To ask you what happens if you just stop going to work?

[VladmirsPoutine]

If you just e-mail your manager and tell them that you're not going back ever at all or if you hand in your notice and just decide to not work your notice - what actually happens thereafter? What repercussions can you face?
Posting for traffic - sorry but I'm feeling like doing exactly this.

my husbands company does garden leave nothing to do with taking contracts away or competitors

No repercussions to speak of for you, but probably will be for your co-workers who will have to pick up your slack, surely?

They can still refuse to give a reference which is looked on just as badly as a bad reference.

I did this with a bullying boss.

Obviously you will most likely mess up your chances of a good reference BUT then again, a lot of companies nowadays are so scared of liability, HRs when approached tend to do a report on timekeeping, length of service, confirmation of position etc, and that is all.

Suing ... Breach of contract and suing can only ever be in the form of losses. So they can but rarely, sue you for costs due to you not working notice. Would there be any? For me when I was threatened with this I emailed "I can either theoretically work my notice, but due to your behaviour my GP has already recommended I be signed off sick for stress due to work, SO I would not be working, you would be paying me AND you would also be paying the agency worker. OR, you let me go and pay the agency worker. So nothing to sue me for and up to you how you explain your choosing of the most expensive option to your manager."

Funnily, never heard anything else.

I used to work for a company that wouldn't accept being signed off for stress or depression unless you had a letter from a psychiatrist. Check your contract about that.

I did this at my last job as it was horrendous. The bosses were bullies and many colleagues were related to the owners and would lie about their mistakes and blame me.

I got signed off with stress, and sent them my notice with sick note which covered me for the notice period.

I had no problem getting my next job and told my new employers truthfully how and why I left.

Where I used to work, a guy just stopped coming into work one day. He was paid for a month whilst our boss tried to track him down and get him back.The guy didn't let anyone know he wouldn't be back

The guy ran his own business on the side so didn't need any references.

How long is your notice period? If it's only month, is there anyway you can hang on for thay long? Could you hand in your notice today to get your exit plan in place? You'll feel much better once you put your notice in. Can I ask why you want to leave without handing in your notice?

I would advise you to hand in your notice and look to leave normally after your notice period. It will save awkward questions at your next interview and job.

I did this.

I worked for the owner of the company. He was such a psychotic wanker, I used to sit in his office hoping he'd have a stroke.

I decided to resign while I was on holiday. Two days before I had been invited to sit in his office while he laid into a colleague until she broke down. Afterward another colleague also present told me she couldn't feel her legs whilst we were in there.

I couldn't have cared less about a reference or getting paid. When things are so bad that you're prepared to jump without looking back, then that's what you have to do.

It's a job. There are others. Subsequent employers have been curious but understanding. It's such an anomaly on my CV that my explain action has always been accepted, and if anything many have admired my integrity.

My other half did this last year and had no repercussions and was a lot happier after he left.
Took a month out and found a much better job so win win

I know someone who did exactly this due to the horrible behaviour of the two managers he reported into.

Here is what happened: Nothing.

Other colleagues agreed to give him person al references as it was obvious the gruesome twosome in management were not going to.
HR called him twice, he calmly told them that he was not coming back because of poor management and after the 2nd time, he heard no more from them.
His notice period on his contract was 3 months but he was not sued or anything like it as it is unenforcable under UK law. I should mention too that the company he walked out of was one of the UKs biggest law firms after nearly a decades employment there.
His final pay packet contained all the pay for the days of the last month he worked and his holiday pay that was due. This has to be paid by law.

If you are so unhappy you are considering doing this and the alternatives will give you peace of mind, go for it.

1. They stop paying you. They will have to pay you for your time worked, and any accrued holiday. They will be able to deduct any holiday already taken if you have exceeded that accrued pro-rata.
2. If you ask them to give a reference for a future employer, they would be entitled to state that you left with no notice.
3. In theory they could sue you for breach of contract, but it's highly unlikely. They would have to prove a financial loss as a direct result of you leaving and they would have to have made every effort to reduce the impact, such as getting a temporary worker in. (Whether this "breach of contract" clause is enforceable or not, doesn't mean they won't try it!)
4. You need to find a way of supporting yourself. You won't be able to claim JSA for a while (6 months?) if you voluntarily just left.

From the employer's point of view, they'll probably just think that it's better for an unhappy employee to leave than have them stick around. Employers rarely want to keep someone who doesn't want to be there - they tend to have a negative effect on the morale of everyone else. There's a chance that they will want to find out what went wrong, what your reasons are and whether they can be fixed, but generally from personal experience I would say most employers would just think "that's annoying, I need to recruit someone else now" and leave it at that. As a manager I would never "force" someone to stay if they didn't want to - and I much preferred people who just left above those who hung around complaining about how shit their job was.

Walking out "all guns blazing" might feel good but make sure you are comfortable with the decision. Alternatives are to hand your notice and then go sick, or try to get signed off, or even suing for constructive dismissal if appropriate. Remember though that sick days are usually taken into account by future employers, constructive dismissal claims are tricky even if you have a good case, and above all that drastic action is usually something you can't easily reverse.

"my husbands company does garden leave nothing to do with taking contracts away or competitors"

What's it to do with then, unless it's for people being made redundant. I mean if you have gardening leave when on your notice, why would you need a notice period at all, you could just leave.

I think it would be better to get signed off with stress, over just deciding that's it I'm not going back. It looks better for your CV, plus you've got to think about future references.

" "Ms X resigned and did not honour her notice period" "

You misunderstood what I meant by a 'factual reference'. Some organisations just put 'x worked here from year x to year x and had x role' with no other comment.
Writing what you suggested would be a clearly negative reference that not many organisations do these days.

They also agreed to give me a reference, but in fact my boss wrote a really short one just saying I worked there and left, which was a problem when I was looking for a new job, as it was obviously not a good reference. I should probably have asked a colleague to do a reference instead of the nasty manager

I'm a partner in a large firm of solicitors. That is all you would get from my firm.

It's not particularly unusual to say "x worked here from y date". Avoids complaints from disgruntled employees or disappointed employers.

Yes, what Gwenyfhar said.

Or Gwenhwyfar

lass I think it depends what sector you work in. I'm aware that some big companies are so afraid of being sued they don't write proper references any more. But in the field I work in it is entirely expected that a reference says quite a bit about you. I guess we're more informal/don't employ lawyers likely to sue. I've been involved in recruitment too and have never seen a reference that simply stated the dates and job role, so really think it's industry-specific

Evergreen - yes both types of references are still seen, but the point is that if you get a factual reference with just dates of employment and job you can tell potential new employer that your old employer only does that kind of reference and the potential new employer wouldn't know any different so a short factual reference shouldn't count against you.

In our job you get 4 weeks full pay within every two years. So two colleagues handed in their 4 week notice & a 4 week sick line st the same time. Left us totally in the lurch.

I'd advise seeing your GP urgently. When I felt like you do my GP signed me off, first for a fortnight then for several months altogether, which dramatically improved my MH.

My contract actually says that my pay and benefits will cease immediately if I leave without giving notice. Seems a bit unfair to me

OP I have been in this situation in the past. You need to email them and say 'I am leaving, and due to personal reasons it is going to be very very difficult to work my notice period. I am currently ill with stress and will be going to GP this week. Please can I be released from the contract?'.

They are highly unlikely to choose you being off with stress for the notice period.

garden leave???

Thank you for all your advice. I'm reluctant to be signed off and my notice period is 1 month / 4 weeks. I work in a semi private/public organisation within the media field. My departure would not result in a financial loss for the company but I'd really be dropping my team in the proverbial shit.
I also have no idea what garden leave is.