A man went viral on TikTok after showing viewers one of the potential downsides of putting in their two weeks’ notice with their employer.
Steven (@pseudonymact), an actor and realtor, said that a friend of his was fired the same day he gave his two weeks’ notice to his team lead. The content creator said that while giving your notice should be “straightforward,” some managers will complicate the process. As of Tuesday morning, Steven’s video acknowledging the potential downsides of being an at-will employee had amassed more than 12.5 million views.
What happened to the content creator’s friend?
In the video, Steven donned a headset and sat in front of his computer. He recorded the TikTok while on a phone call with what appeared to be a manager or HR professional, though her face is never shown. And since this incident happened to his friend—and not Steven himself—it’s unclear whether the voice belongs to another actor or is AI.
“This happened after I gave my two weeks’ notice,” Steven wrote in the accompanying text overlay.
After exchanging brief pleasantries, the woman on the other end of the line got more serious. In short, she told Steven that he was fired, effective immediately.
“I do want to let you know that the company has decided to end your employment with us,” she said. “Although you did submit a two weeks’ notice… our company does not have to honor that. With that, we are ending your working relationship with us today.”
The woman asked Steven to log out of all of the company’s accounts and systems “right away.” She also asked him to return any company property, including equipment.
“I know this is not the information that you wanted to hear. But I want to thank you for your contribution,” she said. “So, with that, we’re going to go ahead and end your employment.”
Is this legal?
Unfortunately for Steven’s friend, there’s no legal workaround to avoid situations like this. At-will employees don’t have a right to their job. As such, they can be fired at any time and for any reason—including because they’ve announced plans to leave. While this might not seem fair, it’s also not illegal.
According to one team of legal experts, employees can only win a wrongful termination lawsuit if they prove that they were fired in retaliation for handing in their two weeks’ notice. But, the group wrote, these cases are notoriously hard to prove. They also provided a list of reasons why employers might want to let go of employees who are on their way out the door.
One commenter who experienced a similar situation said he learned this lesson “the hard way.”
“Once you tell them you’re leaving, they want nothing to do with you,” he wrote.
A number of other employees, though, said that situations like this make them not want to give a two weeks’ heads-up in the first place. Instead, they encouraged other workers to simply quit without notice.
“I believe in the 2 day notice,” one person said. “Meaning I’m leaving To-Day.”
@pseudonymact Thought about giving your two weeks’ notice it would be straightforward… but then THIS could happened. This did not happen to me but to someone I know. #WorkLife #ResignationDrama #fired #terminated #drama #fypage ♬ Put in 2 weeks Notice – Pseudonym
“2 weeks’ notice is a thing of the past,” another added.
“I always end my employment effective immediately as well,” a third woman wrote. “I don’t do two weeks’ notices cuz they don’t care and I don’t either.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Steven via TikTok comment.
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