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“You Find Out What Bosses Are Really Like When You Leave”: Guy Gets Sacked On The Spot For Handing In His Two Weeks’ Notice
Interview
Do you remember the joys of putting your two weeks notice in at the job you hate? The puzzled and jealous look on your colleagues’ faces (‘that bastard!‘); thinking over and over again the final thing you’ll say to your boss before dropping the mic. What a better way to start a new chapter of your life…
Or so the user ‘distortedmorals’ thought. As he tells it in his r/antiwork story, the exciting job offer author received right before the Christmas holidays was a blessing and a curse. Out of excitement, he prepared his resignation letter. But after handing it in, the author of the story was met with a rather distasteful comment from his boss. No wonder then that almost 80% of people who quit their jobs cite ‘lack of appreciation’ as their reason for leaving.
A moment passes and the next thing he knew – he was fired on the spot with those same two weeks to spare before his new gig begins. And while that may not sound like a terrible Christmas, the way it all turned out doesn’t seem exactly right. At least, that’s what more than 22 thousand users think about this distressing and, turns out, quite a popular scenario.
Scroll down to read the story in full.
RELATED:
Guy hands in his resignation letter only to be met with manipulative comments from his boss and the request to leave immediately
Image credits: Masa Israel Journey (not the actual photo)
This is how all things escalated from 0 to 100
Image credits: _distortedmorals
Everyone agreed that this is only for the better
Learning that many people have had a similar experience in their life, we reached out to Charles Joseph, an employment lawyer based in New York City and the founder of Working Now and Then firm with an incredible track record to find out a few things about the situation. “It wasn’t professional, but it wasn’t illegal either,” Joseph told Bored Panda. “It doesn’t matter that he jumped the gun. You can’t get lost wages damages when you quit or even if they can show that you would have quit.”
That sounds rather worrying, right? It’s because of stories like this, the two weeks notice method feels quite antiquated and counter-intuitive. Delving deeper into this discussion, Joseph agrees that while firing from a workplace for no good reason may seem unfair, states and countries in Europe that do prohibit termination without cause also have their downsides. “In the US people can get a second, third and many more chances in life,” he explained. “Take a man who served time for a felony: in the US, an employer could take a chance on the candidate with a spotty work history reasoning that if she needed to, she could fire him.” When nearly one-in-three US citizens have a criminal record according to the newest data – it only seems fair.
In countries, like Japan, Brazil or France the systems are set up to protect employees from being sacked without a perfectly legitimate reason, as it should be. The trade-off, though: “It’s harder to get even a second chance [if you have a criminal record] because you are much harder to get rid of.”
One research showed that over half of the managers didn’t receive any management training and people seem to sense that
What do you think ?
Wilf 2 years ago
Straight up illegal in most countries. You cannot be dismissed during a notice period in the UK unless it is for justifiable reasons such as gross misconduct (and that is decided through the same disciplinary process any other employee would go through). If your employer forces you to stay away from work during your notice period (which is common enough in industries where you are going to work for a competitor and could be privy to sensitive information during your notice period), you are legally entitled to the same pay and benefits as though you were still working there. It happened to me once- I had 12 weeks "gardening leave" in my employment contract- when I left, I stayed at home on full pay!
Robert T 2 years ago (edited)
Indeed. An employer has to have a justifiable reason for firing someone with no notice. You can be given notice, but usually the notice the employer has to give is longer than that which the employee has to give to the employer, especially if they have been in the job for a long time. The US really is an appalling place be an employee.
Load More Replies...
ƒιѕн 2 years ago
The states in the US are 'At Will Employment' states. Which means an employer can terminate for any reason without warning as long as it's not illegal or discriminatory. Of course every state has its own employment laws and exceptions. Best to take it as a vacation and move on.
Hugo Raible 2 years ago
Is it also "at will" for the employee? Or what's this thing with the two weeks notice - is it just a nice thing to do or is it mandatory? Can an employee also leave on the next day?
Load More Replies...
Wilf 2 years ago
Straight up illegal in most countries. You cannot be dismissed during a notice period in the UK unless it is for justifiable reasons such as gross misconduct (and that is decided through the same disciplinary process any other employee would go through). If your employer forces you to stay away from work during your notice period (which is common enough in industries where you are going to work for a competitor and could be privy to sensitive information during your notice period), you are legally entitled to the same pay and benefits as though you were still working there. It happened to me once- I had 12 weeks "gardening leave" in my employment contract- when I left, I stayed at home on full pay!
Robert T 2 years ago (edited)
Indeed. An employer has to have a justifiable reason for firing someone with no notice. You can be given notice, but usually the notice the employer has to give is longer than that which the employee has to give to the employer, especially if they have been in the job for a long time. The US really is an appalling place be an employee.
Load More Replies... ƒιѕн 2 years ago
The states in the US are 'At Will Employment' states. Which means an employer can terminate for any reason without warning as long as it's not illegal or discriminatory. Of course every state has its own employment laws and exceptions. Best to take it as a vacation and move on.
Hugo Raible 2 years ago
Is it also "at will" for the employee? Or what's this thing with the two weeks notice - is it just a nice thing to do or is it mandatory? Can an employee also leave on the next day?
Load More Replies...
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