Giving a Two Week Notice

Cirira

So how important is giving a two week notice to those of you here? I'm leaving my current employment and don't intend to use it as a reference for anything. It's been a fairly crappy place to work and I've not enjoyed it at all. It's extremely stressful and the people here are some of the worst human beings I've ever had to work with. I start my new job on the 1st and it's a combination of both of my degrees/interests (IT and animals/zoology). My previous employer I had been at for 7 years and gave multiple months notice due to relocating so I'm not entirely sure what to do here.

I did speak to my manager last week to tell him I was leaving but didn't give a date. If I count that as my notice this Friday would be two weeks, if it needs to be "official" then it would need to be two weeks from today. Any thoughts?

Gaslight

Giving two weeks notice is a courtesy, not a requirement. It's a nice thing to do if there are people at the job you're leaving who you would feel bad about leaving in the lurch if you were suddenly gone and nobody had planned to cover for you, and it's a prudent thing to do if you think there's any chance you'll use people at the job you're leaving as a reference.

If neither of those things applies, or if circumstances with the new job simply don't allow you to give two full weeks notice then don't worry about it. In your situation it sounds like neither of those things is the case, and if your manager has any brains he should have at least started thinking already about how to replace you once you told him that you would be leaving at an unspecified time because he should know you wouldn't have told him that unless your departure was probably going to be soon.

So I don't see any obligation for you to give an "official" two weeks notice today. You can if you want just to be nice, or if you think people are going to be shitty to you for the last two weeks if you do then don't bother.

fightinfilipino

it's usually better to leave on a positive note and avoid burning bridges when you can avoid it. you'll never know when that one time you mouthed off to a former employer will come back to bite you in the ass later.

also, just because your current coworkers are terrible doesn't mean you have to be. giving two weeks is a standard professional courtesy - you might as well be professional about it, even if others won't be.

hsu

Put your termination notice in writing. Typically, if it's not in writing, it doesn't count.
Be prepared to be escorted out the door immediately.
Aka, if you've got some personal email/files, move them off now, before giving your notice.

Khavall

Is there any compelling reason you don't want to leave notice? Like you seem to know when you'll be expecting to leave. It seems more like you're thinking about not giving notice just more out of spite than anything else, which is sort of dumb.

If you're concerned that as soon as you give your two weeks notice you'll face some retaliatory harassment or something then totally just up and leave when you're done but if it's just a "I don't like these people so bleh" then you might as well just give the notice. Not like you lose anything, and as has been mentioned, you never know when something might bite you in the ass later.

DevoutlyApathetic

The only "legal" thing might be payout for your vacation time and that varies from company to company. Some will require two weeks notice in order to pay that out to you. Up to you how much it matters.

In generally giving notice is classy and considerate. Corporate culture has done their best to destroy this by saying "You can leave right now" but if you already told your manager and are still there that doesn't seem to be a risk here.

If you don't have the two weeks then just talk to your manager about it. Give your notice and then start a discussion about when your last day should be.

Cirira

I probably should have included part of the reason why. I had told my boss on the 9th that I would be leaving but didn't have a start date for the new place so didn't have a date to give him yet. I received the start date (April 1st) for my new job from their HR department yesterday (the 16th) which is 2 weeks from today. I also found out last Thursday that my mother is in kidney failure and was out on Friday and Monday as a result of that news. I was intending to set my last day on Friday (the 20th) but my boss is out of office today so I can't discuss it with him and that would leave an official notice of only 3 days if I did that. I would like to spend next week at home with my Mom getting her setup for dialysis and anything else she needs assistance with given her recent diagnosis.

Gaslight

Tell your boss tomorrow and have your last day be the 20th. If you explain the situation with your mother any reasonable human being would understand given you were on the way out anyway.

DevoutlyApathetic

Yeah, I would basically tell them my last day is Friday then but would give them the courtesy of explaining why it was so sudden and that I wouldn't be there even if I were continuing my employment there. That is just my priorities at dictating that though.

Since this is time sensitive I'd consider if your boss has a boss though that is rife with office politics only you can judge. Otherwise talk with your boss first thing tomorrow about when your last day is and what deliverables they'd like before you transition.

zagdrob

My personal feelings are that two weeks is a courtesy, and if your company wanted to get rid of you they would have no trouble showing up right now at your cube with a box. That said, it's normally prudent to give notice. Burning bridges and all that.

But two weeks is an approximation. If you gave your boss a heads-up on the 9th that you were leaving soon, just let him know about your mom's health issues and let him know that Friday will be your last day. That's two weeks, and if your boss didn't do anything to prepare when you told him last Monday, that's on him.

Some exceptions may apply, but you should be fine telling him now. Just keep in mind that - depending on your job role - they might just send you home and terminate your employment immediately. If you aren't critical to a transition, there's a lot of reasons not to keep someone who is terminal around.

KafkaAU

Check your contract that you don't have a period that is required. My contract stipulates 4 weeks notice is required. I'm not sure what the penalties would be if I just up and left though (probably as already mentioned, no leave pay out etc.)