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Giving Notice When Quitting

9,018 Views | 51 Replies | Last: 5 yr ago by Rusty GCS
PanzerAggie06
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The company I work for is fairly small. Less than 75 people total. The management, from day one, has emphasized that they are not the type of firm that will show people to the door as soon as they give notice that they are quitting. They have repeatedly stated that the prefer to have notice 2 to 3 months in advance, when possible, so that they can hire and train a replacement.

I'm now inside the 3 month window of quitting. My spouse is in the Marines and we will be PCSing to Corpus in July. My fear is that I take them at their word and they back off their original statement and I'm left hanging unemployed for several months. Then again if I give them the traditional 2 weeks notice I worry about burning bridges. I'm leaning towards not risking going unemployed and waiting till early July to drop the bomb but I thought I'd get some outside opinions here.
Papa_Blaze
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They stated "when possible". Could you blame it on the military and say that you received short notice that your spouse is being relocated? I completely understand where you're coming from.
Zemira
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Could you maybe split the difference and give them a month notice due to the military relocation? You said they would like 2-3 months. A month sounds reasonable to me.
The Milkman
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If you give your two weeks notice and they tell you to leave that day, they would pay you for out for that time. When its that long of advance notice does it not work the same?
E
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2 - 3 months is a very long time and not standard.

I'd wait til 4 - 6 weeks and do it then. This way if they do show you the door (which is unlikely) you will have some pay and get a nice vaction.
aggierandie
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I'm not sure that they are legally bound to pay you for that time. My impression was that most do to encourage employees to actually put in their notice rather than just quitting. I am not sure of the legalities though.
PanzerAggie06
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They would not have to pay. I don't have a contract and I live in a Right to Work state.
Ezra Brooks
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PanzerAggie06 said:

They would not have to pay. I don't have a contract and I live in a Right to Work state.
The bolded part above has nothing to do with your situation....
Esteban du Plantier
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What industry? If it's small, specialized, and tight knit like mine, I'd try to leave on very good terms.

Also, how hard will you be to replace? I'm in a position where I've developed this knowledge that's pretty hard to pass on quickly. We're a small operation, so everyone is in that position with very little overlap. They've treated me right, so I don't want to leave them in a tough place. I'll be giving a few months notice, if possible, and have to trust that they can't survive without me so they won't fire me immediately, lol.

All that said, you've gotta do what's right for you and your family.
MichaelJ
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But it has everything to do with the comment he replied too about being paid out your notice if not required to work for that period
tamc93
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If they need that much lead time to help train, it also could lead to an opportunity for you to either stay on as a remote employee or a contract employee to help train. Win for all.
ATM9000
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Unless they offer some sort of guaranteed garden leave compensation should you be let go in that time frame, asking for 2-3 months notice isn't a reasonable ask unless you are an executive or something in my opinion.
Farmer1906
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I wouldn't trust a company to keep anyone 2-3 months after giving notice. Look after #1 and do a 2 week notice. Maybe 3 weeks if you're feeling nice.
jtp01
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Flip it around the other way. If they decided to part ways with you, would they give you 2-3 months notice.

I worked for a company for 13 years and hr walked in and handed us all our papers. Said we are closing the facility in 30 days, if you want your severance, you must be employed in the last day. Then went on a year firing anyone for the slightest thing. One guy for being 7 minutes late back from lunch. (That backfired because he was at an interview and the verbiage in the separation document made reference to support during the job search).
FancyKetchup14
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I gave my last company a 2 month notice. They were cool with it. ~60 person branch for a large builder, mortgage company. My boss said as long as I didn't check out on him he was fine.
Naveronski
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The Milkman said:

If you give your two weeks notice and they tell you to leave that day, they would pay you for out for that time.

What makes you say this?

I have never seen this to be true.
Ezra Brooks
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MichaelJ said:

But it has everything to do with the comment he replied too about being paid out your notice if not required to work for that period


No, it doesn't.

There isn't a Right To Work issue in this thread.
lunchbox
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You could always give them a heads up that something may be coming without actually giving them notice.

For example, "Word on the street is that some of my spouse's unit may be transferring to another location in the future. When would you like for me to let you know when I know for sure?"
BrazosDog02
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PanzerAggie06 said:

The company I work for is fairly small. Less than 75 people total. The management, from day one, has emphasized that they are not the type of firm that will show people to the door as soon as they give notice that they are quitting. They have repeatedly stated that the prefer to have notice 2 to 3 months in advance, when possible, so that they can hire and train a replacement.

I'm now inside the 3 month window of quitting. My spouse is in the Marines and we will be PCSing to Corpus in July. My fear is that I take them at their word and they back off their original statement and I'm left hanging unemployed for several months. Then again if I give them the traditional 2 weeks notice I worry about burning bridges. I'm leaning towards not risking going unemployed and waiting till early July to drop the bomb but I thought I'd get some outside opinions here.
I can't really overstate this.

They are not your friend. I would give exactly enough notice that allowed me to be comfortable if they cut me loose on the spot and not a single minute more. Every company I have ever worked for requested two weeks of notice, yet when they laid people off, they were told the day of and escorted out immediately. As such, I would give only what I could afford to be without...maybe that's two weeks, maybe that's 24 hours, either way you do what is good for YOU, not what is good for THEM.
oldag00
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Have you found a new gig in Corpus, yet? That may be the answer to your question.
$240 Worth of Pudding
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A) regarding the obligation of the company to pay you for two weeks if you you provide notice and are not allowed to work it.....that's complete bunk. Two weeks notice is nothing more than a courtesy given an employer by an outgoing employee. There is no requirement, legal out otherwise, to provide notice.

B) I would be extremely uncomfortable with the idea of providing 2 or 3 months notice. That's akin to a hostage situation if you ask me. I STRONGLY agree with the BrazosDog02's post above. I've seen too many people get burned by companies while trying to do the"right" thing. Don't do anything to maliciously screw the company on your way out, but definitely have the ducks in a row to ensure that YOU are covered/have a soft landing spot.
mpl35
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This is a tough one. I gave notice once of ~4-5 months and was let go with 2 months left. The company was struggling financially a bit at the time (started after I gave notice). Plus side, was that I was able to collect unemployment until I found a new job. The rules in TX then, said that if you gave a longer notice and were fired with greater than 1 month to your last day, you were eligible for benefits. The company didn't argue. I'm still on good terms with the owner and my former coworkers. The owner was a reference for my next two jobs.

The second time I did this, I gave 5 months notice (small custom department in a middle sized company). I worked until the last day, including a trip and a presentation to a client less than a week until my last day. I also interviewed and trained my replacement. They called me for help months after and my boss is still a reference if/when I need it.

I figure if ABLE to give notice >2 weeks, I do. The money has never been so tight that I couldn't give notice early and I figure if they don't treat me right that is on them. I am going to do what I consider "right" by my own conscience.
fire09
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You owe a company nothing in your situation. How you choose to maintain your reputation and relationships at this firm/industry should be the driver of your decision to give notice and if so, how much.

Be prepared financially and mentally to walk the minute you turn in your notice.

Good luck!
schmellba99
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PanzerAggie06 said:

The company I work for is fairly small. Less than 75 people total. The management, from day one, has emphasized that they are not the type of firm that will show people to the door as soon as they give notice that they are quitting. They have repeatedly stated that the prefer to have notice 2 to 3 months in advance, when possible, so that they can hire and train a replacement.

I'm now inside the 3 month window of quitting. My spouse is in the Marines and we will be PCSing to Corpus in July. My fear is that I take them at their word and they back off their original statement and I'm left hanging unemployed for several months. Then again if I give them the traditional 2 weeks notice I worry about burning bridges. I'm leaning towards not risking going unemployed and waiting till early July to drop the bomb but I thought I'd get some outside opinions here.
Hard to say one way or another to be honest on what you should do.

Biggest question I would ask is what is your relationship with the upper management, how does your role fit within the company (are you a critical component or do you honestly feel you can be replaced relatively easily) and what does the historical data with employees leaving tell you?

As mentioned earlier too, the type of industry can play a role as well. Some industries are much tighter knit than others and that can play a small or large role in your ability to get work with a different company in the same industry in Corpus. Will you need to have your current employer as a reference, or can you get by without?

It's true that the company owes you nothing in terms of loyalty, so technically you don't owe them anything as well. But I argue that it depends on a lot more than just that and you need to make a judgement call. 2-3 months is a long time, not sure I'd give anybody that much notice personally. But I'd have no problem giving 6 weeks notice if I had a great relationship with the company and wanted to keep it that way. If i had no desire to maintain a relationship or thought they were crap, I'd give 2 weeks only.
Picard
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If the company intended to always stand by their word, they could create a policy that if you give notice up to 90 days before your last day they will guarantee in writing to pay you, save for some sort of gross violation on your part.

Does your company have such a policy? No? Why not?
96AgGrad
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It still sort of galls me that companies expect any notice at all, given that most would lay someone off with zero warning.
htxag09
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PanzerAggie06
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Update for those interested.

The answer to my question has been given by my company. I co-worker gave his 3 month notice on Thursday and by Friday afternoon he was told that he should just leave immediately. They will now be getting a 48 hour notice from me.
The Milkman
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PanzerAggie06 said:

Update for those interested.

The answer to my question has been given by my company. I co-worker gave his 3 month notice on Thursday and by Friday afternoon he was told that he should just leave immediately. They will now be getting a 48 hour notice from me.
Glad you learned that from someone else's mistake and not your own
IrishTxAggie
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PanzerAggie06 said:

Update for those interested.

The answer to my question has been given by my company. I co-worker gave his 3 month notice on Thursday and by Friday afternoon he was told that he should just leave immediately. They will now be getting a 48 hour notice from me.
I understand not giving the three month notice after seeing what happened to your co-worker. I would still suggest giving them the two week notice, in writing, as this is common practice and just be prepared to be walked that day. If you give the two weeks and they walk you, you handled yourself properly and professionally. If you give two days, word will get around that "you left them holding the bag."
Papa_Blaze
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I agree, give them the 2 weeks.
SWCBonfire
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They may deserve 48 hrs notice, but to protect yourself and your career you will need to give 2 weeks notice.

This is not about them, it's about you and never having to explain a black mark reference-wise.
Farmer1906
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Farmer1906 said:

I wouldn't trust a company to keep anyone 2-3 months after giving notice. Look after #1 and do a 2 week notice. Maybe 3 weeks if you're feeling nice.
Told ya
oldag00
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It completely depends on the company and circumstances. I gave 6 months notice when leaving my first employer out of A&M. It benefited us both, and I've maintained relationships with key leaders there for many years since.
Farmer1906
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oldag00 said:

It completely depends on the company and circumstances. I gave 6 months notice when leaving my first employer out of A&M. It benefited us both, and I've maintained relationships with key leaders there for many years since.
You also took the risk of being told bye bye and you're out of a job with 6 months to go. I have people that count on me and I'm not willing to take that risk if I don't have to. I am glad it worked out for you. I always want to be 100% open and honest with my employer in situations like that, but too many times you'll be shown the door.
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