Giving Notice - Page 2

very nice. sounds like the two of you are all around good guys. good luck with finding a replacement, with your wifes new job and with the move

Yep. It should be in the employment agreement although since gladhands didnt talk about it, I assume his company is some kind of mickey house organisation and thats not there.

Yes.
Also this. As pio notes, different states may have different laws, but I believe that in most states the default assumption is that employment is at-will. In that situation, legally, either party can walk away whenever they want unless there is a contract specifying otherwise.

And speak american or go home, canuck. It's "labor" here.

You would be able to cash out your vacation.

Notice to the employer is a courtesy and nowhere in the laws state you must give it unless its in your employment contract. Granted, if you didn't give notice your chances of ever returning are zero.

Unemployment (at least in CA) is determined not by whether you quit or got fired but by the underlying events that led to your seperation of employment.

Glad to know everything worked out well. Best of luck to you and the family.

Well, it depends.

I have worked for this company, where over several years, I literally took less than 2 weeks worth of vacation and sick leave. In return, when I left, they stiffed me out of paying me for my vacation.

And this is a company, which made tons of money over minor overheads and could pay me say 3 to 5 grand as a Christmas bonus. Instead, they paid me zero.

Yes, this talk about your PTO/sick/vacation time...our policy is that once you give notice you cannot use your PTO. This prevents line staff from scheduling a two week vacation and then giving two weeks notice, basically ending their employment immediately, causing a staffing issue, yet the employee gets paid. That's just stupid to allow if you run a company. If you give notice and work out your notice you will be paid your PTO at the end of your employment. If you are terminated or quit without notice your PTO goes *poof*.

What I am saying is, assumptions that you will automatically get your time off paid out are bad assumptions. Check the company policy (this is not to you gladhands, since you thankfully seem to be having a friendly seperation, but as a general rule for those thinking of quitting).

Btw, LD? Colour my labour.

Actually, it depends on state law.

In some states, the employer is lawfully obligated to pay our your unused accrued vacation.

In other states, no such obligation exists, and it's up to the employer's discretion (some will pay out as a matter of company policy, but others won't).

Yeah, a lot of companies do it anyway (which makes sense...PTO is something you earn at most places and part of your compensation package...the way I see it, accrued PTO is no different than back pay).

In IL, employers have to cash you out at any change of employment--My employer changed the shell company that was issuing the paycheck (same job, same company, just has a different version of the parent company's LLC on top of the check) and we were required to either accept a cash payment for all vacation or sign a waiver to transfer the time to the new LLC.

If you aren't in a state that forces the payment and your company doesn't have a policy to pay it out, I would suggest burning up vacation time before you tell them. Also, my suggestion (IANAL) for the gladhands situation would be similar to what he did but maybe even more vague:
Tell them that you are moving out of state in a few months. This doesn't imply that you are quitting so you probably won't hurt your unemployment case if they fire you immediately (you could be trying to telecommute or something) but your boss will get the idea.
This actually worked out pretty well for a friend of mine...he was moving to Chicago so his fiance could go to grad school and fully intended to quit his job and find a new one. Instead, he told his boss he was was moving, that he wanted to work from Chicago, *and* that he wanted a huge amount more money--he figured they would say no but instead they let him have it all and gave him a spot in a chicago office of the same company that only has sales staff (he is a programmer in a completely different business line so it is basically an office he can use for resources if he wishes).

Great outcome for you! One day I will share my horror story with the board,

I gave 6 months notice at my current job. I wasn't fired, but I sure did get every shit assignment in the company. I wouldn't do it again.

Today is my last day!

Give two weeks. The office will manage without you. If they need more time they will ask and you can give say an additional two weeks. But really, that's not likely to happen.

Some offices/employers/supervisors are great and you will know the situations that allow for a month plus transition period. Where they know you're leaving, but you give them a little more time to prepare for your exit. By your description this isn't it. I wouldn't lose sleep offering two weeks. IF they laid you off, how much time would they give you to get on your feet before they showed you the door?

Nice to hear both sides came to a professional decision.

As an employee, its best to look over company policy and contracts you might have signed when you first started. Many people forget about this due to being with a company for quite a few years and end up screwing themselves.

Also check into your states laws. In my state, unemployment is based on the reason you were fired.
If your boss cuts your stealing, your not getting unemployment.

I never tried to 'predict' what my boss would do no matter what my relationship was with him. The boss usually has bosses that force there hand into how to handle the situation.

Of course, plenty of variables in all of this that need to be touched upon.

It is good practice for everyone to brush up on contracts, company policies, state laws, etc. since you never know when a life changing event might cause a move.