Author Topic: Dead Man/Woman Walking....  (Read 36011 times)

Libertea

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Dead Man/Woman Walking....
« on: September 20, 2016, 08:33:28 AM »
Anyone else here currently in that strange limbo where you've given notice but haven't actually quit yet?  I gave mine a few weeks ago and will be leaving at the end of the year.  It's kind of odd: on one hand, I feel much less stressed at work and find the job more enjoyable than I did before I resigned.  But I know that a lot of that is because now there are no sticks threatening to whack me whatsoever, and I can focus on my actual work even though I really don't enjoy this job or gel with most of my coworkers.  Still, I do appreciate the new sensation of freedom that I have gained just from giving notice, even though I'm still working exactly like before.  I was starting to become a real complainer (to the point that I was annoyed with myself), but now I find that a lot of stuff that used to get to me rolls off my shoulders without much effort on my part.  I mean, what can they do to me?  Fire me after I've already resigned?  I already told them that I'd like to leave right now if they could manage to replace me more quickly than anticipated. :-D

Uturn

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Re: Dead Man/Woman Walking....
« Reply #1 on: September 20, 2016, 08:44:53 AM »
When I quit my job last year, I gave almost a month notice because I knew they were going to be in a world of hurt, being short staffed already and me being the only one at the company with my skills.  So much for that being a good idea.  No one to turn over to, and they treated me like I was already gone.  No meetings, no assignments.  I got so bored that I only went in about 2 days a week. 

When I was in the Navy, we called what you are experiencing "short timers disease".  Happens any time I transfered, and was real pronounced when I was getting out. 

Cpa Cat

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Re: Dead Man/Woman Walking....
« Reply #2 on: September 20, 2016, 08:51:56 AM »
When I quit my firm, I gave them an extra week of notice because it was a busy time of year and they were short staffed.

Big mistake. I became like a pariah.

Even though I had a full three weeks available, my direct manager came to my desk, took all my files and reassigned everything to my overwhelmed coworkers. So while I sat there doing nothing, they toiled bitterly. My manager refused to say hello to me in the halls.

It was so awkward that I went to the audit department (I was a tax), and asked if they needed an extra hand on any audits, and ended up working on that for my last three weeks.

They did not use the three weeks to replace me. My coworkers just stayed overworked for the rest of busy season.

minerstache

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Re: Dead Man/Woman Walking....
« Reply #3 on: September 20, 2016, 09:11:31 AM »
I'm currently debating on how much notice to give at the end of this year. I've been with the company for 23 years. Nov-Jan is a slow period for our dept. so I'm worried about giving too much notice (3-4 weeks) as they could choose to let me go earlier than my desired last day. I'm assuming they wouldn't as I am the owner of a major account. I've been grooming a back-up that handles my work while I'm on vacation and this person could easily take over at the end of the year. However, 2 weeks seems like too little given the time I've been with the company.

If you had the chance to do it over again, would you have given less notice; 2 weeks vs 3 or 4?

Uturn

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Re: Dead Man/Woman Walking....
« Reply #4 on: September 20, 2016, 10:14:02 AM »
I believe OP is contractually bound to give the long notice.  In the future, I will probably only give 2 weeks in my written resignation, but verbally state that I could stay longer if I'm available and will be utilized. 

Libertea

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Re: Dead Man/Woman Walking....
« Reply #5 on: September 20, 2016, 04:33:13 PM »
I think how much notice to give is largely contextual, based upon multiple factors such as how disruptive your leaving is, your relationship with your coworkers and employer, etc.  In my case, I could have given less notice, and I chose not to because I didn't feel right about doing something vindictive like that.  But I was psychologically ready to leave the day I gave notice, and had my employer been able to let me go that day, I would have gone happily.  I guess that is the advice I would give you, miner: when you're prepared to quit your job that very day if that's what your employer wants, then that's the day when you give your notice.  So if you want to leave at the end of the year, give your notice then.  But be prepared to stay on through January if they take you up on your offer to work through your resignation period.

SwordGuy

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Re: Dead Man/Woman Walking....
« Reply #6 on: September 20, 2016, 04:44:26 PM »
If the loss of two or three weeks salary messes up your FIRE plans, you aren't ready to FIRE.

You would be cutting it too close in that situation.

The only exception would be if you were to get a really big bonus if you stayed a few extra weeks.

snowball

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Re: Dead Man/Woman Walking....
« Reply #7 on: September 20, 2016, 06:07:36 PM »
When I quit my job last year, I gave almost a month notice because I knew they were going to be in a world of hurt, being short staffed already and me being the only one at the company with my skills.  So much for that being a good idea.  No one to turn over to, and they treated me like I was already gone.

So weird when employers don't make use of (and appreciate!) long notice periods in a situation like yours - it seems so very short-sighted.  The last time a critical person left my small workplace, she gave a month's notice (which we're contractually obligated to do), and then ended up staying an extra week beyond that to do more knowledge transfer.  It was pretty awesome of her, as it cut into the time she'd set aside for relocating for her new job.

My employer is really good about long notice periods in general, which I think encourages staff to give as much notice as they can (knowing both that they won't be penalized for it, and that the time will be used well to make the transition go more smoothly).  I am actually looking for a new job right now and hoping I can give more than a month's notice;  I don't want this to be any harder on them than it has to be.  But even though I'm ready to move on, I still wish my current employer well and want them to succeed.  It's all about the context.

snowball

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Re: Dead Man/Woman Walking....
« Reply #8 on: September 20, 2016, 06:12:08 PM »
(And even though I haven't given notice yet, Libertea, some stuff is definitely rolling off my shoulders and getting much more of a "whatever" reaction from me these days.  It's kind of nice.  I'm not realllllly checked out mentally - I still care about the important stuff, and I also care a lot about continuing to do my job well, as a matter of principle - but I've definitely started letting go of some of the middling things.)

Dicey

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Re: Dead Man/Woman Walking....
« Reply #9 on: September 20, 2016, 11:59:27 PM »
Following.  This is going to be interesting...

marty998

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Re: Dead Man/Woman Walking....
« Reply #10 on: September 21, 2016, 02:12:11 AM »
It's very much a grey area.

Many companies believe in the adage that "everyone is replaceable" and won't care how much notice you give... they will hire someone after you leave and rely on the good old Standard Operating Procedures instead of proper training/handover.

Problem being is that rarely does a SOP tell you how to think/problem solve/find the right solution or person when in need of help.

Also depends on how senior you are. Get high enough and you will be marched on the day, especially if you are going to a direct competitor or are in a sensitive role such as strategy or ops, or even marketing and have intimate knowledge of processes and systems.

6 weeks is ideal but not enough... chances are the person you hire as a replacement also has to give their 4 weeks notice. Last hire I made there was an 8 week gap between old girl leaving and new girl starting, and old girl had given me 8 weeks notice before that...

Villanelle

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Re: Dead Man/Woman Walking....
« Reply #11 on: September 21, 2016, 03:48:14 AM »
I'm currently debating on how much notice to give at the end of this year. I've been with the company for 23 years. Nov-Jan is a slow period for our dept. so I'm worried about giving too much notice (3-4 weeks) as they could choose to let me go earlier than my desired last day. I'm assuming they wouldn't as I am the owner of a major account. I've been grooming a back-up that handles my work while I'm on vacation and this person could easily take over at the end of the year. However, 2 weeks seems like too little given the time I've been with the company.

If you had the chance to do it over again, would you have given less notice; 2 weeks vs 3 or 4?

I guess it depends on ho loyal you are vs. how miserable you are.  If you think there's a very real chance they could let you go early, that means they have shown you signs they can be assholes, so I'd just go with two weeks.  If the relationship had been a good one, generally, I would likely give them more notice.

I once gave an employer nearly a year notice.  Not ideal, but I was moving to Japan, and I had very good friends at work and I knew there was simply no way that I could avoid talking about the move (or that my friends wouldn't accidentally slip at some point).  I knew there was basically zero chance of them letting me go as we were hemorrhaging people and they were desperate to gets butts in seats as it was.  So I let them know.  It was fine.  I even got a small performance raise at evaluation time. Since raises were limited by other constraints, so I doubt I'd have gotten more even if I weren't leaving.  I wasn't treated badly in any way, and it was fine.  I certainly wouldn't recommend it, but in my case and given the cultural climate, there was very little risk. 

minerstache

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Re: Dead Man/Woman Walking....
« Reply #12 on: September 21, 2016, 11:11:55 AM »
Thanks for all the responses.

I have a very good relationship with my employer and am leaning towards 4 weeks notice with the understanding that I could be asked to leave sooner, though not likely. I'm not dependent on the bonus to Fire and if I was asked to go early I would still get most of it based on being employed for 11 months of the year. I'd only be losing 1 month which isn't enough to really matter.


ZiziPB

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Re: Dead Man/Woman Walking....
« Reply #13 on: September 22, 2016, 07:18:42 AM »
I'm planning to just give notice and tell them that I am flexible as to the length of the transition period, up to a point.  My preference would be 2 weeks but I expect to be asked to stay much longer.  Hopefully we will find a compromise position :-)

Libertea

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Re: Dead Man/Woman Walking....
« Reply #14 on: September 22, 2016, 07:37:53 AM »
For the record, in case anyone is interested, I gave four MONTHS notice when contractually I could have given four WEEKS.  And my boss's response was that it was still "abrupt," after which he went on to try to bully me into staying longer.  This was in spite of the fact that he knew over a year in advance that I'd be gone by this spring at the latest anyway (so I'm really only leaving a few months earlier than initially planned). 

Assuming they make me stick it out until the bitter end, which I expect them to do, I still have three months of my resignation period to go, which is why I started this thread.  But it's been kind of weird for me the last few weeks since resigning.  Not because of other people; I don't think most of my coworkers know that I already resigned yet, because no one has said anything about it to me.  I certainly haven't discussed it with anyone at work besides management, so if and when the others do find out, it won't have come from me.  But of course I know, and it makes a difference in how I feel.  Though I'm basically with snowball in that it's not that I'm mentally checked out, as much as just not bothered so much by all the stupid political kind of stuff that goes on at work sometimes.  Part of the weirdness is that I actually almost enjoy working here sometimes now.

Slee_stack

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Re: Dead Man/Woman Walking....
« Reply #15 on: September 22, 2016, 08:27:39 AM »
Treat your company as they treat you. Similarly, treat the effect on your coworkers the same way they treat each other.

My company gives people two minutes notice.  Seriously.  No one ever really knows if they'll get through any particular day.  It has nothing to do with financial stability either.  Once management decides they want someone gone, that person is out the door that day.  I guess its a strategy and maybe even a sound one if they expect someone may get angry about it.  I honestly wouldn't work here if I was counting on that direct deposit every two weeks.

However, how can any company that fires people instantly even remotely expect 'notice'.  It isn't even an ethics question in my mind.

What it comes down to is how much you like your coworkers and how much they will suffer as a consequence of your exit.

Even then, your coworkers have chosen their jobs and if they have put themselves in a situation where they can't refuse the additional load, it is because of their own life decisions.

Two weeks notice is probably more than generous for any job.

snowball

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Re: Dead Man/Woman Walking....
« Reply #16 on: September 22, 2016, 12:38:32 PM »
Though I'm basically with snowball in that it's not that I'm mentally checked out, as much as just not bothered so much by all the stupid political kind of stuff that goes on at work sometimes.  Part of the weirdness is that I actually almost enjoy working here sometimes now.

Yes, exactly.  I'm going to try to take this attitude with me to my next job (I'm nowhere near FIRE yet - when I leave, it's off to a new job I'll go).  It's better when you can just let certain frustrations go with a shrug.  I think I have a tendency to get too emotionally invested in work, which is likely aggravated by the fact that I work in the nonprofit sector and I truly believe in the work we do;  I can't write it off as something I only care about for the paycheque, because that's not so.  But I think I should try to maintain a bit more distance.

stoaX

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Re: Dead Man/Woman Walking....
« Reply #17 on: September 22, 2016, 01:14:16 PM »
I'm planning to just give notice and tell them that I am flexible as to the length of the transition period, up to a point.  My preference would be 2 weeks but I expect to be asked to stay much longer.  Hopefully we will find a compromise position :-)

Thanks - I like this approach. I think I will use it when my time comes.  I do have a reasonable employer with a very reasonable boss so I think it would work.

MarciaB

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Re: Dead Man/Woman Walking....
« Reply #18 on: September 24, 2016, 12:18:24 PM »
Dead Woman Walking totally describes me. I gave a 6-month notice (public sector job with long lead time to hire, and I want to overlap for training purposes) and am a couple months into it. I feel like I've got senioritis! I just want to be done with this.

Exflyboy

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Re: Dead Man/Woman Walking....
« Reply #19 on: September 24, 2016, 06:38:59 PM »
posting to follow

FINate

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Re: Dead Man/Woman Walking....
« Reply #20 on: September 25, 2016, 12:16:08 AM »
Hah, I gave one day of notice. Big company, transitioned reports and responsibilities to other people before going on an extended leave. Was clear with management that I may not return or would find a different role. Came back for a few days to wrap up lose ends and did not see the point of waiting around for the customary 2 weeks, nor did I think it would be ethical to collect a paycheck just twiddling my thumbs.

risky4me

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Re: Dead Man/Woman Walking....
« Reply #21 on: September 25, 2016, 11:23:49 AM »
   I worked for a great company doing project management. With large projects you have to declare who your team will be in the bidding process. It can be a year before that work might start so I had to let my boss know if he listed me he might have to deal with the fact I wont be around. I officially gave them a months notice with an offer to finish any open items on a consulting basis.
   It is difficult continuing after notice and I would be hesitant to give any more than necessary with most jobs. On the bright side, as others have stated, issues that might have bothered you prior roll right off your back- a pretty good feeling.

Upstate NYer

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Re: Dead Man/Woman Walking....
« Reply #22 on: September 25, 2016, 12:53:30 PM »
I work part time in a small office. My boss and I both agreed to give each other a substantial heads up if the situation stopped working for either one of us. Which it has.

I currently have employment until the end of the year, but I told her I would stay until the end of June if she needed it, since Jan-June is our busy season, while she trains a new person.

I feel everything from a bit of nervousness (no more paycheck!) to relief and knowing in my gut it was the right time.
« Last Edit: September 25, 2016, 01:01:42 PM by Upstate NYer »

Exflyboy

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Re: Dead Man/Woman Walking....
« Reply #23 on: September 25, 2016, 12:55:44 PM »
I work part time in a small office. My boss and I both agreed to give each other a substantial heads up if the situation stopped working for either one of us.

I currently have employment until the end of the year, but I told her I would stay until the end of June if she needed it, since Jan-June is our busy season, while she trains a new person.

I feel everything from a bit of nervousness (no more paycheck!) to relief and knowing in my gut it was the right time.

Congratulations!!.. Its normal to be nervous, heck its a big leap! Took me a couple of years to get comfortable post FIRE.

Upstate NYer

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Re: Dead Man/Woman Walking....
« Reply #24 on: September 25, 2016, 01:05:44 PM »
Thanks Exflyboy! My boss wasn't comfortable with how much I'm traveling (and out of the office), and I don't want to stop...or even cut back (I've been working pt for almost a year). So that was it.

Yeah, I think it will take me awhile to get comfortable with it as well. :)

BTDretire

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Re: Dead Man/Woman Walking....
« Reply #25 on: September 26, 2016, 12:00:14 PM »
I gave 5 weeks notice,
to my wife, we have a small business,
just the two of us, so she will need to
hire someone to help.
No more work starting at 6:30am.
No more 13+ hours work days.
No more being on call 7 day a week.
No more scheduled work days.
I'll have Saturday and Sunday off.
It's been 16 years since I've had a weekend free.
 This starts in 96 more days, Woowoo!

Libertea

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Re: Dead Man/Woman Walking....
« Reply #26 on: October 14, 2016, 04:36:38 PM »
So there were some changes at work while I was gone for a couple of weeks, and I came back to find all of my coworkers in full grumble mode about it.  They're right: the new changes suck.  A couple of them were telling me I should talk to our manager about undoing them.  (As if they manager is any more likely to listen to me - ha!  That fact that he blew off every suggestion I ever gave is one of the biggest reasons I'm leaving!). But the funny thing is, none of it really touches me inside any more.  I mean, I'm aware on the surface of the annoyances, but I also pretty much feel like it's not my problem.  Oh, and I got a costume to wear to work on the Friday before Halloween.  I'm not exactly sure if I'm "allowed" to wear a costume to work.  But I thought this costume was hilarious (without being offensive or risqué).  And since no one has ever said I'm not allowed to wear one, I'm going to wear it. 

Hotstreak

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Re: Dead Man/Woman Walking....
« Reply #27 on: October 14, 2016, 05:20:31 PM »
One purpose of giving notice is to maintain a good reputation by following industry professional norms.  You might need a reference from your old company or want to work there in the future, and if you give zero notice they may look on you poorly.  The second purpose is for you to pass off any projects to your manager or a co-worker.  You shouldn't be training your replacement under most circumstances.  If your manager doesn't have a plan in place for when you leave, they are not doing their job.

This sense of loyalty to your new employer is not a mutual feeling.  You or your whole department could get laid off with little or zero notice, and you might get paid very little severance. 

There are a few circumstances where it makes sense to give long notice.  First, like Libertea's example, is when you are retiring and don't have another job you're obligated to start.  Second, if you are contractually obligated to do so.  Third, if you are in an industry that for whatever reason has a standard notice period that's longer than two weeks (again here, you're trying to preserve your professional reputation).

Exflyboy

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Re: Dead Man/Woman Walking....
« Reply #28 on: October 14, 2016, 06:22:21 PM »
So there were some changes at work while I was gone for a couple of weeks, and I came back to find all of my coworkers in full grumble mode about it.  They're right: the new changes suck.  A couple of them were telling me I should talk to our manager about undoing them.  (As if they manager is any more likely to listen to me - ha!  That fact that he blew off every suggestion I ever gave is one of the biggest reasons I'm leaving!). But the funny thing is, none of it really touches me inside any more.  I mean, I'm aware on the surface of the annoyances, but I also pretty much feel like it's not my problem.  Oh, and I got a costume to wear to work on the Friday before Halloween.  I'm not exactly sure if I'm "allowed" to wear a costume to work.  But I thought this costume was hilarious (without being offensive or risqué).  And since no one has ever said I'm not allowed to wear one, I'm going to wear it.

Heck yeah.. if it doesn't meet dress code they might send you home for the day.. I'd up the "risque" component..:)

Libertea

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Re: Dead Man/Woman Walking....
« Reply #29 on: October 14, 2016, 07:08:12 PM »
So there were some changes at work while I was gone for a couple of weeks, and I came back to find all of my coworkers in full grumble mode about it.  They're right: the new changes suck.  A couple of them were telling me I should talk to our manager about undoing them.  (As if they manager is any more likely to listen to me - ha!  That fact that he blew off every suggestion I ever gave is one of the biggest reasons I'm leaving!). But the funny thing is, none of it really touches me inside any more.  I mean, I'm aware on the surface of the annoyances, but I also pretty much feel like it's not my problem.  Oh, and I got a costume to wear to work on the Friday before Halloween.  I'm not exactly sure if I'm "allowed" to wear a costume to work.  But I thought this costume was hilarious (without being offensive or risqué).  And since no one has ever said I'm not allowed to wear one, I'm going to wear it.

Heck yeah.. if it doesn't meet dress code they might send you home for the day.. I'd up the "risque" component..:)
Hahaha, no one wants to see a middle-aged woman dressing risqué.  And if they do, that's probably all the more reason why I shouldn't gratify them.  :-D

momcpa

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Re: Dead Man/Woman Walking....
« Reply #30 on: October 14, 2016, 09:48:24 PM »
I am planning to give notice in the next month or two that I want to transition to part-time at my current job.  I am a 'one-man-show' in an accounting department of a small business.  I appreciate reading all the comments above.  I've really given a lot of thought to giving my notice, especially due to the fact that I want to negotiate some special compensation terms for my part-time employment until a replacement is up to speed.  I was happy to read the comment about realizing that the replacement person may have to give 2 - 4 weeks notice before they are available.  I hadn't thought about that.  So it could take a few weeks to make an offer to a new employee and then another few weeks for them to become available.

Such that none of that is known upfront, it could be an extra, helpful comment I could make at the point of negotiating as to what it will take to keep me there part-time versus just handing in my resignation notice.

Thank you for that tidbit.

Exflyboy

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Re: Dead Man/Woman Walking....
« Reply #31 on: October 14, 2016, 11:48:05 PM »
I am planning to give notice in the next month or two that I want to transition to part-time at my current job.  I am a 'one-man-show' in an accounting department of a small business.  I appreciate reading all the comments above.  I've really given a lot of thought to giving my notice, especially due to the fact that I want to negotiate some special compensation terms for my part-time employment until a replacement is up to speed.  I was happy to read the comment about realizing that the replacement person may have to give 2 - 4 weeks notice before they are available.  I hadn't thought about that.  So it could take a few weeks to make an offer to a new employee and then another few weeks for them to become available.

Such that none of that is known upfront, it could be an extra, helpful comment I could make at the point of negotiating as to what it will take to keep me there part-time versus just handing in my resignation notice.

Thank you for that tidbit.

"Oh you mean you won't have anybody for me to hand over to in two weeks?.. Well I could stay longer say 20 hours a week.. for the same full time salary of course.."

Thats a bargain if your that critical to them..:)

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Re: Dead Man/Woman Walking....
« Reply #32 on: October 15, 2016, 12:01:43 AM »
I gave 6-9 months notice and told my employer that I would happily leave earlier.  It has been business as usual, since I gave my notice.  I haven't told my coworkers yet. 

In a previous assignment, where I was miserable, I demanded a transfer to another department within a month, or I would quit.  I got the transfer. 

I actually tend to work harder, when I have an end in sight. 

TomTX

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Re: Dead Man/Woman Walking....
« Reply #33 on: October 15, 2016, 04:14:16 PM »
I effectively gave 12 years notice, but I'm someplace with a pension. I'll be taking it at the earliest opportunity. Some people take it immediately, some stay longer, some stay forever.

Guesl982374

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Re: Dead Man/Woman Walking....
« Reply #34 on: October 17, 2016, 07:08:29 AM »
I effectively gave 12 years notice....

How is this even possible? Hopefully this was tongue and cheek or an off handed comment to a manager "The minute I hit the minimum age to draw my pension I am out!"

randommadness

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Re: Dead Man/Woman Walking....
« Reply #35 on: October 19, 2016, 12:48:57 PM »
I effectively gave 12 years notice....

How is this even possible? Hopefully this was tongue and cheek or an off handed comment to a manager "The minute I hit the minimum age to draw my pension I am out!"

Military or gov't where no one would care anyway.

Libertea

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Re: Dead Man/Woman Walking....
« Reply #36 on: November 01, 2016, 02:08:36 AM »
So, as an update, I wore my costume to work for Halloween.  Got a bunch of laughs.  So far no complaints.  In fact....I got asked to work an extra day that I'm supposed to have off, which I took no time in considering before politely declining.  Continuing to count down the days until the new year and being free of this job for good.  No word yet on whether they've hired my replacement.

dogboyslim

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Re: Dead Man/Woman Walking....
« Reply #37 on: November 01, 2016, 10:51:14 AM »
My last job I gave 2 weeks.  I was hoping to get walked out, but no, my VP wanted me to transition everything off.  I'd already cleared out everything and was ready to leave.  Thankfully my EVP was a bit smarter and told her I needed to go. (I was a product lead and the 2 weeks was all the presentation of the product strategy to the executive group, including all the initiatives etc.)  Got 2 weeks pay even though I didn't have to work.  Best work day ever!

TomTX

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Re: Dead Man/Woman Walking....
« Reply #38 on: November 01, 2016, 08:24:58 PM »
I effectively gave 12 years notice....

How is this even possible? Hopefully this was tongue and cheek or an off handed comment to a manager "The minute I hit the minimum age to draw my pension I am out!"

Military or gov't where no one would care anyway.

Got it in one. When I can draw the (partial) pension, I plan to retire.

jeffnhl

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Re: Dead Man/Woman Walking....
« Reply #39 on: November 02, 2016, 12:44:46 PM »
Another 'Dead Man Walking' here too and I agree it is a bit strange.  Two weeks ago I gave my notice a little earlier than I had been planning in my head - I had been targeting the end of the year or just into Jan to add a bit front loading and beefing up of the 401K but when the practice manager wanted to start digging and doing a lot more 6, 18, and 36 month strategic planning I thought it would be best to make sure they understood my intentions.  I work in a smaller IT consulting firm and it didn't seem right to go through planning like that under false (?) pretenses.

I have a couple small projects to finish up, rather than immediately transitioning everything over 2 to 3 weeks they asked if I would be willing to work part time on just those projects through the end of the year, no expectations of any new work (unless I ask for it) and none of the side 'practice work' that can be so tedious.  Just a few meetings, keep the build teams on task and work check in if needed.  All that can be done remotely, mostly over email.

So I am in a strange type of "dead man"where I will slowly just fade into the background.


TomTX

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Re: Dead Man/Woman Walking....
« Reply #40 on: November 05, 2016, 06:19:37 AM »
Jeff, that sounds really sweet for you!

It's nice to hear about employers being reasonable.

nancyjnelson

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Re: Dead Man/Woman Walking....
« Reply #41 on: November 13, 2016, 09:29:46 AM »
I put my retirement papers in nearly a year before I left.  But this wasn't unusual in my workplace - as a Foreign Service officer this was the schedule during which I had to either put in my paperwork for an onward assignment or retire.  My coworkers were congratulatory about it and peppered me with questions as to how I made the decision (retirement with a much-reduced pension vs a few more years of work with a higher income later).

The funny thing is I probably become a more valuable employee after I put in my papers than before.  I no longer worried that I might slight or embarrass coworkers and/or supervisors by pointing out the obvious, and refused to put up with BS ideas/procedures (although I was always polite about it).  This saved my division time, money and aggravation.  People would come up to me afterwards and thank me for raising an issue or for swatting down something insanely stupid.

Libertea

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Re: Dead Man/Woman Walking....
« Reply #42 on: November 25, 2016, 07:25:07 PM »
Coming down the home stretch now.  Super excited.  Everyone now aware I'm leaving.  All of a sudden, I'm not so bad, now that they're envisioning the same workload sans me to help do it.  Had a little party with some coworkers to celebrate my being selected for paid internship to train for new semi-retirement career.  Told another colleague who was griping to me about various sundry work BS things that if she is really this unhappy, she too could choose to vote with her feet like I did.  No one yet hired to replace me AFAIK, but I've been telling people not to worry, that there's no doubt my theoretical future replacement will be smarter, nicer, and better looking. :-D

Fishingmn

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Re: Dead Man/Woman Walking....
« Reply #43 on: November 25, 2016, 07:39:10 PM »
My DW gave notice in spring 2015 that she would be retiring at the end of October 2015. She was a program manager in a 30 person IT department that was in the middle of a $2M software implementation scheduled to be done at that time. She knew they couldn't do it without her and wanted to give a ton of notice.

Fast forward a year. She did finally retire in November 2015 after the project slipped a couple weeks. Because of her great relationship there (and how much they need her) she's been doing consulting there 2 days/week from home at an absurd hourly rate (works out to about her old pay rate). Keeps her busy and paid for $30k in home improvement projects she wanted to do.

Mr. Green

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Re: Dead Man/Woman Walking....
« Reply #44 on: November 26, 2016, 07:28:39 PM »
I went back to work in September because I was nervous about the costs of the house we're building. It was a mistake. I gave notice in my third week back, pissed some people off, and then agreed to stay until the end of the year if they could find my replacement sooner. I'm probably an idiot for not forcing them to let me leave because I REALLY don't want to be there. In the 9 weeks I've been there I haven't logged an 8 hour day yet. I've been averaging about 25 hours a week. I've made about $25,000 though so there's that. It basically pays for the house, but I FIRE'd (intended to) in June so it's not like I really care about the money. It's a strange place to be. I'm sure it's obvious to my contract I don't want to be there when they look at my time sheet, yet they really want to replace me before letting me go so no one is saying anything about what would otherwise be an unacceptable number of hours. Part of it is these damn short winter days. I wake up between 7-8am, get to work by 10am, and I just feel done by the time it's starting to get dark. I am definitely a dead man walking.
« Last Edit: November 28, 2016, 05:38:40 AM by Mr. Green »

smoghat

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Re: Dead Man/Woman Walking....
« Reply #45 on: December 11, 2016, 12:06:27 AM »
If you care about them being upset with you, you are note ready for FIRE. Its not a marriage it's a job. Workplaces are set up to extract what they can from you, not to be families. Find the path of least resistance and most gain. I mean God, I'm done teaching at an Ivy League university at 49. Some people think that this is the pinnacle of achievement, in actually it's BS. I suppose if I worked in a hospital saving lives I might feel differently but generally speaking jobs are just Means of extracting your life from you and it's up to you to find a way to tear it back from them...

Warlord1986

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Re: Dead Man/Woman Walking....
« Reply #46 on: December 11, 2016, 01:18:37 PM »
When I quit my firm, I gave them an extra week of notice because it was a busy time of year and they were short staffed.

Big mistake. I became like a pariah.

Even though I had a full three weeks available, my direct manager came to my desk, took all my files and reassigned everything to my overwhelmed coworkers. So while I sat there doing nothing, they toiled bitterly. My manager refused to say hello to me in the halls.

It was so awkward that I went to the audit department (I was a tax), and asked if they needed an extra hand on any audits, and ended up working on that for my last three weeks.

They did not use the three weeks to replace me. My coworkers just stayed overworked for the rest of busy season.

Wow. I gave three weeks because it's likely they will take forever to find my replacement, and I didn't want to suddenly peace out and leave my supervisor/co-workers scrambling to cover the office in the days leading up to Christmas. My supervisor was happy for me to have found another job (more likely he was happy to get rid of me) and we've been chugging along as the same dysfunctional, uncommunicative team we were before. My last day is December 23rd.

Linea_Norway

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Re: Dead Man/Woman Walking....
« Reply #47 on: December 21, 2016, 08:06:34 AM »
Funny to see you people discuss 2 weeks or 4 weeks. Here in Norway every working contract lets you sign for 3 whole calendar months notice. Therefore there is always a rush to sign contracts before the end of the month. And yes, it is terrible to sit for 3 months in a job while you want to be somewhere else. But at least the company's latest management decisions don't affect your person any more.

The other thing about leaving a company, is leaving the colleagues that you have a good bond with. In my former jobs, we were living far apart and chances for meeting them again were very small. Although I have been to a bar/drinking event for former employees.

Libertea

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Re: Dead Man/Woman Walking....
« Reply #48 on: December 21, 2016, 10:07:43 PM »
Next week is my last week.  It's scary but also exhilarating.  I've realized several important things:

1) I don't want to be retired per se.  I don't even want to not work in this field altogether necessarily.  I just don't want to be at this particular job any more (and probably not any FT job in the future, TBH).

2) I have a long list of things I'd like to do before I die.  I do worry about running out of lifetime before I run out of things I'd like to accomplish.  Clearly, however, continuing to work FT at this job that I don't love is not going to help me very much with accomplishing anything on my list (short of becoming a millionaire, which is something that will inevitably happen anyway based on my spending/saving patterns).

3) One More Year Syndrome is a real phenomenon, particularly for people making higher incomes.  I even have a bit of One More Month Syndrome.  This is a flaw in my own logic/reasoning that I need to struggle against and be vigilant about constantly.  Again, working at this job is not helping me accomplish any other goal that matters to me.

4) I think jobs with known expiration dates (say, a contract for a certain amount of time) might ultimately be better.  Open-ended jobs with open-ended quit dates just feed into the tendency to overstay one's useful work life at a particular job out of inertia, even if that job is not a good fit for one's overall life goals and plans.

5) Change is both scary and exhilarating. 

Frugal_is_Fab

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Re: Dead Man/Woman Walking....
« Reply #49 on: December 22, 2016, 05:03:50 PM »
I believe OP is contractually bound to give the long notice.  In the future, I will probably only give 2 weeks in my written resignation, but verbally state that I could stay longer if I'm available and will be utilized.

At my company people are sometimes asked to leave immediately, sometimes not.   I know that I won't be replaced despite the general overworked team.    I feel bad that people will need to absorb my work but it's beyond my control and I won't sacrifice my whole life because I feel bad.  The company has a stated goal to cut 50 million in "overhead" next year.  Guess I'll be helping.    Long comment. but I plan to give two weeks notice to give them an option but if they show me the door immediately that is ok too.