To do pretty much no work on my last day?

[Gumreduction]

I have things to wrap up…. But I can’t help but think…: so what if I don’t do? I won’t be back tomorrow!!! Very liberating but then I think maybe I should!

And good grief - if how I left things on my last day determined how I had actually left the job overall … well, wouldn’t say much about how I was doing my job would it! Does one day really have that big an impact on your jobs??

@Artygirlghost This is not her notice period though. This is one day.
If people leave without any job to go to it usually means the job or management are horrific and they just want out.
The second referee is easier to get and does not have to be your last but one employer.

I maintain you are petty if you think it is okay to give a good employee a bad reference because on their last day of work they skived.

Professionalism is always thrown at lower paid staff. Fuck that.

@SchrodingersKettle
@Artygirlghost you are skating on this ice legally, giving bad references. Provide no reference and refer to HR for a vanilla "start and end date and job title" style of reference, but be careful slating some or giving them a glowing reference. You can expose your company legally if you do either.

I have never said I gave a bad reference.

But I refuse to give a reference full stop as a line manager to people who don't cooperate in their notice period.

I usually simply inform HR that they will have to provide a basic reference but that I will not be able to give a detailed, positive reference when it comes to performance as I would have to be truthful about the behaviour during the notice period.

It is amazing how people on thread like these just make wild assumptions.

No but today I’m definitely feeling like “pre-teen” in my approach to work!

@Artygirlghost

In all my years as a manager I refused to give a reference only once and that was because the person had not done a single thing during their agreed notice period and failed to provide basic handover notes.

so you didn’t give a poor reference as per your first post. You gave no reference. Rather different

No reference except dates of employment is fine as that is all most places give anyway. It would make zero difference to the employee.

''@antelopevalley ·
@Artygirlghost This is not her notice period though. This is one day.
If people leave without any job to go to it usually means the job or management are horrific and they just want out.
The second referee is easier to get and does not have to be your last but one employer. I maintain you are petty if you think it is okay to give a good employee a bad reference because on their last day of work they skived.Professionalism is always thrown at lower paid staff. Fuck that.''

We just have different values.

To me a ''good employee'' does not leave their colleagues with additional work or fails to provide adequate handover or does not behave professionally on their last day.

As you have used swearing and personal attacks rather than making your point in a reasonable manner I will also not engage further with you but you are very welcome to your opinion.

Make sure you are not leaving your immediate colleagues in the lurch. Write decent handover notes, make sure things are filed clearly, put an out of office on with clear instructions. You don't have to tackle any actual jobs, but leave things orderly for whoever has to pick up after you. That's just kindness to your colleagues....

You shouldn't be doing any work on your last day, as everything should have been handed over by the start of your last week so that people have a chance to get to grips with what you've handed over whilst you're still with the company and available for questions.

People who work right up to the last minute and then at 6pm dump vast numbers of emails as a 'handover'...it's just not professional at all. They tend to be the slightly incompetent martyrs of the office, who think everything will collapse without them.

The bottom reference is all that the majority of employers are willing to give. And at this stage one would think that any new employer will have already done the pre-employment vetting.

When my friend left her job she was told by her boss that there were certain things he needed her to do, including a load of filing.
She took the filing, shoved it in a envelope, addressed it to him & posted it in the postal system.
It came back the next week after she had left.
He was raging.

@Artygirlghost My husband and I have not worked for any organisation in the last 15 years where the line manager gives any kind of reference, that's the point i was attempting to make but probably i worded it badly. References only from HR, and entirely bland as anything else is a massive risk.

If a former employee who i knew very well asks for a reference beyond what the employer gives i will, on rare occasions, provide a personal reference from my personal email account and make it absolutely clear in the reference that this is my personal opinion and should not be assumed to be or relied upon as the opinion of the former employing organisation.

This is why so many companies where ive worked at have 6 month probation periods on short notice.

Also as a manager, I'm fully aware a crap reference can just reflect the previous manager was crap. So if i worked for you, id expect to work hard because i liked working for you. If i was leaving as a disgruntled employee i woudlnt give a toss about your reference being missing from my records. So i think your strategy doesnt always work...

It's not the 1950s

Brilliant 😂

I’d tie up what needs tying up in order not to cause colleagues a headache. But wouldn’t do anything beyond the strictly necessary. I’m sure you’ve worked extra here and there throughout your time as we all do.

Our business is quite specialised and people quite often come back.. also do you like your colleagues, do you want to leave them with a problem?
Otherwise just swan vaguely about with a tin of Quality Street and slope off at 3pm.

Actually, I’m guessing you’ve already gone.. Good Luck in your new role OP! 😀

Yes its standard networking over time - you meet your peers in other organisations, get to know them and their organisations.

As regards last day activities - its a bit moot for us, once the laptop is handed in you can't work and that takes up most of the morning. Since we employ good people and generally want to part on good terms we are more likely to take them out to lunch and remind them we are still here in the future.

Charles Dickens called from the Victorian era - he wants to talk you about plotlines for his new book.

Most places only do from x to x these days