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Is Employer Obligated to Pay for Two Weeks after Notice if Employer
Requests Employee Leave Now?
Q: Our organization generally requests that employees give two-weeks’
notice of resignation. If an employee resigns with two-weeks’ notice and
we tell the employee to leave prior to the end of the two-week period, are
we obligated to pay the employee for the full two weeks?
A: You may not be required to pay for the two-weeks notice period, but
should consider doing so for employee morale reasons. Most employers
request or require that employees give advance written notice of their
intention to resign so that an orderly transition may be made. The amount
of advance notification usually depends on the importance of the position.
However, requiring employees to give notice of their resignations may, in
some states, create an implied contract obligating the employer to give an
equal amount of notice before terminating an employee. For this reason,
the Editors suggest requesting, but not requiring, notice from terminating
employees. In the scenario described above, since notice is only
requested, a contract requiring the payment for the two-weeks notice
period probably has not been created.
Most employers pay for the notice period, however, even if they do not
have a contract requiring the payment. Employers may choose to do this
when they want an employee to stop working immediately because the
employee is in a sensitive position, such as one having access to highly
confidential information or essential production equipment, and the
employer is concerned about reduced loyalty. If the employer simply tells
the employee to leave after giving notice, it may turn a voluntary
termination into an involuntary termination, making the employee eligible
for state unemployment compensation for that period of time. More
importantly, the employer may send a negative message to the rest of its
workforce, i.e., if you give notice as requested, you may be terminated
immediately. As a result, the employer will not receive notice of
terminations in the future. Accordingly, the Editors suggest compensating
the employee for the notice period in order to ensure that there is no
question about eligibility for unemployment benefits and to encourage
other employees to give notice in the future. For further information on
termination issues, see Chapter 211, Termination of Employment.
The Editors’ responses in the HR AnswerlineSM and this newsletter
are not intended as legal advice. Subscribers are encouraged to seek
appropriate legal and other professional advice.
For more articles please click here.
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