Legal Question in Business Law in California

Tell your old boss to check with the company's lawyers. California law strongly favors employee mobility, and while there might be some kind of mild "conflict of interest" in going to work for the competition, it's not an illegal or morally reprehensible thing; instead, it's a right given you by the California Business & Professions Code (see B&P Code section 16600).

Further, you are entitled to be paid for all the time you actually worked, and probably are entitled to your bonus as well, but it would be necessary to read the terms to be sure. You can ask at a local office of the Labor Commissioner (see Government section of the Yellow Pages).

Bryan is mistaken on the first point. When an at will employee gives notice, the employer can accept the notice, or not. They can instead fire the employee at any time, just as they could before the notice. Giving notice does not guarantee the employee gets to work for the full length of the notice unless the employer wants them to. So sending you home when the found out why you were leaving was perfectly legal, even though I agree the conflict of interest issue is a red herring.

As for your last pay check and bonus, because you gave notice, your last paycheck was due your last day, not 48 hours later. Your employer is liable for a days pay for each day between when the check was due and when you got it. It doesn't sound like your bonus was due that day, however. The employer does not have to pay out bonuses early just because an employee leaves or is fired. So if they owe you the bonus, it is owed when it would have been paid had y stayed on that job.

Whether they owe y the bonus or not, can't be determined via an internet q&a service. It will depend on the exact terms of the bonus plan. It is perfectly legal to make bonuses limited to people who are still on the job on a certain date. That must, however, be stated up front, generally in company written compensation policies, or at least be a clearly known policy. So you will need to talk to an attorney directly to determine whether you are entitled to the bonus.

The minute you give notice, you can be fired and walked off the job. Your last check for hours you have worked is due the day they 'fire' you. Bonuses are generally not paid if you are not working there at the time they are paid, generally at the end of some 'period'. You waived it when you quit early.

As the others have noted, an employer can terminate an employee at any time and is entitled to ask you to leave as soon as you give notice.

Under California law, a bonus vests as soon as it is earned, so if you earned the bonus you are entitled to be paid it. Employers are not permitted to refuse to pay because you not longer work there, for the obvious reason that they could terminate employees as a way of avoiding payment. If you are fired, you must be paid before you leave the premises. If you quit, the time frame is 72 hours after you leave. However, because you gave two weeks notice, the employer had plenty of time to prepare your check and should have paid you before you left.

You can make a claim with the Labor Commissioner for unpaid wages (go to the California government website for information). They can collect the pay, interest, and penalties (a day's pay for every day it was paid late, up to 30 days) for you.