Not working notice period

mcbert

I have been a good employee, but it was time to move on. So I handed in my notice.

Dealing with HR, I've been reasonable, and willing, and made a simple request. Attitude of HR has been ridiculously petty, so I'm thinking I cant face working the excessive notice period. Life it too short, and I'm in no mood to treat them any better than they have treated me. I don't think more details are important except to say they are within their contractual rights to take the position they have taken, despite it not being in either their own or my best interests.

I'm wondering what they could actually do?

Bear in mind, these guys do not behave rationally, and seem to have no concept of the idea of leaving on good terms, keeping the employee (me) onside so I might cooperate with hand-overs etc. Instead, they really seem to prefer inconveniencing anyone who decides to leave, even if it hurts themselves, assuming employees will just play ball I suppose.

If I read the above, I might think there is some other detail or story that I am missing out. I'm really not. There is nothing else to it. It is a ridiculous situation.

So I'm thinking I will email HR and tell them from now on, they can expect me to be as reasonable to the company as they have been to me, and then to just stop working.

I wont be quitting, but I will be acting in a way that forces them to terminate my contract without notice as stipulated in my contract. That is fine.

Then I expect all further payments to stop. Fine.

But can they sue me, or even threaten to, for being uncooperative for example, or if I went in to work late or not at all. Such things are listed in the contract as reasons for dismissal.

I think they would sue if they thought they could, despite it costing them more. They are petty and irrational!!

I know they threatened to sue a tester that tried to leave early, to reclaim the cost of an in-office course lasting an hour or two, where his participation was no extra cost to them, forcing him come back for the full notice period.

I've incurred no costs for courses or travel or expenses or anything, and I'll simply be a very lazy employee, not actively malicious in any way.

I'm not looking for legal advice, just any thoughts on what could potentially happen?

Thanks.

Tigger

They won't pay you your back pay and might hold on to your holiday pay
If you don't care don't worry about it
I once told manager that he was cheeky little bully and that he was the reason I was leaving and each customer I felt with I told I was leaving and that it wAs because he had been a bully and that was afraid if I did t leave I was gonna throw him out the office window
Owner called me in and asked what I was doing and I said nothing but telling the truth
So the owner said Ok well sure you can go home and I'll pay you your notice

A year later he fired the manager for being a bully and a thief btw

bmwguy

Tigger wrote: »

They won't pay you your back pay and might hold on to your holiday pay
If you don't care don't worry about it
I once told manager that he was cheeky little bully and that he was the reason I was leaving and each customer I felt with I told I was leaving and that it wAs because he had been a bully and that was afraid if I did t leave I was gonna throw him out the office window
Owner called me in and asked what I was doing and I said nothing but telling the truth
So the owner said Ok well sure you can go home and I'll pay you your notice

A year later he fired the manager for being a bully and a thief btw

I'd be very surprised if they withheld any pay owed to you. It's a massive no no in employment law and employers (especially those with dedicated HR people) are usually keen to do everything by the book at the end of an employment contract.

Severe penalties if found against at an employment tribunal.

MarkR

Tigger wrote: »

They won't pay you your back pay and might hold on to your holiday pay
If you don't care don't worry about it
I once told manager that he was cheeky little bully and that he was the reason I was leaving and each customer I felt with I told I was leaving and that it wAs because he had been a bully and that was afraid if I did t leave I was gonna throw him out the office window
Owner called me in and asked what I was doing and I said nothing but telling the truth
So the owner said Ok well sure you can go home and I'll pay you your notice

A year later he fired the manager for being a bully and a thief btw

I don't think that would be legal.

mcbert

Thanks.

Interesting.

I'm paid in arrears, so waiting for payday would limit loss there. Holiday pay, I'm willing to forego that.

They will try to get me some other way, and have various other legally or at least ethically questionable behavior around reviews and bonuses, so I wouldn't be surprised if they pushed the limits of employment law

Car99

Without being too specific request did they deny you?

mcbert

It was such a small thing, it wouldn't be possible not to be specific, which I want to avoid. Nobody who knows about it, inside or outside the company can believe they have been so ridiculous.

Speedwell

It doesn't matter whether you are retaliating against their crappy behavior. If you are crappy to them in a legally actionable sort of way, they have the right to hold you legally responsible even if "they did it first". You also don't want them to tell your next potential employer that you were fired for cause. Bad enough that you have to quit because they and you had a bad relationship.

mcbert

But is being overtly lazy, and failing to show up to work legally actionable? I know I'm not allowed ask legal advice here...

Also, future employment is already arranged, and a referee from my time here is fine too, should it ever be needed...

Speedwell wrote: »

It doesn't matter whether you are retaliating against their crappy behavior. If you are crappy to them in a legally actionable sort of way, they have the right to hold you legally responsible even if "they did it first". You also don't want them to tell your next potential employer that you were fired for cause. Bad enough that you have to quit because they and you had a bad relationship.

Speedwell

mcbert wrote: »

But is being overtly lazy, and failing to show up to work legally actionable? I know I'm not allowed ask legal advice here...

Also, future employment is already arranged, and a referee from my time here is fine too, should it ever be needed...

"Working to rule" isn't actionable, no, and the sheer act of not showing up is not, in itself, a tort or crime. But you don't want to do anything that could be construed as sabotage, such as cases I remember in which an engineer close to retirement chose to take out his passive-aggressiveness by deliberately being sloppy about entering his product data into the test database, or in which a resentful IT person with another job in his pocket didn't keep to the prescribed data backup schedule and important data was lost, or (you didn't hear this from me and I didn't hear it from one of the engineers who worked in the same department as the guy) someone planning to transfer to another company signed off on safety checks that weren't performed on a certain oil well part, and a little problem called Deepwater Horizon happened. Don't be those people. Word gets around.

RebelButtMunch

Ask a doctor to sign you off work for a month with stress. They cant do anything when you're certified sick

mcbert

But its not a month. Its more... anyway, I think a sick cert would actually give them more amo, e.g. requiring me to visit their own doctor, and then claiming Im full of it. I am rightly angry alright.

RebelButtMunch wrote: »

Ask a doctor to sign you off work for a month with stress. They cant do anything when you're certified sick

Toots

What does your contract say about the notice period you're required to give? And how long have you worked there?

mcbert

Toots wrote: »

What does your contract say about the notice period you're required to give? And how long have you worked there?

I don't want to be too specific. Here a couple of years, a few months notice, most of that remaining.

Stheno

mcbert wrote: »

I don't want to be too specific. Here a couple of years, a few months notice, most of that remaining.

I'm failing to see the point of this thread. Is it that you have given your notice, which by the sounds of it is for three months, have had an argument with your colleagues and want to work to rule or just walk out?

mcbert

That's it, yes, I want to work to rule, but I'm wondering what could a petty company could do or threaten to do beyond terminating my contract early.

MarkR

Best advice, read this and don't burn your bridges.

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employment/starting_work_and_changing_job/changing_job/giving_notice.html

mcbert

Thanks. Yeah, although the advice about burning bridges should equally apply to employers.

MarkR wrote: »

Best advice, read this and don't burn your bridges.

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employment/starting_work_and_changing_job/changing_job/giving_notice.html

o1s1n

I saw a lot of this in a job I had a few years ago.

The standard notice period was 1 month. However, the vast majority of employees who left gave two weeks notice and that was it. (I guess they couldn't wait to get out of the place!)

I remember sitting in one HR meeting with a guy who gave 1 week notice. HR tried to intimidate him with threats of delaying a P45 (seems to be the only thing they could really do) and an a limited reference but he just shrugged. Nothing could be done beyond that.