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Can You Be Sued for Quitting?
An anonymous reader asks: "I work at a large hosting company in Texas, and recently decided to go work for a smaller competitor. I had a great relationship with my employer and wanted to leave on good terms, and I hadn't signed any non-compete or employment agreements . I felt my old company had just gotten too large and I didn't like working there anymore, so I gave them two weeks notice in writing. They were really upset when I insisted on leaving and one week into my last two weeks the V.P. of Sales told me the company was suing me for leaving, and they were also suing my new employer for hiring me. I was shocked, and they then escorted me out of the building. Has anybody ever heard of this happening? Do they have any legal basis for suing me?" It shouldn't have to be said that seeking professional legal representation, in such a situation, is the first thing one should do.
But without a non-competition agreement I can't see that theirs would go very far. Of course anyone can sue anybody at anytime for anything. Actually winning a judgement is another matter.
Perhaps your former employer might be better advised to spend the money and effort having a consultant come in and find out why they are losing people - a professional job satisfaction survey, say. If you have found that the work environment has changed enough to motivate you to seek employment elsewhere, then others are likely thinking the same thing. Maybe their threat of a lawsuit is a form of coercive message to other workers that they had better stay... or else!!
If they gave you no explanation then they're full of hot air! They're only attempting to discourage you from sharing your knowledge with the smaller competitor. If your future employer refuses to offer you employment due to a possible lawsuit them you may have a VERY big check coming your way if you counter-sue your former employer for defamation and damages.
I used to work for a Fortune 500 company a few years back that attempted the exact same stunt to a coworker that quit, they were hoping to scare him accepting employment from a much smaller consulting company which happened to compete with them. In the end, the big Fortune 500 employer never sued, but the ex-coworker sued them for defamation and won a real nice 6 figures out of those a$$holes.
Seeing as they fired him, is he not entitled for severance pay now?
Generally speaking, you should always try to have a written contract of employment so you know where you stand with regards your employment. Just because you didn't sign anything doesn't mean there are no terms under which you are employed - it is just that they have not been reduced to a written form.
If you were in a particularly senior position and/or handled sensitive information as part of your job, then it is likely that there would some form of non-compete in place. If you are able to, check your staff handbook (if any) and try to obtain a copy of a contract of employment from a friend at your old workplace to see if there is any mention of a non-compete clause. If there is, then it makes your position weaker unfortunately.
IAAL and I think the only people that ever win in court are the lawyers. It is in everyone's interests to avoid going to court if at all possible as it will be a waste of time, money and effort.
Perhaps you could try writing to the employer? Explain reasons for leaving, that you want to leave on good terms, wish them well etc. Say you were disappointed to hear that they are considering taking action against you and would like them to explain the basis for doing so.
Worse case scenario is that they go ahead. Best case, you find out that they were never consider taking action in the first place or they realise they are being silly and move on.
(Standard disclaimer: Whilst IAAL this should not be considered legal advice. See a local lawyer if you feel the situation warrants it).
Now that's the idea.
...
I propose the poor guy sues his company. before it has time to sue him.
IANAL, but I'm sure a pro can find a few nicely worded offenses commited by this company (Breaking the freedom of choosing its employer, being considered as a serf belonging to the company while slavery has been abolished for some time, moral prejudice for unneeded sufferings, cruelty (in group), libel (?), being an asshole (NOT A CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT, even if 2 centuries of practice make most american think it is), intimidation, unheeded meddling in someone's affairs, etc
Anyhow, if they want to play dumb, he should just play harder...
It takes 40+ muscles to frown, but only four to extend your arm and bitchslap the motherfucker
Stories like this makes me happy to live in a country where unions are the norm. The union would handle this case, and I wouldn't have to worry about it.
[ Most of the employers are actually happy with the unions as well, the unions tend to prevent strikes and make the salaries fluctuate less, which makes long time planning easier. ]
And that statement makes about as much sense as "In Germany you can shoot anyone for any reason." Sure, in America you can sue anyone for anything, but bringing a frivolous lawsuit against someone is not legal.
You need to keep a shit list. I've been with one company for about 12 years now. For the last 5, I've kept an offline diary about my work there. Every time I think I was wronged, I write about it while it's still fresh in my mind. Every time I do something really good, I write in another diary.
Guys like you just saved my ass. I work as a manager in an office that just about imploded. My boss actually thought that the statements in all those demotivation posters were motivational. He actually tried implementing the subject of several of these as policies and wondered why morale went into the can. There was be regularly cursing out of people and basic violations of just about every workplace law in existance. After one really spectacular incident of incompetence half the company threaten to walk. The owners fired him.
Fast forward to present. He sued the owners for being fired and blamed me as the source of his ills. Claims we all conspired against him. Well one guy in the lot, whom I defended from such shenanigans (I view my role in management is keeping the management BS out of the way of the people doing the work), was like the above poster. He kept detailed diaries and recorded all curse out rants. He turned all this over to the legal team.
I kept notes as well, but there's nothing like recordings and detailed records from another witness. I recommend to my direct employees to keep detailed notes of everything and I expect honesty. One day I'll get busted for a crass remark, but that's minor compared to being a dyed in the wool asshole and having it all end up before a jury.
Where I work we are required to give three months notice.
This leads to what I like to refer to as the 'abusive relationship situation'. This is where once an employee gives notice their life is made HELL until they are out. The abuse comes from peers and all levels of management. Peers think you are a traitor for leaving them with the workload and having to train up someone new, and management resent you for leaving, prolly 'cos they never had the guts to.
The situation is so bad that some employee's accumulate as much PTO (Paid time off) as they can, so they can submit their resignation and be on PTO up to their terminal date.
It is really sad that we don't celebrate our colleagues perusing their ventures, like we should.
IANAL either, but this guy is (in Texas): http://www.brownemploymentlaw.com/non_competition. shtml
But, by firing you a week early, they've fired you. In Kansas, the state in which I've been fired a couple of times, I can tell you that you should at least file a claim with the unemployment office so that their unemployment insurance rates will go up.
And as for the two weeks notice ... it depends on the company you work for as to wether that was a good thing. As an employer, I certainly appreciate the notice and always have amicable relations with employees who are leaving. As an employee, I've never felt compelled to commit sabotage after giving my notice.
When I left my first real job, after six and a half years there I gave them four months notice. I wasn't sure where I was going or what I was going to do, but I knew I was leaving. So I told them. About two months short of that, I decided to start my own business in direct competition, so after sitting on that idea for a month, I told them. I was told that they were going to accept my resignation early. I told them, "Bullshit. You're firing me. If you think that I haven't had ample opportunity to mine whatever resources I'd want to steal, than you're an idiot. I've hated you for at least the last four years, and those conditions haven't changed. I'm leaving in one month unless you are firing me right now." And so I got fired. But it was stupid on their part, because even though they knew I was going they hadn't prepared for it and they nearly crippled themselves for a couple of weeks. Though, I suppose, there's no way to really prepare for a highly-trained employee to leave, and even if you have two weeks to hire someone the transition is never smooth.
The term for that is "at will", not "right to work". "Right to work" is shorthand for laws protecting non-union employees, such as forbidding an employer from making union membership a condition of employment.
That's a weak understanding of the Civil War. And especially ironic, given that by that point the north had switched to a wage-labor format, which is actually cheaper labor (use a person up, throw them out, find the next one).
No, the civil war had a lot more to do with the dynamics of power between urban and agricultural centers. Slavery was just the touchy subject that set it off.
(And in the end, the south actually won... if you look at an electoral map; or the balance of power in the Senate).
Actually, it is the oposite: just because I have work ethics, I do not expect anyone else to.
When someone gives me notice, I send them home that day and usually pay out the rest of the week.
When I fire someone, I usually pay out the rest of the week; if they get paid the week after they work, I'll get them their last check as early as possible.
But once someone says "I'm leaving in two weeks", I cannot expect them to put 100% into their work -- and I certainly don't want them hanging around telling all my customers and employees about their great new job.
Running a company is a matter of managing liabilities: hey, if you do great work then I want you here. If I can no longer count on you to do great work, why would I keep you around? Even something as simple as a twisted ankle turns into an insurance claim and Workman Compensation issues; costs that I do not want to incure over someone who I know will not be working for me in 14 days.
I recall it well, a technology company in London.
I interviewed for the job, and the guy describe something I'd done very successfully on my previous project. I was perfect for the job, and the interview was going well from his point of view, but not from mine. The company was in a crap location, out on a dumpy industrial estate, and I'd done that work before, exactly that work, it was something boring and repetitive to me.
The second interviewer could see I wasn't so keen and asked me if I'd be happy in that role, and I explained the problem. You could see the anger in the main guys face as I basically turned down the role. He got up, went out the room, the second guy explained the managers short fuse, and the main interviewer came back with security to escort me out of the building.
If you were escorted out and sued, it means you are GOOD AT YOUR JOB and you are important enough to get sued. Dude, it was a compliment.
I've always felt that giving notice of termination in my field of work (IT) is
extremely dangerous. If I have root on a number of production servers and access
to a data center, I've often felt that giving notice leaves you wide open for
blame if you share root with others. If you give notice and things start screwing
up, it'll be your fault, bank on it. And if Joe IT across the hall doesn't like
you, its trivial for him to screw things up deliberately and lay the blame at your
feet. It's also feasible that if there are severe ill feelings from management
because you're leaving, what better way to screw you over than to arrange for some
sabotage (real of pseudo) and blame it on you.
Not a chance.
When I decide it's time for me to leave, I gather my things and leave. Great time
to use up all those vacation days or unused lieu days. If not, sue me. I have a
lawyer, a really good one, here's her card.
mike
-- Karma whore? You betcha. --
It's always a good idea to give at least a month of notice, in writing. The worst case is that you leave on good terms with the company, the best case is that they immediately escort you to the door, and have to pay you for as long as your notice was for. (If they fire you after you give them notice, you can sue them for unlawful termination). I had a friend that got a 3 month 'paid vacation' by submitting his resignation letter to an employer with 3 months notice.
This signature is a waste of 42 characters
I agree with you, with one caveat.
At my current job, sharing the same taste in video games, books, etc. and a relaxed work environment. As such, I started to consider my boss a friend. I'm pretty sure it cut both ways.
Unfortunately, his snarky comments in several consecutive meetings almost made me quit in a spectacular, unprofessional, obscenity-laden fashion. I was absolutely furious with him, but when viewed objectively, I couldn't tell why it was.
Finally I realized that had a friend made comments to that extent outside of work, I would have blasted him verbally, and gotten into a shouting match/argument. Obviously these are not options when the person in question is your boss, and the venue is a company-wide meeting. His position as my boss shackled me, even though he had no restrictions.
My job became much smoother when I reminded myself that, in the end, what we had was a business relationship. I was paid to take his snide comments in stride. Each time he said something like that, I weighed the comment against whether or not it crossed the threshhold of what I was willing to take. If it did, I would resign. If it did not, then he was my boss, and that was life. After that, a cool "Yes, sir." and brushing off what amounted to jokes lowered my blood-pressure, and made my work considerably more pleasant.
Be friends with your employers and coworkers, certainly. It's the best benefit in any job. But keeping an eye on the bottom line is just as important.
Wow, an abrasive AC that didn't understand the parent post. I'm shocked.
He isn't saying that he's doing the equivalent of firing someone after they give their notice. He's letting the person go home and is paying them for the two weeks. This is very standard practice among companies and benefits BOTH sides. The employee isn't in the office POSSIBLY giving sub-standard work, affecting morale, or remaining a liability for their last two weeks of work. If the employee is evil, they're now deprived of the opportunity of causing problems.
Absolutely, two weeks notice is a courtesy. And employers appreciate that. But not all employers have a need to utilize the employee for those two weeks, and if you can get by without them, it is in your best interests to do so.
I've always looked at jobs this way. It's a business contract between to parties. You agree to work, they agree to pay you. If and when either party decides that the agreement is no longer satisfactory, they can terminate the agreement.
It's really that simple. I once worked for a company that shut the doors at our branch with no notice whatsoever. We all came to work and the boss was there with a lock for the door. He told us we had 30 minutes to get our stuff and go home. You know, that's the way it goes sometimes. I have never held a grudge about it. And so if I find a better opportunity that is going to make me happier, or provide my family with a better income, I'm gone folks. No hard feelings.
Don't feel bad about being escorted out, that's a common practice in every IT shop I've worked for. A disgruntled IT employee can do a lot of damage in two weeks.
As for the lawsuit, sounds like a load of crap to me. What are you, an indentured servant?
The laws in Texas in this area are particularly onerous. It's not uncommon for the new employer to be sued by the old under the theory of theft of trade secrets, and the Texas courts are notorious for entertaining just about any cause of action, no matter how bogus. What's unfair is that the employee can rarely afford the defense of such an action, and the new employer doesn't want to. We're involved in five lawsuits in Texas now.
It legally can not affect recommendations or references
Why can't it affect references? If I was a manager and an employee just up and quit one day, I certainly would mention that if someone called me to check a reference. And, I wouldn't want to hire an employee who I knew had a history of failing to give proper notice. And, btw, as an employee, I would not work for a company that I knew had a history of failing to give proper notice and/or severance pay in all but the most egregious or extraordinary of situations.
I believe that may be legal. 43 states have At-Will employment. It allows an employee to quit for no reason. UNLESS, you are under contract. If you are under contract they can't fire you and you can't leave untill the contract is up. IMHO it sounds like a crappy place to work and I am sure you can 'stick it to the man' if you tried to leave. Check you state labor laws and most states even have hot lines to call.
Half of writing history is hiding the truth.
In many cases it works to your advantage to give notice. How many times do you hear about sysadmins or like jobs (where you could do a lot of damage) being walked out after giving notice, but being paid for the two weeks? I remember stories right here on slashdot about that, and many of the comments indicated that was not a totally unusual experience. I don't know about you, but what better way is there to leave a job than with two extra weeks vacation (because you'd drain all your vacation first, right)?
:)
Maybe my theory is based on anecdote, but look at it like this: you stand to lose nothing from turning in notice. Ok, so people may not be nice to you any more. Who cares? In two weeks it'll be a memory. Unless you just have an axe to grind and want to screw over your former co-workers (because the company itself won't care much) just turn in notice. The courteous thing is often the right thing. I guess I sound like Jiminy Cricket now
blah blah blah
In any case, I believe in not burning my bridges. In fact, I gave a month's notice from my previous job, but then I ended up in the hospital for over a week, so I OFFERRED (and was taken up on the offer) to delay my departure until I could finish handing everything over to my successor. My new company was not especially pleased by that, but they certainly supported me in it, knowing that I would do the same for them.
And so I remain on good terms with all of my previous employers. I am welcome to come visit and join my ex-co-workers for lunch, I still get Christmas cards from the president of one of the companies I worked for, I've gone back and done contract work for ex-employers. Only in one case did ex-employer A try to prevent new employer B from getting work from customer C because of me, but they were slapped down with threats of legal action, and in fact A later hired B to do work for THEM, specifically, work performed by me.
I'm really, really rotten at negotiating salary for a new job, but it has happened more than once that a new employer has come back and said "Actually, we can do better than that" and improved the deal AFTER I had already signed the contract (in one case, after I had started working there). And, maybe I'm just kidding myself, but it seems to cause great sadness when I leave a place, in contrast to some other workers where the manager seems almost relieved to get rid of them. But I make a point of NOT leaving any of them in a lurch.
Sometimes I wonder, though. Why do they keep me on, when they could take my salary and use it to hire at least two other engineers? It sure can't be because I'm so productive! Why do I have a window office, when generally only managers have offices, and at least one has to be satisfied with a window cube? I bet HIS sadness at me leaving would be at least somewhat tempered by his change of workstation.
I have always given at least two weeks notice. Only once was I terminated immediately, but I didn't care. Why? I had discussed both options with my new employer and they were prepared to wait until the two week period was up, or hire me immediately if terminated.
I was laid off from my last job due to corporate financial problems. This was during the post dot.com bust period, where jobs were hard to find. My employer helped me juggle vacation time and such to extend my employment as long as possible -- thus extending my families medical benefits. Since then I have gone back as a contractor, many times, to help the person who assumed my responsibilities.
Given that both sides behaved honourable and professionally, both sides are very happy and comfortable with the outcome.
If you take pride in yourself, then you should behave in a praise worthy manner, no matter how unprofessional the other side behaves.
For every problem there is a solution that is simple, obvious and wrong.
There is a lot of incest in the local job market -- anyone who leaves would almost be expected to take some underlings and accounts with them. That is why -- again, generally -- I must get people out of the office as soon as I know they have another job.
Now I can tell you the parable of the $22 commission.
There was a company. The sold big dollar equipment. $30,000 or more per sale. They had 5 or 6 people in the filed. And back at the company. They had one guy who handled all the after market stuff. They sold about $350,000 a year in after market stuff.
This guy, had a sick relative in the area, had just moved to town, and was willing to work for anything. So they started him out at $22,000.00 a year. He told them he would work hard, and talk about salary after a year. He went to work, went through 20 file cabinets of old records and cold called everyone who had ever bought a piece of equipment from the company. Asked them if they still had it around or used it. Got some of them to start using it. Would call some people and say "hey, it has been 3 months since you ordered, I am having a slow week, help me out."
Bottom line, after 3 months, he outsold, everyone out in the filed, by selling $300.00 of stuff at a time. He also sold 10 or 11 systems in that time...but he did not get credit for those, only the "in the field" reps got credit. Turned after market from $350,000 into better than $1,100,000. Not bad work for the year.
So the year is up, they offered him a raise, of 50 cents. Yes, from $22,000.00 a year to $23,000.00 though he could demonstrate that he made the company an extra million a year in after market and equipment sales.
So a competitor heard about him, and offered him $36,000.00 per year starting pay, promised to have him at $48,000.00 inside of two years, PLUS profit sharing and his commissions. He took it. Gave two weeks notice and offered to train his replacement. Well, they fired him on the spot.
You know what, he was cool with that. So he got his pay, But for what he sold that month, he should of had a commission check of about $270.00. We had talked, and he was going to leave his old customers alone, and just build his business by cold calling from their old files at the new company.
Well, they sent him a commission check of $22.00. When he complained that he sold "x" that month and it should be about $270.00 they told him he did not work there any more and that was just to bad....
At that point, he decided, Over that $250.00 he would take every customer he could. Now I will note, he had almost a photographic memory. he Knew all the prices on the products, what the markups were, and most of his own customers. He had no problem at all moving them over.
So the company he had worked for, in addition to losing him, by being cheap. Also lost, what has amount to several million dollars in sales over the course of a few years, because they thought screwing him out of $250.00 was a funny thing to do. And make no mistake, if they would have given him that $250.00, he would have left them alone. It went from "ethical" to "personal" with the way they had treated him at that point.
vi +
Yes, but if you talk to a lawyer about this they will tell you NOT to comment on bad behavior. Watching your step when you are not a lawyer is dangerous..
My wife had some problems with one of her employees, her lawyer told her the only thing she should say as a reference is that "such and such employee worked for me from this date to this date". Also I would hope the other side would get the clue when you say "I really cannot comment on this matter".
Possibly because you're not legally allowed to say anything bad about a former employee when acting as a reference. You can either say something good, or refuse to comment.
While that is not technically correct; many companies, in the US at least, have policies against saying anything and will merely verify employment. They don't want to be sued, whether it is by an ex-employee who has a different interpretation of the "facts" or by another company who hired someone you said was great but turns out to be a criminal. It's simply safer to say nothing in the US' litigious society.
I'm a consultant - I convert gibberish into cash-flow.
That's the fun thing about Canada. Depending on the province there are lengths time required that the employer has let you know in advance before terminating without cause. If an employer doesn't want you around they will often just pay up front for the required notice time amount and tell you not to come back.
Of course without any evidence to back this story up, Slashdot could probably now be sued by ThePlanet for libel.
Nope, Slashdot could only lose a libel suit if they had evidence that they KNEW this story was a fabrication, but published it anyway. Taking the submitter at his word, for better or worse, gives Slashdot protection from charges of libel.
Then again, this same "protection" explains why the news media calls LED advertisements "hoax bomb devices" and vectors tales about Barack Obama attending a Muslim school in Indonesia. If they do any research, they could bring liability upon themselves.
It's not illegal, just ill advised, in the States at least. My father, who is an HR director, has told me that while he doesn't generally say even factual negative things about former employees, there is one question that he has absolutely no problem answering: "Would you hire this person again if given the opportunity?"
Two years ago I did the same thing for much the same reason. I was walked out of the office about 4 hours after I gave notice and received the notice of their intent to sue the next morning. It turns out that they had no basis for a lawsuit and would have probably lost (they were claiming "inevitable disclosure of proprietary information" as the reason, which apparently has never been won in Mass.) but it would have cost me a bundle. To make matters worse I was entitled to some fairly valuable stock options (I know, I should have exercised before submitting my resignation) which they threatened to withhold based on a secret (not communicated to anyone) that allowed them to withhold options basically for any reason they want. In any event, it took three months to work out a settlement. Luckily my new company picked up the legal bills but I was unemployed without the ability to file for unemployment during that time. What a pain.
This is one of the best pieces of advice I've ever read. A corollary is "don't listen to whiners" unless you have to. They can make your working unpleasant, hurt your company, and make you less effective.
Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
If the employee listed you as a "personal reference", you are perfectly free to do this, as you aren't speaking for your company. If, however, you were being contacted as a "previous employer", the only thing you are legally allowed to do is verify dates of employment.
To be on the safe side, though, you better not say anything more than you would be allowed to as a spokesperson for your company
California is an at-will employment state meaning your employer can (and often will - because that's how employers are) release you at any time without notice. As an employee, you can leave at any time without notice as well (though it's not considered professional and word *will* get around). As long as you did not sign anything - including forms stating you received an Employee Handbook - which may have some sort of employment agreement in it - the employer can do nothing to you. I have worked for employers that use this sort of thing as a scare tactic. One thing I've heard often from lawyers is "They [the person you are having trouble with] can do anything they want [legally] until you catch them."
I've had former employers try to screw me in various ways that they knew were outside the law. As soon as I called their bluff and stated I would sue them for all they were worth (and it's very effective when you can quote the pertinent law backing your claims), it's amazing how fast they backpedal.
I can't say how the law in your particular state might read.
IANAL, but I have been through the legal system more times than I'd like.
PGA
> Giving notice is purely a courtesy. It legally can not affect recommendations or references
That's too broad of a statement. An awful lot of companies refuse to give recommendations at all for fear of being sued, (BTW, IAAL) but there's nothing blocking them from saying "Employee X quit abruptly". Plus, prior coworkers move on and are no longer bound by company policies. You'd have to lose them as a reference.
> there is absolutely nothing any company can do to force you to stay at work in an at-will state.
It happened to me. I'm in an at-will state, and I attempted to give 4 weeks notice to my employer about a year back. I foolishly told someone where I was going, word spread, and it turned out that my new company considered my prior company a very important customer.
Next thing I know, my current employer decided they had a few projects for me, contacted my prospective employer and renegotiated my start date, pushing it out a few months.
Technically, I might have been able to sue for tortious interference, but that would be a sign to my employer-to-be that I was trouble. Then I could have found myself out of a job altogether.
In the end, I accepted the extension, but only with a written guarantee that they wouldn't seek to extend the date further. I made it dead clear that without that guarantee my original 4-weeks notice would become 90 seconds notice. I'm not happily employed at the new company.
I do believe you can LEGALLY say whatever you want as long as it's the truth.
It's HR departments and Legal departments trying to minimize frivolous lawsuits who hamstring people from giving anything worse than a mediocre reference.
It's why when hiring someone, if they're not getting a glowing reference from their previous manager/coworker, they are absolutely not worth hiring.
I worked for a very large company, and they had several rounds of layoffs for about four years. During the fourth year, my "number came up." The layoff was handled very well, IMHO:
- The company gave 2 month's notice (I believe they were required to by law due to the number of people being laid off at that time).
- Everybody who was laid off did not have to show up to work during those two months, but were still on the payroll with full benefits, including medical and 401k with company match.
- The severence package over and above the two months on the payroll was an additional month's pay in one lump sum.
- Terminated employees had one year to exercise any stock options they had before the options expired.
- The company contracted with an outplacement agency to hold a couple of job fairs for [former] employees and help them with their resumes. From one of the job fairs, I have my current job.
- If they found a new job before the two months was finished, employees were allowed to start working at their new jobs without affecting their "employed" status with the company or their severence.
All in all, I'd have to say that I was treated much better by the company when I was being laid off than when I was actively working thereYMMV
"Teleporting Rodents with D-Cell Battery Displacement" theory -- IgnoramusMaximus (692000)
You're absolutely right, but people don't always think that way.
I'd been contracting for a company for a while, and they asked me to come on full-time. I thought it would be a great opportunty to do some cool stuff, and get some experience inside the company, before I went on to do other things, so I decided I'd work for them for a year and then move on.
Well, I made the mistake of thinking it would be considerate to tell them that I only wanted to work for a year; that seriously screwed up the negotiations for a few weeks.
The thing is, if I'd just come and worked for them, and then after a year decided to leave, nobody would have batted an eyelash. In fact, while I had been contracting for them, they had had a new CEO come on and then leave after 6 months. But because I told them up front, it was a big deal.
The manager I was talking told me about how they'd be afraid to give me important projects to work on if they knew I'd be leaving, because it would be harder for someone else to maintain or fix when I was gone. Well, I'm sorry dude, but that's the situation with every employee in your company. They may leave at any time, and if they do, you'll have to deal with someone else taking over his code.
Anyway, they've lost their right to that kind of consideration from me. Two weeks is all they're going to get.
TCP: Why the Internet is full of SYN.
http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/FAQ_Paydays.htm
8. Q. I just gave my employer two weeks advance notice that I was quitting. Instead of letting me work until the date of my resignation, he told me that I was discharged, and instructed me to collect my personal belongings and leave. Upon leaving he gave me a check for all wages earned up through my last hour of work. Am I entitled to be paid for the time that I gave notice? Additionally, when must my final wages be paid?
A. You are not entitled to any wages for the notice period because you did not perform any work during that period. For the purpose of wage payments, your employer changed a quit into a discharge, and all of your earned wages became due and payable immediately at the time he terminated you. Giving notice is purely a courtesy. It legally can not affect recommendations or references This I'm skeptical of because every employee handbook I've been subject to says no notice = no references. I lost good references because I didn't give a full two weeks notice, which was the company's policy.
I thought of keeping my own list a few times, but realized that if I really need to do so, I should start looking for another job instead.
If you are secretly storing up a list of 'ammunition' against people, then you are betraying that friendship and trust.
But in all fairness, you should realize that every business big enough to have an HR department, keep such a list against employees.
A new manager decided that a purge was needed a few years ago, 20% of the workforce had to be replaced by "new blood".
Looking at what some co-workers got as "reasons why you are let go" I could not believe it. Mostly very generic and hard to prove things done by everyone, like:
Stay more than 2 minutes at coffee machine talking, disturbing co-workers.
Get in late at least once a month. (No mention of the daily unpaid overtime).
Do not constantly pay attention in meetings.
Unnecessarily use large amount of paper in printer. (WTF?)
Leaves computer on at night. (Compiling at night)
Sometime eat at his desk, not at the cafeteria. (Hey! When works need to be done)
And so on for about 12 pages. I let you imagine how the moral was after that stunt.