Time to feed unprofessional managers what they’ve been dishing out for far too long.
Couple things here, for when you do this to people:
1. if you get the “answer my call” text, NEVER ANSWER THE CALL.
They are calling you because they want to have the conversation verbally, and be able to lie later about what they said or didn’t say. Force them to continue via text or email- force them to continue the conversation in writing or not at all.
2. “Lack of 2 weeks notice is unprofessional!” or the other version, “Not providing notice is illegal!”
No it isn’t. Neither is true.
And in the US, all states except Montana are “at will” employment (though you may hear an employer refer to it as “right to work” to make it sound better, it’s the same thing). Sure, at-will employment means they can fire you without cause, BUT! It also means that you are not legally required to give a reason for quitting, or to give notice of any kind.
Is it polite to give notice when you can? Sure. Do bosses expect it? Absolutely. But that does not make you legally required to provide it.
3. The only thing I would change in the worker’s interaction here was their response when initially asked to come in.
Employee: “Hey Mark. Sorry I’m unable to cover the shift tonight because I’m studying for my exam tomorrow.”
Don’t give a reason for your lack of availability. It may be tempting to. You may feel rude if you don’t.
DON’T DO IT.
You do not owe your boss any information about what you do off the clock, and any reason you give will only ever be used against you.
Boss: “Hey I need you to cover Jasper’s shift tonight.”
Employee: “Sorry, I’m not available.”
And leave it at that.
Do not elaborate.
Do not offer additional information.
When you boss asks you to elaborate, because they will, be polite but firm. “With respect, that’s personal. I’m sorry, but I’m unavailable to cover this shift/work late/come in early/etc.”
Be a broken record- you’re unavailable. That’s the only information they need to know, and it’s the only information they have a LEGAL RIGHT to know.
Please stop giving your bosses information they don’t need to know and don’t get to have, because they’re only going to try and use it to fuck you over later.
Friends I had to get a Functional Abilities Assessment because I had to protect myself from shitty bosses trying to fire me for being disabled.
I thought the FAA would help protect me, as it should, by giving medical exemption from some of their draconian policies and they couldn’t do shit about it because it was disability related and documented by a doctor. And it did, for awhile.
But they tried to turn it around on me. Basically, they tried claiming at if *I* didn’t follow the FAA they could fire me??
So they started watching me like a hawk. The FAA said I couldn’t consistently “bend, lift or climb”, so any time I picked up something heavier than 2lbs they would start questioning me about lifting. If I bent over to tie my shoe they would comment how I shouldn’t be bending. They made my life a living hell if I didn’t follow the FAA 100% (despite a few things saying they are variable in the FAA if I didn’t perform at my weakest all the time they would start pressuring me).
What was supposed to protect my rights as a disabled worker ended up being used against me every step of the way.
And it’s not fucking legal for them to do that, or to fire someone for not adhering to a FAA. But I was like 19 and didn’t know better at the time and got scared.So friends. Be careful with what you divulge to your employer, and know your rights.
Regarding “unprofessional to quit without two weeks’ notice” - it is very much not. Unless your employment contract requires notice (might be the case, if you have a union… in which case, your manager will not be pestering you to work extra shifts like this), it is not “unprofessional.”
Your employment contract sets the terms of your professional relationship. If the company doesn’t want people to quit without notice, they put that into the job contract.
Of course, that’s likely to be attached to “and we can’t fire you without notice except for one of the following causes” (theft, trespassing, hacking, etc.). And they don’t want that.
And many, many companies - if you give your two weeks’ notice, you will show up to work the next day and they’ll say “eh we’ve decided to let you go today. No next week and a half.”
DO NOT GIVE NOTICE unless you can afford to be fired immediately.
…and, if you are of a vindictive mindset (and in today’s capitalist hellscape, I’d hope we all have a little spite to aim at the bosses), you may prepare a small thing or two that will collapse if you leave without handing the instructions off to someone else. If you get two weeks and a proper turnover cycle, fine. If not… you have passwords to some files that it may take them months to notice.
You may not be able to cause that level of damage, but you can hope that someone at your old company will regret the way they treated you.
Be careful of deliberately sabotaging or locking anything, sometimes you can be liable. But you also don’t have to go the extra mile to set them up for success. If they decide after firing you that they need you to fix or explain or document something, tell them your consulting fee is $XXX an hour in minimum X-hour blocks, payable up front, and get it in writing.
(via propheticfire)
