On LOA, Giving Notice Upon Return, Feeling Guilty

March 24, 2019 6:53 AM

I have a one-year contract, currently on a 3 month leave of absence, and upon my return, I'm going to completely blindside my very nice employer when I tell them I'm not interested in renewing my contract and I'm giving them 4 weeks notice. How do I do this as professionally as possible?

Last September I started an awesome new job--standard one year contract, and within a few months found out I needed to take time off to deal with a medical issue. FMLA does not apply since I haven't been there for a year, but my supervisor agreed to a medical leave AND to keep my position open for me, so I can return.

I am currently receiving short term disability during the leave, and I am supposed to return in May.

Here's the thing: I've accepted a new job to start next September. I won't renew my current contract, and while my employer is super kind and I don't want to screw them up, they can terminate me immediately if I tell them during the medical leave that I'm not renewing my contract (I had a lawyer check--they can do this). This would leave me without short term disability and insurance and of course, a job for 4 months.

How do I do this professionally while covering my butt? I just feel really awful that I'm going to go back in May and say, "So by the way, you need to advertise for my job since I'm not renewing."

The place where I work is a friendly and fun part of a MASSIVE corporation. So even though it's super casual and awesome, the corporate structure is very rigid and we all play by their very strict rules (so again, I could be a nice person and tell them now, and they could fire me).

What's the most professional way to handle giving notice?

posted by anonymous to Work & Money (11 answers total)

With a nicely worded letter on the date when you are obligated to reply. A single year contract is explicit in not automatically renewing. if they wanted a longer-term guarantee they were welcome to offer you something fair for that at the outset. Your manager may be a nice person; however, your employer is a large corporation who would do you no favors. Give them the amount of notice you are obligated to only.
posted by a robot made out of meat at 7:04 AM on March 24, 2019 [12 favorites]

If they only have you on a one year contract, it's on them to ask you to sign a contract renewal with the amount of notice they need to find someone else. So I wouldn't bring it up before August unless they ask. I would be kind enough to let them know four weeks in advance though, if they don't ask your intentions before then.
posted by metasarah at 7:06 AM on March 24, 2019 [1 favorite]

Perhaps I'm missing something - your current contract runs until September and you have a new job starting then. You're currently on sick leave and will return to work in May. So nearer September your manager will discuss the option of contract renewal - if both the company and you wish to do so. So if it comes up then you just say, thanks but no thanks. Don't see any guilt there - it's fixed term after all, they wouldn't feel bad about choosing not to renew you.
posted by JonB at 7:06 AM on March 24, 2019 [10 favorites]

Yeah, I think you are over-worrying about this, unless there's something big we're all missing here. You're going to go back to work in May, and then you're going to quit towards the end of the summer? The medical leave will be as a distant memory at that point, and in the vast majority of jobs you would never give notice in May that you would be leaving in September.

I wonder if you might need to seek out industry-specific advice - that you're even considering giving notice now for September while working a one-year contract is so unusual that it makes me wonder if there are very specific conditions/expectations in play here that we're all missing out on.
posted by mskyle at 7:12 AM on March 24, 2019 [3 favorites]

Every employer, no matter how nice, will terminate employment for any reason or no reason at all, regardless of how good an employee has been to them. Employees should treat employers the same way. Be courteous, be especially flattering in your letter of resignation, but carry on. Do make sure you have documented anything that needs it, and have left things in good shape.

The disability pay is on an insurance plan and there's no reason contract staff should not use it, though many are unable to. The current labor market is massively weighted in favor of employers.
posted by theora55 at 8:16 AM on March 24, 2019 [6 favorites]

Your supervisor is a lovely person but your supervisor is not your employer. Your employer is a huge corporation and huge corporations have no loyalty whatsoever to employees; from the huge corporation's huge corporate point of view you are a replaceable cog in a very large machine.

If your contract says that you need to give N days of notice of your decision about whether to renew or not, the professional thing to do is to supply your employer with a politely worded letter informing them of your decision exactly N days before your contract's end date and not before. That's all you need to do, and if your supervisor is as professional as they are lovely, they will be fine with it and genuinely wish you well in your new endeavours. Don't worry about their need to advertise for your job; that's (a) their problem and (b) exactly what the notice period is for.

You also have no current business relationship with whomever you expect your next employer to be, merely an offer to establish one. A lot can change between now and September. It would be well worth your while to hold off informing your existing employer about your non-renewal until the very last day your contract specifies that you need to do it by, to maximize your chance of actually walking into a new job after leaving the old one. If by some series of unfortunate events the new employer's offer should go belly-up before Notification Day, wouldn't you prefer to retain the option to stay where you are?
posted by flabdablet at 9:01 AM on March 24, 2019 [1 favorite]

Why are you planning to tell them in May? Is a long notice period in your contract or otherwise a norm in your industry?
posted by Automocar at 9:07 AM on March 24, 2019 [1 favorite]

You seem worried that the company will fire you the moment you give them notice - which is a very justifiable concern. Remember that this works both ways: they get to dismiss people on the spot, but it also means they have to accept that employees will consequently give them the shortest notice possible. The extent to which time to hire and transition is important to them is the extent to which they honor resigning employees' requested end dates.

So (a) certainly don't feel guilty - do your best work and document what your replacement will need to know if you like, but people leave all the time and they knew that when they hired you (on a contract!) and when they granted you the leave; and (b) pay attention if possible to other people leaving the company: how much notice do they give, and how does the company respond. Ask them (the departing employees), if you trust them. Four weeks is usually considered a generous notice, and you want to make sure the company won't make you go before that time is up.

You'll probably have discussions with your boss about renewing the contract before you're ready to announce. Don't feel bad about keeping your options open until the last moment.
posted by trig at 9:38 AM on March 24, 2019

Your question says you plan to tell them upon your return that you won't be renewing, but it also says you'll give four weeks notice. That's a contraction - if you tell them upon your return, it'll be four MONTHS notice! Say nothing for now, you have no reason to feel guilty. Give the minimum amount of notice necessary / customary or wait till you are asked whether you'd like to renew, whichever comes later.
posted by sunflower16 at 11:07 AM on March 24, 2019

The whole point of having a short contract is so the employer doesn’t have to be obliged to you, they can get rid of and replace you at will. The fact that an employee is now leaving at the end of the contract is because they wanted it like that. If they wanted you permanently, they would have offered longer or better terms. Don’t feel bad simply because you’re now enacting the terms of the contract before them, because I guarantee they wouldn’t give it a moment’s thought if they had to tell you the same thing.
posted by Jubey at 1:34 PM on March 24, 2019

Yeah, I think this is unambiguously fine.

I initially misunderstood your question. I thought your manager had granted you leave to which you were not entitled, and held your position open for you during that leave, and now you were planning not to come back to work.

Accepting a job which starts after the end of your contract which they have not offered to renew? If they had wanted right of first refusal on your employment next year, they should have asked for it. They explicitly did not.
posted by meaty shoe puppet at 3:47 PM on March 24, 2019 [2 favorites]