Can employers legally retaliate if a two-week notice is given by employees?

As far as retaliation is concerned, employees should know that California works on an at-will employment basis. This means that both employers and employees can terminate the employment relationship at any time and without stating any particular cause. However, this law doesn’t apply for those working on a contract basis. This is because the employment contractmay specify the total working time and a notice period which is mandatory. Such employees cannot leave the jobs before the date mentioned on the contract. Secondly, certain company policies require employees to inform in advance. These are the two exceptions when it’s mandatory for the employees to submit a two-week notice before resigning. Employees should check the two weeks notice template before writing it.

Retaliation of employers after submitting a two-week notice:

 Employees working on an at-will basis don’t need to bring a notice but most employees want to leave the job on a good note without creating a bad impression. However, a two-week notice can turn out to terrifying especially when the employees aren’t aware of the reactions that might come up after giving the notice. Talking from the legal perspective, it’s not lawfully correct to retaliate against an employee for resigning from a job voluntarily. As there’s no legal requirement to submit a notice, employers cannot retaliate even if the notice isn’t given. This is because as per the California laws, both employer-employees can terminate the employment relationship.

However, employees can expect certain reactions from their boss and one has to take a close look at it to understand that their employers are taking adverse action for resigning a job. So, what retaliation signs one should look for?

Firing from the job before completion of the two-week time-

 This is a very common occurrence in California where employers immediately terminate their employees after receiving the notice. Employers are required to pay all the earned wages including overtime wages and accrued vacation pay. If the notice was given, the payment has to be made on the last working day of the workers and if the notice wasn’t paid, employers are required to clear all the due wages within 72 hours or on employee’s request, the paycheck can also be mailed to the employee. However, if the employer doesn’t pay the wages owed, it will be considered as retaliation. This is because the employer retaliated against the employee by not paying the wages. Employees have the right to sue the employer for not paying the wages.

Unpaid wages-

As already mentioned above, the employers are legally bound to clear all the due payments to the employees at the time of quitting. Failure to do so can result in a lawsuit against them.

These are the two extreme things that employers can do with or without advance notice. It is advised that employees should consult with an employment attorney before submitting a letter. Though there are significant benefits of submitting one, it can also have a retaliatory action.

Last but not the least; employees can leave the job immediately without any notice if they’ve been subjected to sexual harassment or workplace discrimination and the employer fails to necessary measures to solve the problem. Employees should be given a chance to take necessary measures but if they don’t, the workers can sue them and can also claim unemployment benefits.