Do Your Employees Have to Give You a Two Weeks’ Notice?

It is customary in most industries to provide a two weeks’ notice to an employer when one is going to leave a job. This is often done so that the employer can hire someone else as a replacement, and it’s a sign of goodwill. The employee may want your recommendation for future jobs, so they want to leave the business on good terms.

This has become so common that many people assume that they need to give a two weeks’ notice. They assume they cannot just quit whenever they want, except in extreme circumstances. But is this true? Do they have to give you notice when they leave or not?

At-Will Laws Do Not Require Any Notice

Generally speaking, at-will employment laws do not require employees to provide any sort of notice. An employee is allowed to quit at any time. They could walk out in the middle of a shift, and they’re not breaking any laws. They’re certainly burning a bridge and you’re not going to give them a good recommendation, but they are not doing anything illegal.

One difference is if you have employees who are working on a contractual basis. That contract may stipulate that they have to give you a certain amount of warning or that there are certain procedures to be followed if they want to break the contract early. If the employees signed it, then they have to adhere to the contract you gave them, regardless of the state laws.

Whether you’re hiring new employees or trying to sort out a dispute with one who is leaving, it’s important to know about all of your legal obligations.