Worker Denied Months Of Pay After Resigning — 'I'm Never Giving 2 Weeks Notice Again'
It's usually as illegal as it is disrespectful.
iJeab | Canva Pro When you think about it, it's pretty odd that any of us does the whole "two weeks' notice" thing when resigning from a job, because there's no rule saying we must. It's a formality, a gesture, that is often requested in our employment contracts but has no actual legal obligation.
And it's even odder that we do this since most employers don't accept it anyway. More often than not, you are treated like a criminal and booted out the door by security an hour after you put in your notice. For one worker on Reddit, their resignation went even further than that into disrespectful territory, to an extent that is probably illegal.
A worker was denied months of pay after resigning and giving their two weeks' notice.
In his Reddit post, the worker wrote about how hard he had worked for his now-former job at a tech startup. "I worked my [behind] off for these people," he wrote. "55+ weeks with no overtime, took on extra work, and helped my team mates [sic] constantly."
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But when it became clear that a new return to office mandate would eliminate the company's remote work scheme, the worker had to begin looking elsewhere, as the remote policy was the whole reason he was able to take the job.
So he began looking for a new position and was lucky to quickly land a new one. He then handled everything with the utmost professionalism when it came to his departure, and was rewarded with a frankly egregious dismissal.
The worker was immediately escorted out and denied commissions and PTO payouts.
"I did everything that I was told my whole life," he wrote. "Give a two-week notice, don’t burn bridges, etc." But as so often happens, the moment he submitted his notice, he was deactivated from all systems and was told to leave immediately.
That blatant disrespect is bad enough, but the company took things several steps further. They sent an email stating that "they will not be paying for any unused PTO… and also will not be paying any earned commission from my sales between April - June."
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That is, of course, flatly illegal, except for when it's not, and unfortunately, it seems this worker's situation may fall into a gray area. His employer claims that he agreed to these PTO and commission terms when he took the job.
"Don’t remember that at all," he said, which suggests he didn't read his employment agreements closely, sure, but it also suggests that HR or his bosses made a point of not mentioning them. Most people would never agree to such draconian terms if they were made aware of them, of course.
"So I did everything right and the company has totally screwed me over, set me back," he wrote. "I hope nothing but awful things for the company, I would cheer if they went under tomorrow."
Denying pay like this is usually illegal, even if a worker agreed to such policies.
Whether this worker actually agreed to these ridiculous and dishonest terms or not, we are firmly in "call a lawyer" territory here. While federal law states that employers must pay out employees for their final wages, no exceptions, the intricacies of how and when, and particularly how PTO and commissions are handled, are left to the states.
State labor laws vary widely, but some states explicitly treat unused PTO as earned and unpaid wages and require it to be paid out upon separation, even if the employee agreed to a different arrangement.
The same is true of commissions. Some employers attempt to get around the laws on commissions by requiring that workers be presently employed with the company on the date of commission payouts, for example, but these rules are often illegal under state law.
Employers frequently place clauses in employment contracts that are not legally enforceable under the (usually correct) assumption that workers don't know their rights. So, it's important to consult an attorney in situations like these and to file complaints with the Department of Labor and the state-level equivalent.
These agencies will not only compel your employer to pay you in accordance with the law if they are breaking it, but often require them to pay you restitution for the time spent waiting for what you were rightfully owed. The bottom line: This person and anyone else in his shoes should never take an employer's word for it. Call a lawyer (most will consult with you for free) because they may just be playing games they can't actually win if you stick up for yourself.
John Sundholm is a writer, editor, and video personality with 20 years of experience in media and entertainment. He covers culture, mental health, and human interest topics.
