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The moment you give your resignation, there are good odds your company will say "we accept your resignation effective immediately. Goodbye." Genuine question;

The moment you give your resignation, there are good odds your company will say "we accept your resignation effective immediately. Goodbye." Genuine question; is this a US thing? I've never, ever seen this or heard of it happening. I don't think I've ever worked at a company that didn't state in the contract the notice period. I have seen companies decide they don't want that person on site anymore when someone quits, but they gave "gardening leave"; the person goes home and is effectively on holiday, paid as usual, for their notice period. There is a significant chance you will be instantly fired with no income for months. US "at will" kind of thing? Must be.

rawgabbit 3y ago
For some companies, when you give notice, you are flagged as a security risk. e.g., high chance you will take/steal IP. They will lock down your account, investigate your recent activities, and escort you out the door.
lelandfe 3y ago
Two of my friends did this and were immediately terminated and ushered out of the building by security. Both were very large companies in the US.
- gnicholas 3y ago
  When their former colleagues found out what happened, didn't that cause them to think "I guess I'll give zero notice when I leave"? I would think this would be a net loss for most companies, due to the predictable effect it would have on subsequent departures/handoffs.
  - ghaff 3y ago
    In general AFAIK they'll typically pay out the customary two week notice period but take away your physical and computer access. (By no means universal but plenty of examples in this thread of where it happens.)
    - gnicholas 3y ago
      If so, then no problem, right? My reading of the "two friends" anecdote was that it was somehow a problem that they were canned on the spot. If you take away my physical/remote access, I can't even be asked to help with handoff.
      - ghaff 3y ago
        >If so, then no problem, right? I agree. It's the company's decision not to have you help with handoff. Not your problem. In fact, all the more reason to give two weeks notice as you'd be paid for doing nothing. (If they were immediately fired with no payout, they'd probably actually be eligible for unemployment though that's irrelevant if they have another job lined up.) I didn't take the same conclusion from the parent who didn't say anything about payments. In general, the norm would be to pay for two weeks--and maybe benefits to the end of the month. Someone can be terminated on the spot and still paid. (In general, they have to be paid out for accrued vacation time in any case.)
  - thatguy0900 3y ago
    If their policy is already to immediately terminate then does it make a difference whether they get advanced notice or not?
scarmig 3y ago
I did this in my first job, giving two months of notice because it was the right thing to do for my colleagues and the company since it'd allow transition time and continuity. Then I was let go immediately. Which was an unexpected hit, though luckily the new company let me move my start date up. This was a tech company with around one hundred employees, and I was in good standing (my then manager later recruited me for a position at a different company). The best approach is to always give two weeks formal notice on a Friday morning, with the expectation that there's a chance you'll not be coming back on Monday. Best to do all the transition preparation work before that moment. If I've got a manager that I trust, I let them know with a bit more informal advance notice. ETA: on the other hand, I gave a month or two advance notice to Google, and they were happy to have me stay until my resignation date. My sense is that it's smaller companies that tend to do the immediate layoff.
PragmaticPulp 3y ago
US person here who has participated in a lot of online advice/mentoring forums. I've never once seen a tech company immediately "fire" someone who says they're resigning like the parent comment claims. The only exceptions I can think of were when people gave multiple months of notice that they were going to quit and already had declining performance due to e.g. unhappiness about the job. If you're not performing well and you tell your employer that you're quitting in a few months, they're not really interested in giving you more paychecks to perform poorly. IMO, that's not exactly unreasonable either. Some companies will restrict the employee's access for the notice period and remove their work as a way of protecting company information from last-minute exfiltration (it happens a lot more than you'd think), but those employees are still paid during this time period. They're also obligated to answer questions and attend meetings about handoff, although in some cases this may amount to zero work. But no, it's not common for US tech companies to fire employees immediately for resigning. I don't know where the parent commenter got the idea that this is common.
- itslennysfault 3y ago
  I think this MIGHT work at a lot of smaller companies, but BIG tech companies tend to have a policy that you are a security risk as soon as you admit you're quitting. I suppose that falls under the umbrella of "working for a competitor" If you work for Microsoft (for example) pretty much EVERY tech company is a competitor of theirs because they have soooo many products and services. I saw this happen multiple times. You tell them you're leaving, and get escorted out by security. It's just not worth the risk for them.
  - PragmaticPulp 3y ago
    > I saw this happen multiple times. You tell them you're leaving, and get escorted out by security. It's just not worth the risk for them. Right, but did they cut off paychecks too? Being walked out of the office is equivalent to having your access removed like I said above. It doesn't mean the person is fired, it just means they don't have access to sensitive information. In practice, it's not really a big deal. If someone is going from a high-paid FAANG job to another high-paid FAANG job, the new company is usually eager to have you onboard. They can move your start date up. New compensation might be higher, too, so it's a net win.
gedy 3y ago
Happened to me last year, US startup said "let's wrap this up today and not drag it out".
rootusrootus 3y ago
I've never had it happen to me, though in particular circumstances I've seen it happen with other people. But not with an immediate termination, just walked out the door -- they still got paid for the two weeks of notice they gave. Mostly it was so we could find out if any ostensibly automated tasks were in fact dependent on their ongoing work, while they were still reachable to answer questions. Perhaps related, this was all during my time as a unix admin, before I officially converted to a pure software development role. I've never personally seen a developer walked immediately out the door.
bityard 3y ago
No, it is not standard in the US. It generally only happens in exceptionally paranoid companies in sensitive industries or government organizations, which clearly exist but are already atypical workplaces. I've never seen the point in treating your employer as an adversary, as the OP of this thread clearly does.
tyfon 3y ago
Here in Norway, if they "let you go" immediately they still have to pay you for your contract notice time which is usually three months. There are some with six (my last job) or some with one. In my last job I was able to negotiate it down though as I wanted to quit earlier, it was the employer that wanted the six months in my contract. I was a key person in a start up bank so it's not a normal term to have.
MisterBastahrd 3y ago
Depends on the company but this is the default most client-facing jobs. It removes the possibility of a representative from passing along info to company clients and also eliminates the ability of reps to copy client data to take with them to new jobs.
watsocd 3y ago
You are not technically fired. At the company I worked for, you are immediately walked to the door and you will not be able do any more work for the company. You will get your two weeks pay. I am not sure what happens when you try to give more than two weeks notice.
jjav 3y ago
> > The moment you give your resignation, there are good odds your company will say "we accept your resignation effective immediately. Goodbye." > Genuine question; is this a US thing? At least in California/Silicon Valley I have never seen or experienced such a thing in almost 30 years, so I can say confidently it is not common. Of course it can happen, there are zero employee protections in the US. But it's not common. People generally give 2 weeks notice and keep coming in to the office (pre-pandemic) for those two weeks to meet with others and help transfer knowledge, hang out, do farewell lunches etc. Only on the end of the last day is your account access revoked. That's the expected convention.

rawgabbit 3y ago

For some companies, when you give notice, you are flagged as a security risk. e.g., high chance you will take/steal IP. They will lock down your account, investigate your recent activities, and escort you out the door.

lelandfe 3y ago

Two of my friends did this and were immediately terminated and ushered out of the building by security. Both were very large companies in the US.

gnicholas 3y ago
When their former colleagues found out what happened, didn't that cause them to think "I guess I'll give zero notice when I leave"? I would think this would be a net loss for most companies, due to the predictable effect it would have on subsequent departures/handoffs.
- ghaff 3y ago
  In general AFAIK they'll typically pay out the customary two week notice period but take away your physical and computer access. (By no means universal but plenty of examples in this thread of where it happens.)
  - gnicholas 3y ago
    If so, then no problem, right? My reading of the "two friends" anecdote was that it was somehow a problem that they were canned on the spot. If you take away my physical/remote access, I can't even be asked to help with handoff.
    - ghaff 3y ago
      >If so, then no problem, right? I agree. It's the company's decision not to have you help with handoff. Not your problem. In fact, all the more reason to give two weeks notice as you'd be paid for doing nothing. (If they were immediately fired with no payout, they'd probably actually be eligible for unemployment though that's irrelevant if they have another job lined up.) I didn't take the same conclusion from the parent who didn't say anything about payments. In general, the norm would be to pay for two weeks--and maybe benefits to the end of the month. Someone can be terminated on the spot and still paid. (In general, they have to be paid out for accrued vacation time in any case.)
- thatguy0900 3y ago
  If their policy is already to immediately terminate then does it make a difference whether they get advanced notice or not?

scarmig 3y ago

I did this in my first job, giving two months of notice because it was the right thing to do for my colleagues and the company since it'd allow transition time and continuity. Then I was let go immediately. Which was an unexpected hit, though luckily the new company let me move my start date up. This was a tech company with around one hundred employees, and I was in good standing (my then manager later recruited me for a position at a different company). The best approach is to always give two weeks formal notice on a Friday morning, with the expectation that there's a chance you'll not be coming back on Monday. Best to do all the transition preparation work before that moment. If I've got a manager that I trust, I let them know with a bit more informal advance notice. ETA: on the other hand, I gave a month or two advance notice to Google, and they were happy to have me stay until my resignation date. My sense is that it's smaller companies that tend to do the immediate layoff.

PragmaticPulp 3y ago

US person here who has participated in a lot of online advice/mentoring forums. I've never once seen a tech company immediately "fire" someone who says they're resigning like the parent comment claims. The only exceptions I can think of were when people gave multiple months of notice that they were going to quit and already had declining performance due to e.g. unhappiness about the job. If you're not performing well and you tell your employer that you're quitting in a few months, they're not really interested in giving you more paychecks to perform poorly. IMO, that's not exactly unreasonable either. Some companies will restrict the employee's access for the notice period and remove their work as a way of protecting company information from last-minute exfiltration (it happens a lot more than you'd think), but those employees are still paid during this time period. They're also obligated to answer questions and attend meetings about handoff, although in some cases this may amount to zero work. But no, it's not common for US tech companies to fire employees immediately for resigning. I don't know where the parent commenter got the idea that this is common.

itslennysfault 3y ago
I think this MIGHT work at a lot of smaller companies, but BIG tech companies tend to have a policy that you are a security risk as soon as you admit you're quitting. I suppose that falls under the umbrella of "working for a competitor" If you work for Microsoft (for example) pretty much EVERY tech company is a competitor of theirs because they have soooo many products and services. I saw this happen multiple times. You tell them you're leaving, and get escorted out by security. It's just not worth the risk for them.
- PragmaticPulp 3y ago
  > I saw this happen multiple times. You tell them you're leaving, and get escorted out by security. It's just not worth the risk for them. Right, but did they cut off paychecks too? Being walked out of the office is equivalent to having your access removed like I said above. It doesn't mean the person is fired, it just means they don't have access to sensitive information. In practice, it's not really a big deal. If someone is going from a high-paid FAANG job to another high-paid FAANG job, the new company is usually eager to have you onboard. They can move your start date up. New compensation might be higher, too, so it's a net win.

gedy 3y ago

Happened to me last year, US startup said "let's wrap this up today and not drag it out".

rootusrootus 3y ago

I've never had it happen to me, though in particular circumstances I've seen it happen with other people. But not with an immediate termination, just walked out the door -- they still got paid for the two weeks of notice they gave. Mostly it was so we could find out if any ostensibly automated tasks were in fact dependent on their ongoing work, while they were still reachable to answer questions. Perhaps related, this was all during my time as a unix admin, before I officially converted to a pure software development role. I've never personally seen a developer walked immediately out the door.

bityard 3y ago

No, it is not standard in the US. It generally only happens in exceptionally paranoid companies in sensitive industries or government organizations, which clearly exist but are already atypical workplaces. I've never seen the point in treating your employer as an adversary, as the OP of this thread clearly does.

tyfon 3y ago

Here in Norway, if they "let you go" immediately they still have to pay you for your contract notice time which is usually three months. There are some with six (my last job) or some with one. In my last job I was able to negotiate it down though as I wanted to quit earlier, it was the employer that wanted the six months in my contract. I was a key person in a start up bank so it's not a normal term to have.

MisterBastahrd 3y ago

Depends on the company but this is the default most client-facing jobs. It removes the possibility of a representative from passing along info to company clients and also eliminates the ability of reps to copy client data to take with them to new jobs.

watsocd 3y ago

You are not technically fired. At the company I worked for, you are immediately walked to the door and you will not be able do any more work for the company. You will get your two weeks pay. I am not sure what happens when you try to give more than two weeks notice.

jjav 3y ago

> > The moment you give your resignation, there are good odds your company will say "we accept your resignation effective immediately. Goodbye." > Genuine question; is this a US thing? At least in California/Silicon Valley I have never seen or experienced such a thing in almost 30 years, so I can say confidently it is not common. Of course it can happen, there are zero employee protections in the US. But it's not common. People generally give 2 weeks notice and keep coming in to the office (pre-pandemic) for those two weeks to meet with others and help transfer knowledge, hang out, do farewell lunches etc. Only on the end of the last day is your account access revoked. That's the expected convention.