Anyone Penalized For Early Notice?

Thank you all for your awesome feedback. The POV expressed is decidedly to "Wait" before saying anything, despite that it will leave the boss hanging.

I especially appreciate the perspective to consider what the bosses' boss will want to do, or HR. As much as I would like to do the right thing, I agree that "the rules are there for both sides" and "neither side is wrong for following them." I also appreciated the warning that stock options and bonuses are set up as "retention tools, not retirement incentives."

I wanted to give an informal heads-up, not give a specific day but instead just say sometime this spring/summer. Now I am hesitant to do even that.

Honestly some part of me just wants to exit at this point. By giving him notice, it would start the end-game for me and they can do what they want. That said, what I have at stake is about 4 months salary. I guess I should just wait. :mad:
 
I would definitely wait. For months' salary is nothing to sneeze at. By sharing your plans too early, that would be at risk. You are doing nothing wrong by holding your cards close to your chest.
 
I'm in the same situation and I'm waiting. I'm giving 30 days notice required for salaried employees to receive payment for unused vacation. Unfortunately, that is the only carrot I have.
 
I told my boss after the politics got toxic that I'd leave without filing for unemployment and sign a liability waiver if they "kept me on the payroll" through the end of the next month. Later he asked me when my last day would be; I told him the end of the week.

What they did was very different and I probably should have fought it but I didn't. I was terminated as of my last day in the office, but paid through the agreed-upon date and given a lump sum for COBRA through that period. So, I missed pay for another 1.5 months accrued vacation, missed the company 401(k) match for that period, and had to scramble for COBRA and then "real" insurance.

Definitely keep your cards close to your chest. You have very little to gain and a lot to lose by telling them early.
 
I'll decisively say "it depends."

I got wind of a reorg in my group few months before I was planning on leaving. This was in the summer and I was planning on leaving the following January (pushing some options into the next tax year because of taxes). I let my boss know I was leaving and he was able to make sure I wasn't put into a roll where my leaving would be a problem. It worked out well for them and for me.

That being said, I was fully prepared to leave right then and there when I told them. I didn't expect that it would come to that, but it certainly possible.
 
don't do it

I just FIRE'd on 8/15/15 and gave 6 weeks notice. It was too long! I didn't have any financial incentives on the table, but I was a VP of a department and wanted to give ample time to replace the position. It just drags after they know, and I wish I had given at max 4 weeks. Looking back, I don't think it would have affected them that differently had I only given 4 weeks.

Especially given you have 4 months salary as bonus on the line, I'd say just go about your business and keep doing your job and give notice in accordance with your personnel policies!
 
Two questions you should know the answers to:

1. How much notice are you required to give according to the company rules?

2. How much notice would they likely give you if they decided tomorrow to downsize your department?

These situations tend to arise because people such as yourself have a good relationship with their boss and don't want to rock the boat more than necessary. But it's important to remember that this is irrelevant. Long goodbyes are usually hard on everyone.
 
braumeister said:
..........Long goodbyes are usually hard on everyone.
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And once you announce that you are leaving, you become irrelevant and invisible. That makes for some long days.
 
Company says you need to give minimum 60 days notice (on the first of the month). That said, we are employed "At Will" and aren't legally required to give any notice.

We recently went through layoffs and they gave people 45 days notice to find another role or leave the company.
 
Kickernick said:
Company says you need to give minimum 60 days notice (on the first of the month). That said, we are employed "At Will" and aren't legally required to give any notice.

We recently went through layoffs and they gave people 45 days notice to find another role or leave the company.
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Check how much notice you are required to give in order to be paid for accrued leave, etc. We are required to give 2 weeks in order to be paid for accrued vacation time - so 2 weeks it will be for me when the time comes, and not a day more.
 
Calico said:
Check how much notice you are required to give in order to be paid for accrued leave, etc. We are required to give 2 weeks in order to be paid for accrued vacation time - so 2 weeks it will be for me when the time comes, and not a day more.
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That will vary from state to state. In CA they have to pay you accrued vacation time, regardless of the length of notice. My employer was a nat'l employer and HR had to be schooled in that for an employee who gave 1 week notice and they tried to hold back the vacation pay.
 
Whereas, where I am, the requirement to pay out vacation pay depends on the employer and the way the policy is worded. We have an employee handbook which states that accrued vacation cannot be cashed out, but in practice we all know examples where it was (and where it wasn't). If it were important to me, I would use it before it was at risk of being lost by some detail of how I gave notice.
 
I gave my boss about a year notice and got penalized. Finally I told them just fire me, I had enough, and that's when they back off.


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum
 
I gave about 3 months notice to my boss. Seemed like the right thing to do, etc.

It didn't hurt me any, but I don't think it helped the company either. I pretty much continued work as usual for 2 months. Only in the last month did I announce to people I worked with that I was leaving, and that didn't change a whole lot either. It really was only the last week of work that I seriously spent time handing things off etc.

Note that in my case I went on leave of absence instead of quitting since the company thought I might come back. Obviously if they had decided to fire me to keep my remaining options from vesting there's no way I would come back.

If I'd read this thread, I'd probably give 1 month's notice, and maybe even waited until the vesting that I was waiting on had actually happened.
 
rodi said:
That will vary from state to state. In CA they have to pay you accrued vacation time, regardless of the length of notice. My employer was a nat'l employer and HR had to be schooled in that for an employee who gave 1 week notice and they tried to hold back the vacation pay.
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I'm glad to hear that!

Let's just say I live in an "employee-unfriendly" state and leave it at that. :mad:
 
Our family will be taking a nice Spring Break trip just a week before my planned exit date, so that will use up my vacation days. The timing just happened to work out that way. :)
 
Once, for a job change/relocation I gave 12 weeks' notice, thinking I was doing them a favor, making for an orderly transition. My boss was angry I was leaving, and it made the time creep by. Never again will I give more than 2 - 4 weeks, depending on what's required.

Even though DH was exhausted, he gave 7 weeks' notice (only required to give four). They asked for more time, (which ended up being a total of 12 weeks), with the agreement that he could take a couple of weeks off during that time. He worked more hours than his already demanding schedule when some emergencies had to be addressed, only got to take one week off, and they didn't even start recruiting for his replacement for the first month. Basically they sqandered the extra time he gave them.

We all learn some things the hard way.

You don't have to say how long you've been planning this. You can just say, "Bob, It's been great working here and I've made a difficult decision and wanted you to know I'm giving you my official notice."
 
I'm also reading this thread with great interest.

I'm tentatively planning to leave around 7/1, or whenever I finish a batch of work that I will enjoy doing.

My boss and others already know that I'm thinking about it. Boss told me he thinks that the 2016 bonus (payable in 2017 after I leave) will be pro-rated based on the time I work in 2016, but that he thinks it is calculated quarter by quarter, so I might want to leave just after the start of a quarter.

Maybe I already told them too much, but I have a bunch of colleagues that I wouldn't want to leave in the lurch. I don't think people would make me miserable if I announced 6 months ahead of time, but if they did, I guess I could just pack up my desk and go.
 
My company's standard response was "thanks for the two month notice...two hours should be enough to clean out your desk"
 
Kickernick said:
Our family will be taking a nice Spring Break trip just a week before my planned exit date, so that will use up my vacation days. The timing just happened to work out that way. :)
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Unless of course they realize they can just terminate you immediately after you tell them so they don't have to pay you vacation time , along with not paying the bonus either.
 
In my case I was laid off prior to the retirement date I had informally discussed with my boss. While that hurt my ego a bit, it turned out to be a financial blessing.


1. I met the rules (age + years formula) for retirement benefits so got those despite technically being "laid off." (Pension, retiree medical, etc.)

2. I got an attractive severance package.

3. I collected unemployment benefits.

4. I never had to describe myself as "retired early." I'm "long term unemployed" and entitled to any rights and benefits accruing to members of that group!


"You're firing my sorry ass prior to my retirement date? Oh no! Please don't throw me into that briar patch!"
 
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There are four potential outcomes when you give notice:

1- You are asked to quit now, paid thru the end of this pay period at most, pack up your stuff today, we'll walk you out

2- You are told Ok thanks for letting us know, you can keep working till your date... but money you think is coming will be less and your boss and others will get more annoyed as the time passes, and by annoyed i mean pissed, freezing you out, hostile

3- Your boss is appreciative of the heads up, you keep all the money you'd get anyway, and they give you a nice party for a send off at the end of your notice period

4- Your company wants to offer you a stay bonus or work out some part time/consulting thing to elongate your plans

Most of us are thinking of #3 when we give early notice. Any one of these could happen and don't ever think "oh not MY Company/boss/co-workers" on the ones that shorten your plans. Be ok for 1 and 2, and you can give notice any time you want.
 
1. No problem.... you just made my day.... after all, I told you... I'm leaving.
2. OK, I'm not putting up with your crap, been nice knowing you... goodbye.
3. What happened in my case
4. I was already 50% time, so not an option.

Aerides said:
There are four potential outcomes when you give notice:

1- You are asked to quit now, paid thru the end of this pay period at most, pack up your stuff today, we'll walk you out

2- You are told Ok thanks for letting us know, you can keep working till your date... but money you think is coming will be less and your boss and others will get more annoyed as the time passes, and by annoyed i mean pissed, freezing you out, hostile

3- Your boss is appreciative of the heads up, you keep all the money you'd get anyway, and they give you a nice party for a send off at the end of your notice period

4- Your company wants to offer you a stay bonus or work out some part time/consulting thing to elongate your plans

Most of us are thinking of #3 when we give early notice. Any one of these could happen and don't ever think "oh not MY Company/boss/co-workers" on the ones that shorten your plans. Be ok for 1 and 2, and you can give notice any time you want.
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