As an employer, it is certainly helpful when employees give two weeks’ notice before they quit their jobs. This helps you plan for the future and find a replacement. In some cases, the outgoing employee may even be able to train their replacement before they leave.
But are employees legally obligated to give two weeks’ notice – or any notice – before leaving?
It depends. Minnesota employment laws do not require at-will employees to provide any kind of pre-exit notice.
However, if employees sign employment contracts, you can include a provision requiring them to give you reasonable notice. (Note: Employee handbooks are not employment contracts.) A contract employee’s failure to provide notice could, therefore, be determined to be a breach of contract. The question becomes: What is the remedy for the breach?
The notice requirement is pretty meaningless if your contract doesn’t also state your recourse. You can’t terminate them. They’re already gone. Perhaps your recourse is a conditional benefit that has to be repaid or perhaps some amount of liquidated damages.
Keep in mind that even if you were to win a judgment against your former employee for failure to give notice, collecting on the judgment isn’t always easy.
In short, purely in terms of notice requirements, smart management, healthy company morale and mutual respect can do more to promote smooth employee exits than any strongly worded contract.