Question on notice

[mudsucker]

How much time does one need to give before leaving a job? I know two weeks is customary but why? Is one week okay?

 

[acewarlock]

All contracts are written to protect the company and not the employee, the only time there is a protection for the employee is if it is Mandated by law. Unless you have a Mandated law protecting you, they can fire you for no reason and if what they did wasn't legal, who can afford to fight it.




This is a Signature and not part of the answer, it appears on every reply.

This is an Analogy so don't take it personally as some have.

Why change the engine if all you need is to change the spark plugs.

 

[ChrisHunt]

There's a strong likelihood the best people, whom you'd most like to retain, will manage to find a job elsewhere before the rescind notices go out

You may be right, I couldn't possibly comment. I found a job elsewhere myself

-- Chris Hunt
Webmaster & Tragedian
Extra Connections Ltd

 

[spamly]

All contracts are written to protect the company and not the employee, the only time there is a protection for the employee is if it is Mandated by law. Unless you have a Mandated law protecting you, they can fire you for no reason and if what they did wasn't legal, who can afford to fight it.

This isn't completely true. Contracts also outline compensation and, in some cases, severance packages. This can serve to protect employees. I know that where I work they are looking at outsourcing, if they do decide to layoff any employees, they must payout a fairly generous severance package.

Further, if I am fired "for no reason" they also have to pay out the severance package. If there is a real reason to fire an employee (crime, gross insubordination, etc.), this is a "for cause" dismissal. Not only do they not have to pay out the severance package, but they do not have to pay unemployment. This is a tricky situation though and must be documented very thoroughly before an employer goes this route.

 

[acewarlock]

In all my 50 years I've been working I have never seen an Employment contract like you discribed.




This is a Signature and not part of the answer, it appears on every reply.

This is an Analogy so don't take it personally as some have.

Why change the engine if all you need is to change the spark plugs.

 

[JCreamerII]

Contracts can also be written by an employee. It's usually when they need you more than you need them and you have the leverage. But when it is written by the employer it is generally written to there advantage.

Jim C.

 

[spamly]

acewarlock: I've only just completed a degree in management and I've had to take a few courses on US employment law, HR management, career management, business ethics, etc. From what I've been taught, employment contracts are "supposed" to protect both parties. That said, it is not always the case as you are pointing out.

I also have a fairly odd employer. They are both for-profit and not-for-profit. They deal with thousands of union and non-union employees. They also have complex contracts with dozens of partnerships. Welcome to the world of healthcare.

 

[DonQuichote]

All contracts are written to protect the company and not the employee

Given the fact that the employer writes them, this is not that surprising. It is surprising, however, that most employees don't give any backup and just sign them. A contract is a agreement between two parties. So both parties should have some input (so the results of your negotiations ARE in your contract. So it is beneficial to you as well) and should agree on the whole. If one of the parties does not, the contract should be fixed before signing.

I had a few contracts that had ridiculous non-competition clauses or non-disclosure clauses.

For example, one company had such strict clauses that I could not even legally tell my girlfriend what company I would be going to work for! Off course, I did not sign it right away. I kindly informed the company of the implications of the contract and that I could not be supposed to agree with that clause.

They did not change the contract, but sent a separate letter that said they would not go that far. I then signed with remark "With attachment, agreed" and attached the letter to the contract.

When you read contracts, you may get a very negative opinion about the company. But usually the main reason for this is a lawyer who composed this legalspeak, not the company wanting to rip you off.

+++ Despite being wrong in every important aspect, that is a very good analogy +++
Hex (in Darwin's Watch)

 

[SQLSister]

I, for one, will never sign another non-compete clause. I signed one and then two years later got laid off and told in the meeting where they laid me off that they would enforce the non-compete (and I believed them because they had recently taken another ex-employee to court for that)so could not find another job in the same field I was working in even though I left involuntarily and it was in no way my fault that I was unemployed. Luckily for me, I had other skills than teaching.

"NOTHING is more important in a database than integrity." ESquared

 

[acewarlock]

Usually NON-Compete Clauses are only if you quit. unless your Clause included involuntarily termination, I don't think that would be legal.




This is a Signature and not part of the answer, it appears on every reply.

This is an Analogy so don't take it personally as some have.

Why change the engine if all you need is to change the spark plugs.

 

[SQLSister]

It did.

"NOTHING is more important in a database than integrity." ESquared

 

[aarenot]

The state I live in is a state which does not have apointed, but has elected judges. The state is also a "right to work", and an "at will" employment state. That means that no matter what you sign as an employee the state holds your right to work as a state regualted right not soley the subject of employemnt contracts.

No judge in the state of Wisconsin has ever, nor will ever decide that a man, or woman who is a citizen of WI not have the right to do work to obligate them to pay taxes to the state, and support their family because some company does not want them to. That does not mean they can take company customer files, or proprietary information to their competitors other than what they can carry inside their brain, but it does mean they(judges) will protect their job as a judge by not screwing the voters into unemployment. The exception can be severance agreements because if signed may be payment in kind for the term of the agreements provisions. Read your severance contract before you sign your right to work away!