Give your employer adequate notice period

This may sound like a fiction but it is an actual experience as narrated by a HR practitioner. One Monday morning, she realized that one of the staff had not reported to work by 11am and since the said employee had not indicated he would be reporting late that day, the HR Officer picked up her phone and called the staff. To her shock, the staff received the call and indicated that he would not be reporting to work that morning as he had gotten another job the previous week. This sounded like a dream. How would a staff get a new job opportunity on Wednesday and with no notice whatsoever, fail to report to his workplace the following week and only let the employer know about the change when called to check on his whereabouts?

This was a shocker. The staff went on and informed the employer that he was considering passing by the office the same week on Thursday to collect the cheque for the number of days worked that month and the accruing benefits. This does not sound real but believe it or not, some of the staff working for companies are not aware or are just ignorant of the expectations of the notice period as part of their employment contracts.

Most of the employment contracts have a requirement that the employee gives agreed upon notice of intention to resign. Failure to provide this notice requires the employee to pay an amount equivalent to the notice period otherwise referred to as payment in lieu of notice. The expectation of the notice period is important as it helps the employer make proper plans to replace your function or to reorganize the team so that the work flow is not affected. This is good practice.

Let us have a quick shift to the work environment that is your own home. For those of us who have engaged the services of a house helper, it is usually mayhem and distress whenever the house help has left over the weekend and fails to turn up on Sunday evening as expected. Women are especially worst affected as they are forced to quickly call their bosses requesting for a few days off to sort out the challenge at home. And you would bear me witness that even with the few days, you are still not guaranteed of getting a helper who well fits the bill. The pressure is real and you would not want to go through it, neither would you then want to take your employer through the same.

I have overheard some employees indicate that they would hand in their resignations immediately after receiving their monthly pay cheque, especially those with no benefits to tie them to the employer. As much as they feel they have won a score against their ex employers, it serves as an effective way of burning bridges. This is a truly small world and you never know when and where your paths will cross again. As long as you are in the society, seek to treat all people with all due respect and honor as you would also not wish someone treats you with dishonor, not even your house help.

At the point when you are being hired for a new position, the interviewers always seek to know about your availability to take up the new job. In common practice, many potential employers would expect you to provide for the notice period to your current boss. In the event you do not indicate you would have to provide this notice, it could easily lead to your failure to get the job as the feeling would be that if you claim you would be available immediately, the potential employer should also expect the same treatment when your time to depart comes.