I recently gave a written letter of resignation with a respectable two week notice. Thirty minutes after submitting I was escorted out of the building. What are my rights and what is the companies obligation under New Jersey Law in terms of paying me out the 2 weeks I gave notice for? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Best Regards,
Macbeth Jr.

There is no obligation! You gave notice they accepted right away instead of two weeks later. That is legal and many compnaies do this. Why should they pay you if your not working?

You have the right to file for unemployment and see whether or not the state will grant it. It is possible that you might be able to collect for the two weeks.

No state requires that an employer pay for an unworked notice period, regardless of whose decision it is that the notice not be worked. In all states it is legal for an employer to accept your notice immediately and not have you work it out.

If the company requires two week notice as policy,you can sue in small claims court for the two weeks pay bring the policy letter or employees hand book to court.
JoeC

What!?:eek: A company cannot require an employee to give two weeks notice if quitting. I cant see how it would even be lawful to put that in any employee handbook

Exactly they cant they can request it as a matter of policy or courtesy,likewise the employee can not be penalized in a state (New Jersey being one) that adheres to the theory of Implied Covenant of good faith,and fair dealing.
JoeC

The handbook does state verbatim, employees who resign are requested to give at least a two-week notice. So does this support grounds for recovering pay through litigation?

Macbeth Jr.

The handbook does state verbatim, employees who resign are requested to give at least a two-week notice. So does this support grounds for recovering pay through litigation?

Macbeth Jr.

Requesting is not demanding. I see no arguement in favor of paying OP for two weeks OP is not working

Panther are you a labor lawyer? Thank you.

No I am not

The handbook does state verbatim, employees who resign are requested to give at least a two-week notice. So does this support grounds for recovering pay through litigation?

Macbeth Jr.

Yes it does not guarantee you will prevail,thats up to the Judge. It certainly enough to proceed to court. Throw in a $200 punitive damage request to boot,on top of court cost.Woolley v. Hoffmann-La Roche, Inc., 99 N.J. 284 (1985), modified on other grounds, 101 N.J. 10 (1985); see also Witkowski v. Thomas J. Lipton, Inc., 136 N.J. 385 (1994) (holding that a manual's nonexclusive list of grounds for discharge, coupled with a progressive warning notice system, constituted a promise to discharge employees only in accordance with the manual).

Wade v. Kessler Inst., 172 N.J. 327, 345 (2002) (an express or implied contract must exist before a jury can consider whether the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing has been breached.

When you file with the clerk proceed to the law library,and check if the above is still good law,the law librarian can point you to the proper research section.
JoeC

Panther are you a labor lawyer? Thank you.

No,and he definitely is not a Judge in New Jersey,thats who makes the call. The Judge can find for the plaintiff or the defendant in the interest of justice. Basically that means he can set aside precedent,and find in the interest of justice.
JoeC

No,and he definitly is not a Judge in New Jersey,thats who makes the call.
JoeC

and neither are you Joe. In fact I am unsure if there are any actuial Labor Law Attorneys on this site. Attorneys (good ones anyways) do not have the time to post on message boards. IMHO If you read the disclaimer at bottom of page (quoted on this post)

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The answers one gets on this site come from volunteers who may or may not have backgrounds in given area. they may or may not have experienced simililar problems or they might have just run a simple google search for answers. There is no harm in seeking legal advice on your issue (as Joe suggests) however from my view (and I dont disagree talking to a Lawyer is good idea anyways) there is not a very good chance you will not be successful in gainning the two weeks pay you desire

and neither are you Joe. In fact I am unsure if there are any actuial Labor Law Attorneys on this site. Attorneys (good ones anyways) do not have the time to post on message boards. IMHO If you read the disclaimer at bottom of page (quoted on this post)
No there are attorneys here,and some are very good. I am not the one telling him he has no case.
there is not a very good chance you will not be successful in gainning the two weeks pay you desire
What are you basing this opinion on?
JoeC

There are a couple of attorneys here, but you're right, they don't have time to post here that often. One whom I trusted who hasn't been here in quite a while was Michael Tracy in California.

Mike just posted a couple days ago. He also has a radio show.
JoeC

Given Joe's research, I would burn an hour of a labor attorney's time and ask.

Having said that, I haven't heard of this being a successful endeavor. Typically, the legal fees outweigh the possible gain.

I'm not so sure he needs an attorney file and review the law library. This is a small claims issue. Also file for Unemployment since you have an obligation to mitigate damages to the defendant. If you dont file the judge may ask why?
JoeC

I have, personally and professionally, found that a $100 investment in an attorney's time saves me an afternoon in the law library.

A good attorney can give you a yeah or nay within about 15 minutes.