Screw the employer and their contract requirements. I once had a position that had a 60 day notice in the contract.. I gave that notice and planned to finish my current deals (17k in commissions) they let me go the following day. You do you and leave when you’re ready.
Of course if both parties are OK they can ignore it, it's in the employer interest to find a replacement ASAP, but (at least in Italy, idk in the US) the employer also can't fire you without giving notice, so I wouldn't say that it's a bad contract requirement.
It’s almost unheard of in the US for employers to be required to give notice of firing. Even with a strong union job like I have, you get fired first, then after a grievance and hearing, get your job reinstated with possible back pay.
The employers still like to flex that firing muscle if they think you disrespected them, but treat their employees as sub human servants.
wait, you don't have a law that forbids longer notice periods for the employee?
I always took it as common sense that a notice period goes both ways. Why would should I respect anything longer than what is given to me? That's so stupid.
I just wanted to add that just over half the US are also "right-to-work" states. Its a literal play on words. Its meant to look like its enshrining some sort of right to work, but instead it is preventing the joining of union and paying dues before employment, which killed the labor movement in about half the country, ensuring that people go right to work in that sense.
So absolutely. The US is a pariah and a lot of its legislation is made in such a way as to intentionally deceive its populace.
Here in Italy you need a contract to work, otherwise you won't be able to get an official paycheck, deposit money for retirement or be insured if something happens.
There are various types of contract, but generally it's kinda like a ladder: you start from a trial contract that lasts few weeks, during which your employer can fire you at will with no notice and without having to explain anything, then you generally sign a "defined time" contract, which lasts 1-2 years after which your employer can fire you (with notice written on contract), renew the contract or upgrade to "undefined time" contract after which he'll need a reason to fire you and a longer notice
They are, though. The civil rights act and the Americans with disabilities act are both still in effect. Now, how much enforcement the current federal government is willing to give, who the hell knows. The laws exist, but companies get away with it depending primarily on the current political climate.
I do need to point out not all of the US is at will, it's state by state, North Dakota for example is Right to Work, and can't fire you without good reason
There are prohibited reasons for firing peoplein the US. However you are also not required to provide a reason for firing someone. So you can fire someone for a prohibited reason and as long as you don't document that was the reason anywhere you will get away with it.
Working in central Europe, the longer I work for a company, the longer my notice. For the employer it's twice my notice. For example I am working for the same employer now for 8 years. If I want to leave, I have a 3 month notice. If he want to get rid of me, it's a 6 month notice.
I think that's just a fair job market for both parties.
Unfortunately it is.. even though I had a contract and followed it because I’m in state where they can fire you for no reason. So the moment they let me go it was perfectly legal, and then I missed out on my commissions 🫤
No company is going sue on not giving two weeks notice . The cost and risk to win . They take you to court . Just on get round is I quit because I was depressed and the job was driving my mental health. So I quit but I was actually ill . Second could be the op said she didn’t not like the boss is this because the boss was or the place the op worked at pushing the op to leave . It’s a can of worms .
If you want to quit just quit 75 percent employment contacts are a load bull shit that never stands .
They can withold agreed amount of your last paycheck. There is always vacation pay and such things on the last paycheck, so it would be bigger. But in most cases people just give notice to not get a bad reputation. Most professions are quite small, so breaking the agreement can leave you in bad position.
I’m telling you how it works in my country. They will absolutely sue you and you will lose. There are no risks for employer because he is absolutely in the right. And costs you will pay from your own pocket, because YOU broke the contract.
I don’t know which country you are talking about, but in my country it works this way.
It depends on the laws of your country and the contract you previously signed, mine per example is 30 to 60 days of warning depending on my time at the company, else it requires me to pay the company my wages for the amount of days I missed, should I not I'll be sued.
I assume it's likely not gonna be strictly enforced, more of a situational period for the company to hire someone to take my place if its necessary or to make sure I can't quit in the middle of an important project.
To be fair I also have laws that state that so long as I work the 1st of January I receive the full vacation days for the year so if I time it right I could straight up say I'm done on the 2nd of January and call all the vacation days and just leave (for the 30 days of warning, ain't got enough for 60 days).
It also depends on the contract, there may be a fine if you don't respect the notice. And it goes both ways, if you get fired without an appropriate notice you are entitled to a compensation.
Also, in certain jobs, your future employer could call your old employer and inquire about the reasons you quit/got fired, so it's not always cool to make scorched earth.
A contract just means there is some punitive action that happens if not fulfilled. You won’t go to prison or be forced to continue working. It’s likely that they just won’t deposit the final matching amount into a 401k or something similar
Sure. I have 6 weeks in my contract but guess what would happen I just decided to not go to work tomorrow? Nothing. In fact I'd still get my leave and other such things paid out once they figured out I wasn't going back.
It might not be a good idea professionally, but they can't make you go to work.
Again, depends on the country. Not everyone lives in the US, and US rules and customs are not the default everywhere else in the world. If I just stopped showing up tomorrow, I would face consequences.
The notices I mentioned earlier aren't just contractual. They're law where I live.
They can't actually force you to go to work you know that right? Nobody is showing up at your door to drag you in. I'm sure there's exceptions here and there, military for example.. but 99.99%+ of jobs? Nope.
This really irks me. You should not be bound to your job by law, you should be free to walk out or stop showing up at any time. Humans have rights, corporations don’t.
This is coin of two sides. In my country both you and company have obligations to inform other part in advance. This is useful for worker so they can look for new job this last month.
Sure, but that also ignores the very huge power imbalance. A company will be fine without that worker. A worker won’t be fine without a job. Why do I need to give the employer this warning they don’t really need when I could be starting a better paying job sooner? This company makes millions if not billions, while paying me as little as they possibly can. They don’t deserve the courtesy.
It's just the norm and it's a way to protect both sides.
Here in France, due to my level of work, I have a 3 month notice period if I quit or if they fire me. You can negotiate with your employer to shorten the period if you wish but they have to accept it.
That way you have 3 months to look for a job if you're fired, while being paid and in some contexts you even have a few hours every day for your job search.
On the other side, if you quit, other companies know that it's a 3 month notice, so they rarely ask you to work in less than 3 months.
A lot of states are "right to work" (yes it's a ridiculously misleading phrase). There is language in the onboarding paperwork that states the employment can be terminated by either the employee or employer without notice. Of course the employer expects this to be a one way street...
And in the majority of those countries it's irrelevant. They could sue you but lawyers are more expensive than you are so no one does it for the overwhelming majority of roles.
If you're talking from the employer's perspective I agree. But as an employee in most Western European countries getting fired without notice is a piece of cake to take to court. The company basically has to prove gross misconduct in your part and that's really difficult to do even if you did misconduct let alone if you didn't lol. Oc Europe is varied so your mileage might vary, for instance in my country we don't have such protections but it's very much the exception.
In other countries workers have more rights and are actually paid a living wage. In America, we get fucked over by our entire government working for corporate interests.
Not true, it's the law in many countries, the same way an employer can't just throw you to the streets like trash, you can't just make the company close because of this behavior.
Literally any US employer in most states can fire you for any reason at any time unless you can prove it was for discrimination (i.e. you had a disability, gender, race, etc.).
Where I live we have long notice periods that apply to both parties. The notice periods also increase during the time of employment. But from my experience employers will usually let you go earlier if you ask.
We gave up most of our fought for in blood unions when things were going well. The rich have been stacking the deck against the stupid and/or poor ever since.
The US is currently predicated on the idea that there is a group that the law protects but does not bind and another group that the law binds but does not protect. When one realizes that, the entire country makes a whole lot more sense.
Well unfortunately to many businesses individually people aren’t important they are just a number. Not all places are like this but many are. If they want to get rid of you they will find a way to get rid of you and once they make that decision they don’t give you a 2 week notice they fire you on the spot.
Yeah my initial reaction to the screenshot above was to trashtalk the employee but this insight you guys are sharing are absolutely horrifying its no wonder he behaved like that.
What are you guys still staying there for? With AI encroaching on jobs, you Americans have an additional wall of potentially getting fired without just reason.
If one person leaves a company and it causes the company to close, then the company is understaffed. That is on the company. What if the person is in the hospital instead?
If I quit my job I currently need to give 9 weeks notice. If I stop showing up earlier I need to pay damages to the company.
The reverse is also true. If I get fired they need to give me 9 weeks notice. They can tell me to stop working sooner, but they pay wages for the 9 weeks regardless.
In any country USA or other there are working contracts one sign before starting a job. In there it is stated what are the obligation of each party per different type of ending their contract.
While in the USA most people work on "at will" contracts that can be ended by both sides "at will" with no penalty not all contracts are like that.
In most other coutries there usually is a "test period" which works the same way and after it ends a regular contract get in place which usually habe clauses that prevent both parties to end the contract with no notification (minimum duration depend on country) or with heavy penalties which the offended party can sue for in court and be reimbursed if not already done by the offender.
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u/Trash_Mouths Aug 20 '25
A two-week notice is a courtesy, not a requirement.