I was working for a company with a schedule of 4 weeks on and 2 weeks off. A better opportunity came up with another company so I applied and got the job. A few days before I was going to start my hitch I told my company I had gotten a new job but that I would be happy to finish out my last hitch and train a replacement. I thought I was doing the right thing giving them notice of leaving but the replied with an email telling me my resignation was effective immediately and not to return to do my last hitch.
I didn’t end up working for the new company for about 2 months. I have bills to pay and I’m hurting for money right now. Do I have any legal recourse as to getting the money back that I would have made if I worked my 4 weeks or at least some of it?
Thanks
Nope.
I used to agree with the “give two weeks” standard, but would the company give you two weeks notice if they were going to can you? No.
It’s best to not tell them and just let them know on the last day of your last hitch.
That’s what’s become of Employer Employe relations in our new work world everybody for them selfs. Lesson learned don’t do the correct thing.
It sucks but I don’t believe you have any recourse good luck with your new job
Shit like this happens sometimes, which is a painful reminder how these companies get the upper hand on us. Legally your company’s policy was probably at will employment meaning you or them can end it with no notice at anytime.
You said you were doing 4/2…so on the last day of your hitch giving your notice is totally ethical, they are getting a two week notice.
You got a lesson to not go above and beyond offering to train your replacement next time. I’d try to tell your new employer what happened and say you’d appreciate it if they could figure out a way to put you to work sooner.
We now work in the “screw you” society. There are some mom and pop companies that treat us right, but many people at many companies like to screw you just because they can. They certainly don’t have any sense of honesty or fair dealing.
A job offer does not mean a thing until you actually start. Even after you start, you may be laid off a couple weeks later. You work at the company’s convenience. Making a living is your problem.
I’ve heard of such goings on and been warned myself by others at my company that they had seen this exact thing happen or worse, when you give your notice mid-hitch and they say we expect you to be gone by the end of the day.
I gave my notice the day we were leaving port for a six day run up the coast when I was due to get off anyway. In reality that gave them 3 weeks notice and I didn’t miss a day.
For my last sailing job, I gave my notice a week before returning, the day before I packed up and moved 1,200 miles to my new, shoreside job. . . .
Some companies have a policy to let people go immediately to avoid sabotage…or loss of private info. I also think giving notice that you wouldn’t return after your last hitch would have been fine.
That shows how little some companies think of their mariners.
Sabotage? What kind of people are they hiring? Really? Very unlikely. Not without lots of recourse. Not without insurance. Paranoid. More likely just an excuse for being assholes. Such a company does not deserve any notice at all.
It’s a little more typical in it or sales. But another possibility is that if the person giving notice is someone they wanted to get rid of… they may have grabbed the chance to get rid of him
When I worked in the oil field it was a well known fact that you didn’t give notice till you were ready to be done. I’ve seen two decent guys give notice on the rig and offer to help out the next guy, but they were sent home asap afterwards. The office never hesitated to let people go on their last day of their hitch, or even a day or two before the next one from what I’ve seen.
Worst I heard was from a black & orange OSV company that let the guys fly in for crew change and then management met them on the boat and told them they were being let go that day. The guys were livid as they could have saved money on the flights/drive. Manager claimed it was so they could be told face to face. The scuttlebutt was that someone in the office screwed up or forgot and they weren’t notified at home like they were supposed to be.
I think from the office perspective it is a very slight fear of sabotage, but also a way to save money. With all this “at will” employment BS you really have no recourse.
When you shit on people, it often comes back to bite you. It’s always better to have people leave on good terms.
Two weeks is a courtesy. The company probably found a suitable replacement and wanted to start them right away. I think there is a lesson learned here to not say anything until you are actually done and ready to go. It sucks but that’s the way it is.
It depends.
If you are dealing with decent people at good a company, especially if it’s a company you might want to come back to some day, you should give reasonable notice. How long is reasonable depends on the circumstances.
If you are dealing with bad people st a bad company, and you usually know who you are dealing with, then you probably shouldn’t give any notice.
Sounds like a Bouchard Transportation move.
Well it sounds like they technically fired you so you can file for unemployment?
You don’t give Bouchard notice until you get your last check.
It is a matter of mutual respect to give proper notice. However, in most cases now there is no mutual respect unless you are way up the company food chain. I really don’t think they worry about sabotage. It is more a matter of reminding you and others that you are disposable. Company and employee loyalty is long past in the real world. You have no legal recourse. There is no state or federal agency looking out for employee interests currently or for the last 20+ years. I adopted the employers’ mindset. I work for an employer until I decide I don’t want to, I owe them nothing but my best days work. Everyone is temp now.
Many years ago, when on a contract that called for me to give my employers three months notice I gave them a few days and they let me go. Shortly after, due to some mistake in the pay department, they gave me three months puy in lieu of notice. I started a new job a week later and felt rather rich for a while!
You should have filed for unemployment right away. If you were not paid through the date of your resignation then you were fired. Since it was not due to misconduct you would be eligible for benefits from your separation to the start of the new job.
On the other hand, if you were paid through your last date but released early, then it is a Quit. You would be out of luck unless it (the pending new job) paid a lot more but fell through.