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According to the law in Poland when I hand in my resignation letter I'm obliged to work till the end of the following month (i.e. end of April if I hand it in in March) no matter if I do it on the first day of the month or the last.

I think it would be fair to hand in the letter the very next day when I have decided to move on. However those employees that have left since I've been working here all but one handed in the resignation letter right before the office closed on the last day of the month. Many of them had overdue holiday so after handing in the letter they stayed around only for a day or two.

Would it be professional to give the company a few weeks more to deal with the situation or should I follow the example of others? The downside certainly is the fact that I won't get my bonus that way (which is paid along with the salary on the last day of the month in the morning) as they surely won't be willing to pay it but I haven't been eligable for it this month either way.

The reason for my resignation is I don't feel my rights are respected here but that shouldn't really affect the way I should act in my opinion.

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  • Giving your employer just one day to find, train and handle a replacement sounds like a great way to burn a bridge...
    – Fredrik
    Commented Mar 13, 2014 at 8:35
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    @Fredrik: The way I read it, worst case would be a month and one day, not just one day.
    – CMW
    Commented Mar 13, 2014 at 10:07
  • @CMW A month and one day while I'm employed but it's a month while I'm enjoying my holidays. In theory they can ask me to work but they can't force me and they would have to pay me extra for the lost holidays.
    – user17174
    Commented Mar 13, 2014 at 18:58
  • @user17174 That's not uncommon, though, right? They should basically be used to this, because it usually the way it goes.
    – CMW
    Commented Mar 13, 2014 at 19:44

2 Answers 2

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What's the downside of giving the company more time before you leave?

Let's say you made the decision to leave on March 1st. If you hand in your resignation on the 1st of March, or the 31st of March, your last day is still April 30th, so why does it matter what day you hand it in, so long as you do it before April 1st?

If handing in your resignation sooner will (or usually would have) provided you with an extra month's bonus, then why not take it? Is it legal for them to refuse you a bonus if it's due to you?

I'm not familiar with the details of Poland, so I hope I'm understanding okay. But if you have saved up holiday time, even if you hand in your notice sooner than later, don't you still get to take that holiday time?

Finally, if you want the best reference (even if you hate this place, you'll want a reference you can use in the future), then I'd say just take your lumps and give the company as much notice as you can.

Obviously I don't know enough details about your situation to be sure, but if you're concerned that money owed to you won't be paid, I'd want to make sure that was based on real fact and previous, verified experience of another employee. In other words, make sure it's not a fear of something that 'might' happen, but something that's a real, verifiable risk.

Either way, good luck!

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    I would get the bonus if I handed the resignation after they would already transfered it. The bonus is purely out of the company's good will so even when I was already told I would get it they can pay it whenever they want it or they can not pay it. The managment reasons it's motivational bonus and they have no interest in motivating someone who won't work for them anymore. The bonuses will be paid when we meet the target and the company is so behind on the target it won't happen in months and it will be lower than the diffrence between this and my new salary so there is no reason to wait.
    – user17174
    Commented Mar 12, 2014 at 23:49
  • As for the holidays, I have 20 days saved up + around 12 hours lieu time. That means that if I hand in the resignation on the last day of the month I will have to show up at work for 4 hours in April. The reason for handing it late would be "everyone are doing it that way". I might get access cut off to everything (servers etc.) when I hand it early but not being able to do any work for them shouldn't really be mine concern. Thanks and sorry for anonymous account.
    – user17174
    Commented Mar 12, 2014 at 23:49
  • Regarding motivational bonuses...if it's perfectly legal for them to give the bonuses as they wish (even rescind it whenever they wish), then I don't know if you can do anything about that. I mean, by definition if a bonus isn't going to get you to change your mind and stay (i.e. it won't motivate your decision one way or the other), then you're right, there isn't much point in paying it to you. I'm sure you're a good person, but this /is/ business. And hey, if you're leaving I hope you're leaving to a better situation or better pay, in which case I don't think you'll miss the money for long.
    – jefflunt
    Commented Mar 12, 2014 at 23:57
  • I completely understand the anonymous account. :) If I were posting a question about quitting a job I currently had I'd want to be anonymous as well.
    – jefflunt
    Commented Mar 12, 2014 at 23:59
  • If you get your responsibilities reduced (access to servers taken away), but still get paid...well, what's the problem then? See my second-to-last paragraph here: workplace.stackexchange.com/a/20504/31 I'm all for a good work ethic, and I don't like to be bored at work with nothing to do either, but it's just a temporary thing, yes? No big deal in the long run.
    – jefflunt
    Commented Mar 13, 2014 at 0:00
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I don't feel my rights are respected here

That itself is IMO sufficient reason to wait as long as possible: Once you hand in your resignation, you may become a target for abuse due to your employer's resentment at your leaving.

If your colleagues who left felt the same way as you do: "their rights were not respected", they did the smart thing by waiting until the last day and then taking their vacation time, so they wouldn't have to be exposed to potential abuse, etc. In your position I would be inclined to take their example.

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