Never Give More than Two Weeks Notice
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Never is a strong term, but consider it a pretty strong rule. When it comes time to leave a job, in the US it is customary to give two weeks notice. If you are leaving on an odd date sometimes something like two and a half weeks of notice just makes sense so that you can give notice on a Friday before leaving work or whatever, fine.
The reason that we give two weeks notice is to politely allow a company time to do exit interviews, start hiring your replacement (but they need that plan in place before you decide to quit anyway, they should need only time to reassign your in-flight work to lower the jarring of you leaving), to collect any last minute stuff from you that is in flight, let you clean out your desk, say goodbye to coworkers, let everyone know before you are really gone, order a cake and throw a little party for you. That's it.
This notice is purely a social construct and has no legal bearing, it is not a requirement, it can't be. But it is generally observed and for good reasons on all sides and any company hiring you worth anything will totally understand and expect you to give that notice. Longer exceptions do exist, but only for very senior executives earning salaries and under contracts so absurdly large that if you have that situation where you need to give more than two weeks of notice, your lawyer will be the one doing it for you.
Giving more notice is bad for everyone. It makes companies panic and act poorly no longer seeing you as part of the team, but with only the choice to fire you or ride it out. It's terrible for moral, on both sides. You are like "dead man walking." Even well intentioned companies have little means of having a longer notice work out well. They all say that they want more notice, but in reality it isn't good for anyone.
But the real concerns are about how you as the worker feel and are treated. You are no longer a valuable employee, no longer part of the team, no longer there to be groomed, no longer part of the family. You are just "dead weight" and in the way. They can't hire your replacement because your salary is still there, they can't invest in you because you are done. You probably aren't much good either, your head is on to the next place, not where you are.
And even bigger, companies tend to start doing bad things or at least risk doing so, when they have long term people who they know are leaving. And many companies simply fire anyone who gives notice, something that isn't a big deal for two weeks, but can be a really big deal if it is for a longer period of time.
Bottom line, two weeks notice is a term for a reason. Everyone expects it, everyone respects it, and it works to protect both parties within reason. Giving less notice is bad unless it is an emergency. But giving more notice is generally even worse. It might seem like a good thing to do, but it isn't. It's a very bad idea for everyone involved.
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I gave three weeks of notice for my last job and I trained my replacement for two months before and those three weeks. I was full in for three weeks (I know, it is an exception).
Also what happens if your employer policies require the notice, it does not have a bearing? I understand that in NJ for example is an "employment-at-will" state so they can terminate an employee at any time without notice.
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@dbeato said in Never Give More than Two Weeks Notice:
I gave three weeks of notice for my last job and I trained my replacement for two months before and those three weeks. I was full in for three weeks (I know, it is an exception).
Also what happens if your employer policies require the notice, it does not have a bearing? I understand that in NJ for example is an "employment-at-will" state so they can terminate an employee at any time without notice.
I've never had to deal with a global policy like that. There are probably some companies that try to put in something, but I don't know if that would stand up in court if it was just in the company policy that you sign and not the actual work contract.
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In at least a Hire at Will state, you can give 2 hours notice.
Very few positions are allowed to legally enforce a "exit announcement" at all, much less with any length of time attached to it.
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I've never signed a 'work contract' unless I was acting as a consultant. The idea of work contract as a normal FTE doesn't compute.
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Think of it like this.
If an employer must let you go, they don't give you 6 months. Why should you give them 6 months? Especially in a "hire at will" state. The 2 week convention is still weird.
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@DustinB3403 said in Never Give More than Two Weeks Notice:
Think of it like this.
If an employer is must let you go, and they don't give you 6 months. Why should you give them 6 months? Especially in a "hire at will" state. The 2 week convention is still weird.
"employment at will" has nothing to do with this. I don't know why it is brought up.
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@JaredBusch said in Never Give More than Two Weeks Notice:
@DustinB3403 said in Never Give More than Two Weeks Notice:
Think of it like this.
If an employer is must let you go, and they don't give you 6 months. Why should you give them 6 months? Especially in a "hire at will" state. The 2 week convention is still weird.
"employment at will" has nothing to do with this. I don't know why it is brought up.
@dbeato did.
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@JaredBusch said in Never Give More than Two Weeks Notice:
@dbeato said in Never Give More than Two Weeks Notice:
I gave three weeks of notice for my last job and I trained my replacement for two months before and those three weeks. I was full in for three weeks (I know, it is an exception).
Also what happens if your employer policies require the notice, it does not have a bearing? I understand that in NJ for example is an "employment-at-will" state so they can terminate an employee at any time without notice.
I've never had to deal with a global policy like that. There are probably some companies that try to put in something, but I don't know if that would stand up in court if it was just in the company policy that you sign and not the actual work contract.
My current company requires a month notice, I am told. I dont know how or where it is located in the contract, but the word around the office is that if you dont give the full month, they will mark do not rehire under name. Which means if a potential employer calls to confirm employment, you now have a do not hire mark by your name.
I dont know what is true and exactly how they put it in the contract.
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@IRJ said in Never Give More than Two Weeks Notice:
@JaredBusch said in Never Give More than Two Weeks Notice:
@dbeato said in Never Give More than Two Weeks Notice:
I gave three weeks of notice for my last job and I trained my replacement for two months before and those three weeks. I was full in for three weeks (I know, it is an exception).
Also what happens if your employer policies require the notice, it does not have a bearing? I understand that in NJ for example is an "employment-at-will" state so they can terminate an employee at any time without notice.
I've never had to deal with a global policy like that. There are probably some companies that try to put in something, but I don't know if that would stand up in court if it was just in the company policy that you sign and not the actual work contract.
My current company requires a month notice, I am told. I dont know how or where it is located in the contract, but the word around the office is that if you dont give the full month, they will mark do not rehire under name. Which means if a potential employer calls to confirm employment, you now have a do not hire mark by your name.
That's a bit silly. They can mark as "do not rehire" regardless, that's an empty threat.
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@IRJ said in Never Give More than Two Weeks Notice:
I dont know how or where it is located in the contract, but the word around the office is that if you dont give the full month, they will mark do not rehire under name. Which means if a potential employer calls to confirm employment, you now have a do not hire mark by your name.
I dont know what is true and exactly how they put it in the contract.I would check that contract for sure.
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@IRJ said in Never Give More than Two Weeks Notice:
I dont know what is true and exactly how they put it in the contract.
No need to as they can enforce however they like from a "marking not to rehire". They can't claim that you didn't give notice, or that you did anything wrong. Just "would you rehire" and that's meaningless and any even pretty shitty company knows that.
As long as you give two weeks notice, they would have to lie to say otherwise, which would get them in a lot of trouble.
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@scottalanmiller said in Never Give More than Two Weeks Notice:
@IRJ said in Never Give More than Two Weeks Notice:
@JaredBusch said in Never Give More than Two Weeks Notice:
@dbeato said in Never Give More than Two Weeks Notice:
I gave three weeks of notice for my last job and I trained my replacement for two months before and those three weeks. I was full in for three weeks (I know, it is an exception).
Also what happens if your employer policies require the notice, it does not have a bearing? I understand that in NJ for example is an "employment-at-will" state so they can terminate an employee at any time without notice.
I've never had to deal with a global policy like that. There are probably some companies that try to put in something, but I don't know if that would stand up in court if it was just in the company policy that you sign and not the actual work contract.
My current company requires a month notice, I am told. I dont know how or where it is located in the contract, but the word around the office is that if you dont give the full month, they will mark do not rehire under name. Which means if a potential employer calls to confirm employment, you now have a do not hire mark by your name.
That's a bit silly. They can mark as "do not rehire" regardless, that's an empty threat.
and using the company for a reference shouldn't go to HR, it should go to your old boss. And If you're using them as a reference, I assume you liked them.
HR shouldn't be able to tell other possible employers that they have a do not hire checkbox.
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@dbeato said in Never Give More than Two Weeks Notice:
@IRJ said in Never Give More than Two Weeks Notice:
I dont know how or where it is located in the contract, but the word around the office is that if you dont give the full month, they will mark do not rehire under name. Which means if a potential employer calls to confirm employment, you now have a do not hire mark by your name.
I dont know what is true and exactly how they put it in the contract.I would check that contract for sure.
And does it ALSO say that if you give a month's notice that they would rehire, no matter what else happened? Makes no sense.
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This shows why I never call for references. The reference system is a scam.
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@IRJ said in Never Give More than Two Weeks Notice:
do not rehire under name
Call AT&T and ask them about me. I've been marked that way, or so I have been told.
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@JaredBusch said in Never Give More than Two Weeks Notice:
@IRJ said in Never Give More than Two Weeks Notice:
do not rehire under name
Call AT&T and ask them about me. I've been marked that way, or so I have been told.
But you're an ass, so we already know that
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@scottalanmiller said in Never Give More than Two Weeks Notice:
@IRJ said in Never Give More than Two Weeks Notice:
I dont know what is true and exactly how they put it in the contract.
No need to as they can enforce however they like from a "marking not to rehire". They can't claim that you didn't give notice, or that you did anything wrong. Just "would you rehire" and that's meaningless and any even pretty shitty company knows that.
As long as you give two weeks notice, they would have to lie to say otherwise, which would get them in a lot of trouble.
Scott, I know you dont believe this, but .......
HR does these type of things in every medium or large company I have ever worked for... Every manager I have dealt with does not care enough to do all that HR paperwork BS and reference checking. That is why they hire headhunters to do the initial screening. Anything beyond initial screening is done by HR. I have always seen this to be the case for large companies.
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I would be interested to know, and of course no one actually knows no matter what they've been told, how often someone isn't hired by an interested employer based on an old, bitter employer giving a bad reference? How stupid would the new employer have to be to use that as a reason?
It's in the interest of the old employee to lie.. they want to keep good employees from leaving, and want to encourage people to hire the bad ones so that they don't have to deal with firing them!
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@scottalanmiller said in Never Give More than Two Weeks Notice:
This shows why I never call for references. The reference system is a scam.
I agree, but references will be a requirement for 98% of jobs for a long time.
