Legal Question in Employment Law in Maryland

Re: Resignation and standard 2 weeks notice

Good luck with your new position. You raise two questions: Is it legal for a company to discharge a person immediately after receiving two weeks notice of resignation? If so, does the company have to pay salary for the two weeks? It is legal, and the company does not have to pay salary. This is why.

First, I assume you are a non-gov't. employee with no employment or labor contract. If so, you are an "employee at will." This means you can be discharged anytime, without notice, for any legal reason. (Non-legal reasons would include items such as race or sex discrimination.) Likewise, you can quit at any time, with or without notice.

The employer can therefore decide not to honor your two-week notice and discharge you immediately as an employee at will, without paying you for the notice period.

Companies do this because people who have given notice are not entirely productive and may even "borrow" items or engage in sabotage on their way out.

To be clear, there is no Maryland or federal law requiring that you give notice, nor is there any protection for your job or salary should you decide to do so.

There is one exception. Check for company policy on resignations.(Such as in an employee handbook.) It may provide additional rights. (The same goes for an employment contract or labor agreement.) Company policy also might require that you give notice in order to receive pay for accrued vacation or for other reasons.

The question than is what to do? First, do you know that the company will not pay for the two weeks, even if they ask you not to work? Sometimes, companies will honor the two weeks of pay since the employee was professional enough to provide notice. Perhaps you can get the answer from human resources or a trusted manager without stating that you are resigning.

Second, I assume you want the two weeks of pay, so you want to make sure you can work until your last day. It seems the only way to ensure this is to resign on the last day with no advance notice. If so, the company may be upset with you and could possibly give a bad reference in the future, or engage in some other inappropriate conduct. (Most companies do not do this for fear of lawsuits, but you never know.) In any case, it is always best not to burn bridges - you might want to return to that job someday.

Is it possible, then, for you to work for the company for one or two weeks more than you planned? You could resign without notice (work as long as you want and resign on the last day), but offer to continue working for one or two weeks if the company prefers that you do so. If no, no harm. If yes, you help them out and leave on a good note.

Best of luck. Should you need help or have other questions, email or call [email protected], 301.604.2497. My initial consultation is on the house. Feel free to visit sheldonlawfirm.com, too. Regardless, drop me an email and let me know how it turns out.