advance notice of retirement

[Sand101]

I've mentioned early retirement to my boss multiple times over the past few years, most recently a month ago when corporate HR killed our PTO program.

Did they let you go home at night, at least?

No PTO would make me gone in no time flat.

 

[Old Microbiologist]

My advice is to wait until the very last minute and even then only if you have your retirement in the bag. Sadly, many employers will try and screw you out of your pension if you give them a chance. Personally, I waited until the very last possible moment and don't regret it. Sadly, I was the manager of a large government research group (24 people) and my "boss" (Division Director) fired every last one of them after I retired as my personal replacement choice was replaced by a thug who had the obvious duty to destroy my laboratory and eliminate it entirely. Apparently, this was revenge for my being independent and not a sycophantic underling.

As an example in research when you publish your research there is an important hierarchy of authorship with the first author being the main researcher and the last author the leader of the research group. No one not actually part of the research should be included if they didn't contribute to the research itself. This is a main ethical rule we researchers live by. However, it is also imperative to a research scientist to have as many publications as possible as a measurement of your success. This is especially true for first and last authorship positions which translate to getting better positions usually as a professor in a University research laboratory (after leaving government service). Anyway, this "boss" made it a rule that he must be the last author on all research papers even though he had nothing whatsoever to do with the actual research other than being the administrator. It is highly unethical and outrageous to order that and I refused. That authorship position was mine to have as I got the funding, designed and supervised the projects, and directed the research often also being a leading research scientist myself. Of course, being the administrator of our Division, all publications have to be approved by him so he could choke off all my (and my staff's) publications which is exactly what he did. He was later court-martialed (he was a colonel in the Army) for numerous (embezzlement and bribery plus sexual and racial harassment) crimes and I later published everything after retirement and his elimination from the Army (he was retired at one grade lower).

 

[FIREMike]

Not sure I saw a decision from MedVed on this.
As someone said earlier, everyone is different. A lot depends on the profession, your personal outlook and expectations. Mine are low, & although our company do work to help some amazing things happen around the globe & across many industries, I also realise it will still carry on long after I’m gone. I focus more on family, friendships and friends within work - they are the key things I will miss.

My boss is a good friend with a similar cynicism of our MegaCorp. He has known for quite some time about my vague plans (I expect him to follow within 6 months!). MegaCorp has actually been very very good to/for me over more than 20 years, but I am aware cultures change, and have no expectations.

I also shared my plan a few months ago with my immediate team. We all share some top banter, and I felt they deserved to know. I also appreciate that was ‘a risk’ to it spreading wider, but as I told them, “until I hand my notice in, this could all be my joke just to wind you lot up, so don’t share wider, I will just deny it”

That said, I formally gave only the required notice (3 months) to HR. In our industry we regularly have RIFs, and should the opportunity have arisen, I believe my boss would have looked to see if any window for a severance package could have opened. Sadly laugh, our team are too valued and rarely ‘benefit’ from being at the end of a redundancy, so that was never to be.

Notice was handed in a week ago, and it is refreshing how it feels like a weight lifting! When I hear of delays or challenges to our future products, I am no longer so vested, and feel the blood pressure lowering already!
I’m taking the opportunity as people call me for things to pick and choose who to let know.....my boss asked me if I wanted him to send out a message, I suggested leaving it until a month before I leave, but that is up to him.

Technically I put this off a year due to COVID, and of course the markets have behaved very well since last year’s brief mini-crash....I’m hoping that covers the sequencing risk (a crash early in retirement), although I am aware markets are still.....frothy.

 

[KarenF]

Generally a bad decision in my opinion.

You need to understand that if the shoe were on the other foot, employer would give you the minimum notice possible - could even be a Friday pink slip telling you not to come to work on Monday. Nearly all employment these days is "free will", which means employee can quit/resign/retire at any time for any reason or no reason at all, and employer can terminate at any time for any reason or no reason at all.

Also realize that no employee is irreplaceable. We all love to think that we have very specialized knowledge, are top performers, and employer would be in a terrible bind if we resigned with minimal notice. Get over that line of thinking immediately. We all are very good at what we do. Likewise, there are others who could fill our shoes. Maybe not immediately, but over time, and employer would roll with it and do just fine.

So, if you're truly concerned about employers well-being, give 30 days or less (I'd suggest no more than 2 weeks), offer to document what you do and are doing so your replacement has something to work from and get up to speed. Giving more than 30 days serves no good purpose, other than making yourself feel good. Between 30 days and 6 months, there's potential for employer to make your life difficult...they could throw extra work at you, expect more of you, or even terminate you to avoid paying you for another 6 months.

Be sure that you are sure of what you do and the reason for doing it. Again, if the shoe were on the other foot, employer would not do the same for you.

I just gave 10 weeks notice and received an extra "special project" for my trouble. I should have given 30 days. Oh well.

 

[cranberryjoe]

I took a package offered to encourage older employees to leave. I was well-respected in a critical role and shocked my team by taking the package. The package terms gave me a choice of, as I recall, 2 months or 5 months notice. Being the nice guy I am/was, I took the 5 month notice to give the company the best transition.

Mistake. I should have taken the shortest possible term. Within one month I had my projects transitioned to other people. Except for one particularly annoying assignment, I had very little responsibility for the remaining 4 months. Nobody I transitioned my main work to ever consulted with me during that time, so I endured the worst of my assignments for those final months without having any of the fun work. I was so happy when it finally ended.

 

[Al in Ohio]

I asked this same question before I retired. My concern was that I handled a lot of responsibility and had a staff (was a Regional Manager Design Engineering) with ongoing projects. I got a few “everyone is easily replaced”comments. That might be for many positions, but not for me, especially in current times. I ended up giving 2 months notice. The VP in my region pleaded with me to work a minimum of 25-30 hours per week part time with benefits until they could find a replacement for no more than 6 months. I asked if I could work at home most of that time and he agreed. Nothing changed in regards to meetings or importantance. If anything I was treated even with increased importance. After 6 months we still couldn’t find a qualified replacement. I voluntarily worked another 2 months because it was now low stress. Still no hired replacement. I dropped to 20 hours a week for another 6 months and finally they got someone. I helped with the transition and still consulted as needed for another 2 years. All in all it was a great way to ease into full time retirement. Even though I originally retired (part time) at 55, I still get a permanent standing invite to the company Christmas dinner party every year.

 

[Out of Steam]

Before I retired, I w#rked for my employer for 25.5 years. I cannot tell you how many times over the last several years of my employment they did things we all said they would never do. Lesson learned (the hard way for some).

My wife retired from her company in 2018, to her knowledge on good terms. In fact, up to the beginning of COVID, she continued to do some part-time work for them.

Since then, she has gotten a steady stream of phone calls from people she hired saying that they have been laid off. The company appears to have used COVID to clear out people associated with my wife and her former boss, while leaving others in place.

 

[Exchme]

I advised someone in a similar previous thread to give the minimum notice and then when it was my turn to retire, that's what I did, I gave two weeks. Though I was sort of afraid they would pull the plug right away, that's not what happened. Everyone was great about it, I spent most of the last two weeks fielding calls from people wishing me well and the manager did a virtual greeting card where lots of people wrote nice thoughts and we had virtual retirement party on my last day (last Thursday). But I do think I did it right, compressing the time kept the notice period short and sweet.

 

[winyaz]

One of the benefits of retiring is you get to do things on your own terms. If you are more comfortable giving more notice and don't mind the risks involved (and I agree that there are risks and more notice is certainly not required), I think you should do it. I gave my manager a heads up that I'm looking to retire soon and will have no regrets about that. He is happy to keep me as long as I am willing to stay. In the meantime, what can they do to me, let me go? - that's what I want. Leave me out of the loop? - what do I care. Replace me? I would be happy to train my replacement and pass on my knowledge. Try to overwork me? ... lot's of luck with that - I'm doing things on my own terms now.

 

[medved]

I’m glad I asked this question here. I’m still not certain what I will do but the responses have given me a lot to consider. It may be that a shorter notice but with an offer to stay on for a bit on a P/T basis if they need it might be best.

 

[GoBears]

I too am currently wrestling with how much notice to provide. I’ve reached the income cap for my position and have not received a raise in more than 5 years and firm management eliminated PTO for attorneys so no cash out of unused time. That suggests two or three weeks notice at most. At the same time, I very much value my relationships with the attorneys in our local office. So, like medved, I will probably provide 3 weeks or so of notice and offer to remain up to another 3 weeks if the local folks want me to do so. In the meantime, I plan to take advantage of our “unlimited” vacation policy. I also dropped hints at the end of last year about retiring sooner rather than later so notice shouldn’t be surprising. Notice is currently planned for the day after the Supreme Court upholds Obamacare (fingers crossed).

 

[badatmath]

My employer asks for 90 days notice, few people give that long unless they plan to take PTO before and not be in the office. My employer doesn't do anything different as far as planning ahead whether you give 90 days or 90 seconds so far as I can tell.