3 ms·
> It's extremely asymmetrical, too. I’ve lived a very different culture than you in the U.S. - to the degree I’m surprised to see you express this sentiment.
by r3trohack3r 3y ago
> It's extremely asymmetrical, too.
I’ve lived a very different culture than you in the U.S. - to the degree I’m surprised to see you express this sentiment.
In days of yore, people gave notice. But then a meme policy of “don’t poison the well” did the rounds. Roughly, the philosophy went: when someone is leaving they can only do harm; they are leaving, they have a convincing reason for leaving, and you don’t want that convincing reason to sour your other employees on you.
The result was that, when you gave notice, you were immediately dismissed on the spot.
In my career, I’ve seen a few people give very generous (months) notice. They were expecting to be _paid_ for the period of time they’d given notice for. But they found themselves terminated that day.
The result, in my circles, is that people often hide their intention to leave until the day they’re leaving. When they send their notice, they’ve already quit. Any time they get paid for is gravy, but they’re out the door.
- _nalply 3y agoThat's horrible and very different from what I experienced in Switzerland. It's a concept in Swiss law that obligations are symmetrical, and the periods are quite long (three months, and not only for employment, but for other contracts as well, like renting). If you are dismissed on the spot, you'll get three months of pay. On the other hand, if you give or are given notice, you are sometimes expected to continue work. This happened to me ten years ago. My employer expected me to explain to my coworkers how some things work during that time. Looking back even I found that a bit strange because I understand the thing with doing only harm when someone is leaving. For example by leaving backdoors?
- rocketbop 3y ago> Looking back even I found that a bit strange because I understand the thing with doing only harm when someone is leaving. For example by leaving backdoors? I think the harm meant is more about spreading negativity to other employees who might be inspired to jump ship too.
- msilb 3y ago> This happened to me ten years ago. My employer expected me to explain to my coworkers how some things work during that time. Once I was asked to continue interviewing candidates after I gave notice, which seemed a little odd at the time (also in Switzerland).
- jiqiren 3y agoIt really depends on the company and why you are going. I gave 6months notice when I worked at Apple (FIRE) and slowly offloaded all my responsibilities. I documented many things for whoever would come in to replace me. They gave me a going away dinner and I still connect with former colleagues.
- op00to 3y agoI left a shitty job with no notice, and still got a going away dinner! The key is to be a good coworker, not be an asshole, and try not to leave a total mess for the next person. Oh and don't work for psychopaths.
- valval 3y agoWhich model do you think stimulates economic growth more? Which model could be said to give individuals more liberty? Socialism and authoritarianism are treacherous ideas because they can seem so enticing in many contexts.
- Dylan16807 3y agoI don't think a required severance period for long term employees would have a notable impact on economic growth. And making it easier to give notice is good for individual liberty and the ability to change jobs when desired. And while we're looking at the intersection of socialism, employment, and freedom, moving health care away from employment and toward the government would be a big boost to individual liberty.
- yread 3y agoWhat do you mean immediately dismissed? Like you don't have to go to work but still get paid, right? Or do they get fired? After they quit?
- arrowsmith 3y agoI took it to mean "fired", as in "today is your last day of work and you're not getting paid anymore". "Dismiss" is a fairly common euphemism for "fire", like "let go".
- chucksta 3y agoMeaning they said "i'll work another 3 months, but I found a new job" and their current employment said "nah, today's your last day". I've seen it happen first hand.
- berniedurfee 3y agoYep. I made that rookie mistake early in my career.
- paledot 3y agoI gave something like 6 weeks notice at my last job and by mutual agreement spent most of that time doing presentations and updating docs to sunset my bus factor. The mistake isn't on the part of the worker who has the courtesy to minimise the disruption of their departure, it's the employer who poisons that well. Of course, power dynamics being what they are, it's the worker who pays the price.
- hyperdimension 3y ago> "sunset my bus factor" Completely OT: I absolutely know what you mean, but ugh, corporate jargon.
- paledot 3y ago