Anyone Penalized For Early Notice?

[Kickernick]

Sorry - yes 12/31/15

[old woman]

I gave several months notice when I didn't mean to. I was talking to my boss about someone else and told her I planned that person to replace me when I retired. So she wanted to know when I was planning to retire, I said I don't want to tell you because I won't get a bonus, she promised I would and I did. So 1/15/14 was my last day but I had from Sept to train my replacement and make sure my new boss was all the way trained too. Worked out, nice bonus, retirement lunch, retirement gift.

[heeyy_joe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HadEnuff to answer the question of the title of this thread: Yes. Lots. From a management perspective the money not yet vested to you is there as an incentive to KEEP employees, not reward you for what you did in the past. If you are leaving, there is no point in giving you money to keep you there. That money would be better spent by management trying to KEEP the other employees from following in your footsteps. On the other hand, you may feel like that you deserve that money based upon what you did in the past. You are no more right or wrong, morally, than management. If you feel that way, there is nothing wrong with sticking around until that money is vested to you, then giving your notice. If they want you to stick around and train someone, you can do that. IF they terminate you immediately, it's on them. But don't give them 3 months notice and expect them to say "Well we WERE going to give you this money if you stayed, so we'll give it to you anyway"...

+1. I gave one month notice and they dumped me immediately. "DANGER WILL ROBINSON, DANGER!"

[athena53]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kickernick Sorry - yes 12/31/15

Ah, that's better. Get out ASAP! I'm not even sure why you're giving them 3 months' notice.

[growing_older]

Quote:

Plot twist. MegaCorp changed bonus policy and it fully accrued on

Better be clear in whatever written policy you are looking at and fully understand. I've seen bonuses de-allocated up until the day they were to be distributed (regardless of "accrued" or not). Make sure there's no wiggle room between accrued and actually given to you.

[cyber888]

Get the money first. Once it is safe in your bank, give 2 weeks notice - and say Sayonara, I'm outta yere.

[Theseus]

About 6 months before my planned departure date Megacorp HR VP sent a corporate-wide email indicating a change in procedure regarding bonus payout, with terminated employees being SOL if bonus payout date had not yet occurred even if the fiscal year the payout was based on had been worked in full. Seeing as how my intended date most likely straddled those two events I was a bit miffed and immediately replied to that email with a very pointed question, asking if that policy would apply to retirement also. Mind you, such a sacrilegious offense as to question a policy edict from upon high would normally lead to local management making life even more miserable for the offender, but like I said, I was miffed. I was extremely and pleasantly surprised to get both a phone call, and email response nearly as quickly as I had sent mine - no it did not apply to retirements; and I was thanked for asking! Of course I made sure to save all correspondence in case someone tried to deny it, but it all worked out well in the end. My immediate boss had some idea of my intent before that, but not until after verifying the status of bonus payout upon retirement did I clue him in as to when, a couple of months prior. It gave me a chance to do some training with my intended replacement, that made me feel better about leaving a job I actually did like, but I just didn't care for w**king in general anymore. Towards the end I kind of made a mockery of it, as local HR 'needed' me to sign a useless form to make it official so they could formally work on replacing me. Kept telling them to make me an offer, but they didn't bite.

[prudent_one]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Theseus terminated employees being SOL if bonus payout date had not yet occurred even if the fiscal year the payout was based on had been worked in full. ... it did not apply to retirements.

I guess the smart thing for people leaving is to just say they are retiring.

Always wondered how it works when certain policies are different depending on why someone leaves (quit vs. retire), especially if someone is RE.

[friar1610]

I haven't read every post in this thread so my comment may not be relevant. I had several jobs over a 6-7 year period after I retired (with pension) from my primary career. I always gave 6-8 weeks notice because my jobs were fairly responsible and I thought that walking out with 2 weeks notice would leave them in the lurch. I figured that might give them time to find a replacement and maybe I could have a short turnover period with that person. In every case the employer screwed around, didn't take timely action to hire someone else and ended up trying to get me to stay on (with a raise.) In every case I left when I said I would feeling not the least bit sorry for any problems it cost the company. Not that any company went out of business because I left but if I were going to get another job (not bloody likely!) I'd just give 2 weeks notice.


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[bobandsherry]

I work for a mega corp bank. There policy is clear, if notice is given before bonus is paid the said bonus will be forfeited. So, instead of 2 month notice I could have given my manager, she'll now get 2 weeks. I've not even hinted as I have no trust that said bonus would have been severally reduced if I would have said something. She and the company have made this a situation that could have been easy transition into a struggle for my replacement.

[pixelville]

You can almost be sure your bonus would be reduced or eliminated. Bonus is often used as a motivational incentive.
Long time ago I was going to take up a position in another group. During the transition period, economy went south followed by immediate hiring freeze across the board and then layoff announcement. Guess who the old manager put on the layoff list? Walked me out the door within 2 hrs. I had the highest performance rating (just before the layoff) and promotion given by the old manager. But that didn't stop them. If I am not "loyal", might as well reward those who are.
HR will support the manager. You can't question.
And as others pointed out, you may be asked to leave earlier than your intended 90 days.

[Kickernick]

Someone on my team is retiring this week, so I have had a front-row view of exactly how the policies work. I had him confirm in writing that his 2015 bonus is secure - and I kept a copy of their emails. Two weeks from tomorrow is my date (2/9) and I'll let you know how it works.


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[Senator]

Most everyone I work with for the past two years knows I am leaving this summer. Bonuses this year are down overall, I heard 70-80% of last year. Mine was 88% of last year.

My long term incentive bonus, the one that vests over time, was up slightly less than 1%.

Raise, by percentage, was almost the same (2.4% vs. 2.7% last year).

So, it could be held against you but likely not have any impact, if you have a professional employer and a good attitude.

[stepford]

I'm probably the exception to all these dire tales of early notice and its consequences. I let my manager know almost a year early when I was thinking about leaving and gave him an explicit departure date 5 months out. In return he was able to facilitate a desired layoff and exit package for me.

Not saying this works for everyone, but I had a good relationship with my management that was maintained through my exit.

[ponyboy]

2 to 4 weeks notice...thats it. Like others said...they could easily escort you out the door and strip you of any bonuses that may be coming.

[strathglass]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jwkde I gave a standard 2 weeks notice then agreed to stay 3 1/2 weeks after I leverage a few minor things in my favor to stay the extra 1 1/2 weeks. ...

Just curious if anyone has any experience with this:
If giving the recommended minimum notice, say 2 weeks, assuming you are willing to extend that time and stay a little bit longer... what could one expect to be offered as a possible incentive to stay on for an extra period, be it 2 weeks or 2 months, or whatever?

[Aerides]

While I still condone doing the 2 week thing (4 tops, and still only if you are ok if they say "make today your last" as is my plan). My husband gave about 5 weeks last year as there were a lot of other departures and he'd be in the position of hiring replacements which would best be done by the new person since his departure was going to be about 3 months at the time.

He offered to stay part time if that meant keeping bonus for year end. He's still there, true part time, still full benefits, and just got extended again.

PT took the stress off but the continued income has helped avoid other stress given the market of late.

[mystang52]

Quote:

Originally Posted by strathglass Just curious if anyone has any experience with this: If giving the recommended minimum notice, say 2 weeks, assuming you are willing to extend that time and stay a little bit longer... what could one expect to be offered as a possible incentive to stay on for an extra period, be it 2 weeks or 2 months, or whatever?

I gave just 2 weeks notice. My company asked me to stay in a part-time capacity, and we ultimately agreed to to me continuing 2 days/week as a telecommuter. I would not have stayed on if it meant going into the office. I had a strong feeling they would want to keep me in a limited capacity, which frankly was one of (but not only) reasons I gave just 2 weeks notice.
It ended up being a really good deal for me.

[pb4uski]

Quote:

Originally Posted by growing_older Better be clear in whatever written policy you are looking at and fully understand. I've seen bonuses de-allocated up until the day they were to be distributed (regardless of "accrued" or not). Make sure there's no wiggle room between accrued and actually given to you.

+1 While you are entitled to a bonus because you were on payroll as of 12/31/15, the problem is that in my experience most bonus programs create a pool based on some formula and the distribution of the pool to qualifying employees is discretionary based on management's perception of each employee's relative contribution to the firm's success. So while you would be entitled to a bonus and will likely get one, it might be lower than what it woudl be if they think you are staying.

OTOH, if an individual's bonus is based on a formula and the bonus crystallizes on 12.31.2015 then no problem.

[Kickernick]

I pulled the trigger last week and everything went well. Any sense of risk or retribution were quickly quelled and my boss was appreciative of the extra time to transition ~45 more days. As it turned out, his job got expanded and he will be traveling the next couple weeks. There will probably only be a few weeks we are both in the office over my remaining time. I am still not sure I will work all the way to 4/1, but it doesn't really matter to me anyway.