3 ms·

In my EU-centric worldview, the US system of at-will employment, and of two-week notices as the standard courtesy, is crazy. Oh, I agree. But 3 months seems c

In my EU-centric worldview, the US system of at-will employment, and of two-week notices as the standard courtesy, is crazy. Oh, I agree. But 3 months seems crazy to me. If I have an open position and it isn't filled in ~4-6 weeks, it often gets given to some other team (on the basis that if I really needed that position filled, I'd do so). I can't plan hiring over that timeframe. And when hiring employees in India, we've had them claim a 2-month resignation period, but they just end up using that time to find some other opportunity on the previous employer's time. It's a real mess.

ACS_Solver 6y ago
> Oh, I agree. But 3 months seems crazy to me. If I have an open position and it isn't filled in ~4-6 weeks, it often gets given to some other team (on the basis that if I really needed that position filled, I'd do so). I can't plan hiring over that timeframe. If you're in a culture (locality + industry) where a position can be filled in 4 weeks, that's one thing. If you're in a culture where every experienced person has 3 months of notice, then nobody would take your inability to fill a position within weeks to mean that you don't really need it. I have some experience with part-time contracting with US customers. Seeing how quickly people can join or leave there is certainly a culture shock!
- foobiekr 6y ago
  Assuming that you’re talking about senior people, who are all employed, I don’t see how this helps. Realistically employee X resigns, and we find a replacement; that replacement is working and needs to resign. Their end dates are still serialized. We have a bunch of employees in Europe and everyone involved except the very marginal employees sees this situation as strongly negative (and, in fact, an argument to not hire in Europe at all).
  - Symbiote 6y ago
    Are those Europeans who don't value their rights fairly young? I don't need my 3 months now. They might be useful if my employer axes a whole department. They're useful for people with family commitments giving them less mobility.
    - foobiekr 6y ago
      The opposite. They are very senior.
2rsf 6y ago
Since the same base rules apply for everyone this usually doesn't happen, plans are built accordingly and recruitments take into consideration those time scales.
etripe 6y ago
> But 3 months seems crazy to me. What you might not realise is that these three months would be the default legal position in case of disagreement. If you want to leave earlier and the employer agrees, you can usually leave earlier, too (with them being off the financial hook).
anyfoo 6y ago
I had a "to the next quarter" period in my last job, and when moving to the new job the deadline was missed, making the contract valid for a whole quarter. It wasn't a problem. I was on good terms with the previous company (I'm still getting invited to their anniversary parties and stuff like that), so there was no issue in working something out. Also, remember that ~6 weeks of vacation per year is common outside the US, so often it boils down to taking your remaining vacation. (Though I think you need to be careful with taxes and other regulations if the contracts overlap.)

ACS_Solver 6y ago

> Oh, I agree. But 3 months seems crazy to me. If I have an open position and it isn't filled in ~4-6 weeks, it often gets given to some other team (on the basis that if I really needed that position filled, I'd do so). I can't plan hiring over that timeframe. If you're in a culture (locality + industry) where a position can be filled in 4 weeks, that's one thing. If you're in a culture where every experienced person has 3 months of notice, then nobody would take your inability to fill a position within weeks to mean that you don't really need it. I have some experience with part-time contracting with US customers. Seeing how quickly people can join or leave there is certainly a culture shock!

foobiekr 6y ago
Assuming that you’re talking about senior people, who are all employed, I don’t see how this helps. Realistically employee X resigns, and we find a replacement; that replacement is working and needs to resign. Their end dates are still serialized. We have a bunch of employees in Europe and everyone involved except the very marginal employees sees this situation as strongly negative (and, in fact, an argument to not hire in Europe at all).
- Symbiote 6y ago
  Are those Europeans who don't value their rights fairly young? I don't need my 3 months now. They might be useful if my employer axes a whole department. They're useful for people with family commitments giving them less mobility.
  - foobiekr 6y ago
    The opposite. They are very senior.

2rsf 6y ago

Since the same base rules apply for everyone this usually doesn't happen, plans are built accordingly and recruitments take into consideration those time scales.

etripe 6y ago

> But 3 months seems crazy to me. What you might not realise is that these three months would be the default legal position in case of disagreement. If you want to leave earlier and the employer agrees, you can usually leave earlier, too (with them being off the financial hook).

anyfoo 6y ago

I had a "to the next quarter" period in my last job, and when moving to the new job the deadline was missed, making the contract valid for a whole quarter. It wasn't a problem. I was on good terms with the previous company (I'm still getting invited to their anniversary parties and stuff like that), so there was no issue in working something out. Also, remember that ~6 weeks of vacation per year is common outside the US, so often it boils down to taking your remaining vacation. (Though I think you need to be careful with taxes and other regulations if the contracts overlap.)