Terminated after Resignation

[bdjs5]

Can an employer terminate an employee 72 hours after a resignation has been submitted with the proper two week notice? Also, will they have to honor the resignation in terms of paying for the two weeks notice, or can they not honor the notice and not pay for that time period. Also, can they impugn your personnel record by stating you were terminated after you had already resigned. Please note the personnel file was perfect, bonuses had been given yearly, and the employee left to pursue a better employment opportunity, with higher salary and the employer was FURIOUS! They felt that the employee was influencing other employees to leave as well, but there was no documentation to substantiate that assumption. The employee was phoned on day 3 after the resignation had been submitted in writing through e-mail and accepted (not in writing only verbally over the phone) and told that he was "terminated without cause as of 5:00 p.m. that afternoon". The employer holds numerous federal contracts. Can you provide some guidance please.

[Pattymd]

The employer can accept the resignation immediately, if he wants, or at any time while the notice period is being worked out, if he wants. No state requires that the employer pay for any time the employee did not work. If the resignation is accepted 5 days into the notice period, then 5 days' pay is all the employee is legally entitled to.

[bdjs5]

Thanks for the guidance -one other question from my initial post - can the personnel file reflect negatively that there was a termination versus a resignation? Technically, I quit before I was terminated - might be purely semantics, but in no way do I want my file to reflect negatively since I was leaving, and had stated that in writing through e-mail correspondence BEFORE they chose to terminate me.

[Pattymd]

You resigned. It appears they accepted your resignation before you worked out your full notice period. BTW, all "termination" means is that the employment relationship has been severed. There's voluntary, meaning you resigned, and involuntary, meaning you were discharged.

[bdjs5]

Thanks for the clarification on terminology. Can the company state in my personnel file that I was "involuntarily terminated" based on the facts I have outlined? I would assume if they accepted my resignation, then terminated the relationship before the notice was completed, it should reflect "voluntary termination". Your thoughts?

[cbg]

Can they state it that way? Sure, no law prohibits it.But why would they?

[bdjs5]

Limited mind-set in company - feel that you're "hired for life" and that a free market for employment does not exist. Technically, my leaving, creates a void in a number of programs they manage, and they have no one to fill the position, so they are "offended" that I would accept and "better" offer and obviously feel that I have betrayed them by moving on. Personally feel they cannot do this, but I am assuming legally they can show "involuntary termination" even though I quit first - if they do this, is there no recourse?

[Pattymd]

No, you really don't. If you're concerned about what they may say the reason for termination was to a prospective employer, you can explain it.