I asked my readers whether or not I should give 2 weeks’ notice. Giving two weeks’ notice doesn’t mean anything, and when it comes time to get rid of employees, employers are quick to point out that Florida is an “at will” employment state where you can be terminated at any time, for any reason. I gave a month’s notice to one job when I left for PA school in a different state, and left on what I thought were good terms. They even threw me a going away party. I am on the “no rehire” list.
Well, I gave two weeks’ notice last week. I drove into work and had a very cordial conversation with my manager. I told him the story about how the HR director wouldn’t even offer to pay more in order to keep me. His response was that the HR director should not have been so unprofessional, and that he would be mentioning it to the Chief of Nursing. He then told me that I would like working at my new hospital, because he has heard a lot of good things about them. I am the third nurse this month to head over there, just from my department. He told me that I was great at my job, and the department would be worse off without me. It was very cordial.
So what happened next? My current employer fired me this morning. By text message. This is the text message I just got from my manager:
We are removing you from the schedule for this week and next week. So now you can move forward with your new position.
Cowards. They didn’t even have the guts to tell me I was fired, or to do it to my face. Instead, I get “removed from the schedule.” This proves is that the old standard of giving a two week notice is no longer the norm in the United States. It would have been better for me if I had simply worked to the end, then told them on the way out the door at the end of my last shift that I wouldn’t be returning. Doing the “right” thing just cost me two weeks’ pay.
25 Comments
June J · May 15, 2023 at 9:31 am
I no longer support the “2 weeks notice” crap since companies are so quick to point out that they have the right to terminate you at will.
Sorry doing the “right thing” didn’t work out for you. Gives you a final confirmation that the hospital sucks.
Old Trainer · May 15, 2023 at 9:41 am
I figured out my last employer didn’t really value the employee and while saying a lot of “nice” things would toss you under the bus in a second. When I ran the numbers and figured out I could retire I made sure all my projects/assignments were current and that the one person in the office impacted directly on a daily basis by my work was covered – I then filed the paperwork and walked out at lunchtime on a Friday without telling anyone.
My (now ex) boss called me the following Monday and asked me if I really quit – Me: yup, pound sand.
D · May 15, 2023 at 9:48 am
There are a lot of shitty companies out there.
I keep a 30-day buffer in my payroll account for all my employees.
When COVID hit and a bunch of clients cancelled on me, we had to let a handful of employees go.
Every employee that had to go was told “You are being paid for the next 30 days to go find another job. You do not need to check in every day, you don’t need to communicate with your managers, and you won’t be handling clients. Your sole responsibility at this time is to find another job. If you find another job tomorrow, you will still be paid for these remaining 30 days.”
Fortunately every single one was able to find another job…and ~5 months ago when things picked up, I called a few of them and said “you want to come back?”. Every one I talked to said “yes!”.
Several of my clients fall into that “shitty company” category though. I’ve talked with a handful of their employees who have moved on to other jobs. They all say “there’s no way in hell I would ever go back to that company”.
If you treat your employees and clients well, they will be there when you need them.
Steve · May 15, 2023 at 9:55 am
It really does depend on the company. Smaller old school businesses are more likely to give you a bad reference if you quit without notice. However I have heard the same story from several folks about giving notice and being fired or just not scheduled for their last two weeks. The trick I was taught was to always save vacation/comp time and take it while giving notice.
chiefjaybob · May 15, 2023 at 3:57 pm
Nobody ever listens to me.
Aesop · May 16, 2023 at 8:20 am
That’s how you do it, as a rule.
If you mail the two weeks’ notice from far away, and have a fortuitous three-day weekend in there, you can ensure that they only get a day or two actual time.
Bonus points if it hits the Monday after your last Friday paycheck was already deposited.
There is generally zero loyalty downward in any U.S. business larger than 20 employees.
Work isn’t about honor.
It’s about not being played for a sucker.
Good riddance to that craptastic employer, bon voyage, and best wishes at your new gig, DM.
BobF · May 15, 2023 at 10:00 am
Worked for two different companies afte retirement from the military. First would have been a dream job — like they read my experience and wrote a job for me — except for two habitual liars who were vice presidents and a manager of the same ilk. None were in my chain but all could and did affect it. Gave 2 weeks and moved 800 miles.
Second job was almost as bad — DISNEY. Management by corporate incest. Never an outside good idea. That was years ago and I lasted 2 years.
So my civilian employment experience (other than countless part time jobs while in the military) is somewhat shaded, but your manager sounds like talk and no action, and the HR folks are totally unprofessional.
They clearly do not deserve you with your skills and as an individual. And YOU deserve better. Glad to see the move.
Swede · May 15, 2023 at 10:03 am
I’m sorry to hear that you were treated so poorly.
After 18 years of great reviews and hard work, Anthem BCBS fired me along with many others for refusing to divulge our Covid19 vaccination status a couple of years ago. No other vaccine, just that one.
And they wonder why there is very little loyalty left…
Olguy · May 15, 2023 at 10:14 am
Thats called Fear.
Zeb · May 15, 2023 at 10:28 am
I’m sorry they did that to you.
It worked out about like I thought it would.
Given what you had mentioned before about their actions and attitudes, I’m not surprised.
I hope the new gig is a better fit.
P.S,, buy the new 1911. You’ve earned it, layoff or not.
It's just Boris · May 15, 2023 at 10:38 am
My apologies, DM, for giving you what turned out to be bad advice.
Rick · May 15, 2023 at 12:58 pm
Boris, I say it is too early to know if you gave bad advice. Perhaps bad by this hospital, but consider it is they who acted badly. Surely, not the first time, aka a pattern of infidelity.
Walking strong among the weak gets noticed. DM is in a strong position though it may not seem so at this moment.
Paul · May 15, 2023 at 12:02 pm
Wow, that sucks… Working in IT I have been escorted out of buildings after I let them know I was leaving… I did try to tell them that as this was me voluntarily leaving and if I had intended to do something “silly” it would have already been done/in place, but policies are in place and cannot be deviated from. Whatever, they still got billed for the whole day (was a consultant at a bank).
But IT workers in the late 90’s were a dime a dozen, for an industry that we are all being told is facing critical shortages to do something stupid like this? And of course it does reinforce the general feeling many of us are getting that our old courtesies and customs are going to be used against us, so perhaps time to let them go… For the time being at least. But then my interactions with most HR (NOT at my current place I should note, but having the “C” in the title I suppose insulates one a bit) have been less good overall…
Anyway, good luck out there, sir!
D · May 15, 2023 at 4:18 pm
> “Working in IT I have been escorted out of buildings after I let them know I was leaving”
That’s common practice and a good idea. Imagine how much trouble you’d get in if an employee gives notice (or you give them notice) and then they decide to randomly destroy data?
Any time I let an employee go, they get paid for 2 weeks, but they have zero access to anything.
Big Ruckus D · May 15, 2023 at 12:11 pm
Sounds about how I’d have expected it to go. I’ve been fired from one lousy minimum wage job (while still in High School), and was told “I was free to go ahead and leave immediately” after giving my 2 week notice at another I had burned out on due to piss poor management. When I decided it was time to leave yet another part time (previously full time) job in 2008, I had already requested unpaid time off for the two following Saturdays (that being the only day I worked for said employer).
The last Saturday I was scheduled, I finished my shift and then went to the HR manager and put in my two weeks, knowing I wouldn’t be working them anyway, as it coincided with the next two Saturdays I’d requested unpaid time off for. I had previously burned off all remaining paid vacation time and personal days there when I went from full to part time. I walked out of that shithole (after 18 years of continuous employment there) with a smile on my face. They even mailed me my last check.
I’m self employed now, and my boss is the biggest asshole I know. But it’s all good. I’d say use your two weeks of unrequested vacation to work on preps, even if it involves spending some money. Time is the one commodity we cannot get more of at any price.
Rick · May 15, 2023 at 12:48 pm
There’s often a cost to doing the right thing. ‘Nice guys finish last’ and all that.
You remained true to yourself. The pride in that will last longer than the sting of loss of two weeks pay.
There is no honor in most employers and employees alike. But do not let that define who you are.
Jen · May 15, 2023 at 1:41 pm
I’m sorry this happened to you. It has happened to every nurse I know that has put in notice. You’re trying to be polite and courteous, and are rewarded by getting marched out of the building by security. I’m really sorry, but it seems to be a theme with hospitals. :-/
Grypon · May 15, 2023 at 1:45 pm
When I was little, my Grandfather (a WWII Navy Vet) worked at a small Brewery that was still Family-Owned. He ran the Bottling Line, where a lot of High-Speed Machines and Conveyors Filled, Capped and Boxed Hundreds of Bottles a Minute – Not a really Safe Place to Work; Everywhere there were Emergency-Stop Buttons, that would Shut Off Power to the entire System. The Owner’s Son, maybe in his 20’s, had a bad habit of wandering around the Plant and Criticizing Employees (most of whom had Worked for his Father before he was Born) about stuff that He really didn’t know how to Do himself. On several occasions, he got in Grandpa’s way on the Floor, and being halfway Deaf from the 40-MM AA Guns he ran in the Navy, Grandpa would shout, “I can’t Hear You!” and Hit the Scram Button. The whole place would Stop, 50 or 60 Guys now Idle, Beer Foaming out of Bottles and it would take an Hour for a Restart. ‘The Kid’ would yell at my Grandfather “Your Fired!” and he would Clock Off and go Home. The next Day, around 10, the Owner of the Brewery would call him at home, tell him “I Slapped the Kid, can you come back to Work Tomorrow?” It was a Different Time…
EN2 SS · May 15, 2023 at 1:48 pm
I give 2 seconds notice, then burn the f’n bridge behind me on the way out the door.
Craig · May 15, 2023 at 1:51 pm
Since companies do not give notice when terminating, I see no reason to give them notice. The last job I left I called in before my start time and said:” I won’t be in today, or ever again as I start a new job today”. Then sent a recording of it to my ex-coworkers. Many laughs.
Roy · May 15, 2023 at 5:11 pm
A bunch of us engineers were in a class together at the corporate training center when the subject of the lottery came up. The question was not “Would you quit if you won?” The question was “Would you give notice?”
Most of us said, yeah, we would give notice. The company treats us okay, so it was the least we could do. However, there was one guy…
“Notice? I’d call the boss on the phone and tell him to get this company car out of my driveway or I’m going to have it towed!”
Techiedude · May 16, 2023 at 7:58 am
You listened to us? Dayummm…..
Just kidding.
The texting is BS. “Off the schedule”. Yeah..
I’ve worked for two IT shops that when you give notice, they escort you out, but still get paid the two weeks. It’s not a vindictive thing. They reason that it’s better not to have a short timer around.
As I see it, these days it makes sense to simply go work elsewhere. Maybe use the two weeks vacation to see if the new place will work then just not go back. With the rainbow corp I work for, I simply may go find another job and not bother telling them. Simply log into the normal calls. Tough to do that in the medical world.
BTW – if there were such a demand, you think they’d treat staff better, since it’s about the only asset they have.
neomunitor · May 16, 2023 at 8:30 am
One thing you can say for your previous employer – they were consistent.
Actually, since the rise of DEI in the workplace, the policy is to immediately remove people who are leaving because they contaminate the workplace. As if everyone didn’t already know the place had problems, and HR policies just made them worse.
Get freight · May 18, 2023 at 3:11 am
In many states after you give 2 weeks notice and they let you go without cause they still are obligated to pay those 2 weeks. You may want to check to be sure.
Anonymous · May 20, 2023 at 2:50 pm
My last hourly job (I am self employed now), I had just gotten out of the ICU/hospital and insisted on coming back to work right away. I sat down with the owner of the company and explained that, due to my illness, I would need to take about one day a week off (unpaid) for doctor’s visits/ recovery. He told me that he was glad that I was coming right back to work (I had a DR’s note to take three months off). He said that the company was “like a family” and that “we take care of our workers”. The next week, I was given an unsolicited $1.50/hr raise. I called in to thank him and was told that I was more than worth it.
One month later, after the company lost a few million in contract work, I was called, on the job site, and fired over the phone, for having poor work performance. Since I was fired, I was unable to collect unemployment. Gee; I wonder what happened there?
Comments are closed.