have earned accumulated vacation pay and that must be paid. Unless specified in an employee manual, nothing else applies...

You people don't know what you're talking about.

In Texas, you are presumed to be an at-will employee unless you can show otherwise (a written contract). If an employee gives two weeks' notice, you can kick them out the door right then and there. You're not obligated to pay them anything except earned vacation time.

So, I guess Cecil knew what he was talking about???

Alcoholics go to Meetings, Drunks go to Bars.

That's one more reason not to give a two weeks notice if the place you work sucks.

If you work at a decent place, you won't have to worry about being fired for mentioning that you are planning to leave on a certain date.

Texas being a "right to work" state has nothing to do with "employment at will."

Those are 2 totally different concepts.

The "right to work" concept has to do with the right of employees to collectively bargin with their employers, i.e., to form a labor union.

The "employment at will" concept states that employees may be fired at will -- that is, the employment relationship may be terminated for good cause, for bad cause, or for no cause at all (with certain restrictions; i.e., you cannot fire someone based on their race).

Note that this idea goes both way...both the employee and the employer can terminate the employment relationship.

Also, there is no requirement in the law that employers give their employees any vacation time. It is entirely between you and your employer.

I worked at a Houston clinic that was famous for"letting you go ahead and leave"the afternoon you gave your two week notice.I went on my weeks paid vacation and worked until the noon that I was to have off for working on Saturday and told them I was gone!

Totally freaked them out and they were so certain a few choice"in the know"friends had advanced warning they moved the friends to different areas so they couldn't even get lunch scheduled together and NO ONE knew anything about it.

They wanted me to have counselling at their expense since they were certain I was having a breakdown(my Mom had just died)and I said Monday I am moving and today I am leaving and hung up.I don't think I ever felt as good as leaving that afternoon!!

[This message has been edited by elbow (edited 8/15/2004 8:51p).]

Other than courtesy, why give two weeks notice especially if they're gonna screw you or let you go on the spot?

I know here that if an employer ever calls about someone that worked here, all we can do is confirm that they did work here and nothing else... no bad-mouthing. When someone gives notice, we pay them the two weeks and whatever else they're owed and escort them out the door right then.

Rampant Professionialism

If I ever have an employee give me a notice, I thank them and wish them well. All I ask them to do is to continue to show up for work on time.

Stories like elbows are the best. It's like when someone puts in their two weeks, all the other bitter, complacent employees resent the person resigning for changing their life for a better opportunity.

Our company will wlak you out then and there if you are going to work for a competitor. Other than that, you work the two weeks as normal, usually training someone to take your place.

From reading all this, it looks like if you don't want to get screwed with your pay after sending in your two-weeks, you better have two weeks of vacation stored up!! That way if they walk you out that day, piss you off with some absurd two week workload, or you want to give them the proverbial "Finger" and walk out on them, you still get paid.

Some employers aren't smart enough to take advantage of the "two week notice" tradition which provides protection for them. If an employer doesn't "accept" your two week notice but then also doesn't want to pay you for your professional courtesy, they are setting a very bad precedent that can hurt their company. Once they've done it one time, no one should ever give notice and each departure could leave them in a lurch.

So...
1) Ask around with people who have left the company before (and try to use people who were good workers... some slacker who everyone was glad to see leave isn't a good data point). If the reaction to a two week notice was ever immediate separation without the two weeks pay, then the company has set the professionalism bar where they want it and you shouldn't give any notice. If they've consistently had people work out the time or dismissed them but paid the two weeks, then do the right thing and give the two week notice so that they'll at least have the option to set up a transition.

2) Failing finding any data on people that have left before, you know the environment you work in. If they are consistently short sighted and penny wise, pound foolish, then do it without the notice. If they wail, just point out their policy patterns from your time there that led you to the decision (and have confidence that if you'd given them the chance, they'd be showing zero regard for you).

The brutal truth is, that many employees who give two weeks notice slack off those last two weeks. My 20 years of employment experience have taught me that accepting the notice is the exception, not the rule. For me, it all depends upon the reasons for quitting. If it's going to a competitor (or in some cases going into competition with me), then obviously they can't stay for two weeks. If it's going back to school, then I've gone so far as to offer part time work and tuition help in addition to accepting the notice. It's a situational thing.

quote:

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Texas being a "right to work" state has nothing to do with "employment at will."

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In this case both are of interest, since the "right to work" part pretty much takes any union agreements out of the discussion of accepting notice.

I was laid off once - the company was having a nationwide "staff reduction". They gave me two weeks pay in liew of two weeks notice and let me go that day to start looking for another job.

Since then I have left three jobs and have always given two weeks notice and my employers have always accepted it. However, I am usually a responsible employee with a good attitude and I think they were confident I would not sabotage client relationships or poison staff attitudes.