To hand in my notice (and leave) while my boss is away

[PrawnPringles]

I have a great relationship with my boss. She has supported me and come to events outside of work as well as being very supportive of my professional developments. She has allowed me very flexible working to help with childcare when personal circumstances changed.

While I enjoy my job there has been lots of change and I have decided it’s not something I want to do forever. We have been extremely short staffed and it’s been very stressful the last few months.

I interviewed for my dream job today and had an offer on the spot.

My boss is abroad for 5 weeks visiting family. Accepting the job, I could potentially hand in my notice and leave before she was back, depending on how quickly the process goes. My notice is 30 days.

Would it be worth dropping her an email/text while she is away out of courtesy? I could wait for her to return, there isn’t a rush to start the new job (on their end, they were happy with whenever in the next three months) but to be honest I want to go ASAP.

It feels a bit sneaky in a way to go through all of it while she is away but it’s just fallen like that unfortunately.

yeah that’s exactly what I was going for - I needed the ego boost from a load of strangers.

Or rather, I have been worried about leaving in a conscientious manner seeing as I don’t want to leave on a sour note. (And it’s difficult to ask people when I’m not ready to shout the news to everyone I know)

As you can see from the thread people have given different opinions on what would be appropriate, which has actually helped me consider things. I am grateful that some people have taken the time to be helpful with this.

I think I’m going to hand my notice in in a couple of weeks - that way it gives a week or two buffer time when she comes back. thinking about it, I would actually like an exit interview to discuss some things face to face.

PP’s suggestion of putting a meeting in her diary for when she comes back is actually a really good idea and means she’s not bothered while she is away, so I will definitely do that.

(and yes 5 weeks is a long time but her daughter abroad is having a baby so I think it’s fair enough this time haha)

It is a friendship if she’s made an effort outside of work! If you want to leave while she’s away then don’t expect anything from her again.

I certainly wouldn't want to text until she's just about to return as it would likely make her stressed about working out cover and recruitment while she's away. I just wouldn't want her blindsided when she returns.

It depends what your job is whether you think you need to do a face to face handover. It's kind of you to give extra notice. Have you had the contract from the new place etc?

Always wait till you have the new job offer in writing and actually confirmed (not "subject to references") before handing in notice. I would never hand in notice just from a verbal job offer.

However once you have that, given you have a good relationship with your boss I would time your notice so that your last day is 2 days after she returns from these 5 weeks away, so that she can buy you a drink on your last day.

Thinking about last day drinks - I like your style 🤣

And yes I’m not so green as to resign just from a verbal offer - had it in writing today! (Yay)

I disagree. I think @SnippySnappy has it right in her post further up the thread. It is always worth being courteous because you don't know what will happen in the future .

Maybe OP will leave and never encounter any of these people ever again and if she leaves them in a hole and seems ungrateful for all the previous support, pah! what of it?

OTOH in the course of her future career she might work with or encounter some of these people again and I think it is always worth keeping your professional reputation intact and maintaining goodwill as far as possible

If you were mission critical you'd have a longer notice period so this wouldn't be an issue for them.

Presumably they're not paying you top money if you're on 30 days, so don't feel guilty whatever you decide to do!

Our whole team is 30 days as per company policy. I don’t know why it’s not longer.

Thinking about it, everyone being on 30 days has definitely contributed to why we are so short staffed already

Notice periods can be kept short to provide flexibility to shed staff quickly, and it keeps the payroll down because buying loyalty costs more.
I'd assume management and above are on longer but then they're getting paid for it presumably.

She will maintain a professional image by giving her notice and working out her contracted notice period. Leaving without doing so would be burning her bridges.

By all means leave a note for your manager. But absolutely do not delay taking your dream job out of politeness.

Start your job when your notice period is up and when the new employer wants you to and send the boss and your colleagues an email saying "I'm leaving on this date, however I'd prefer to wait for my leaving drinks until XXXX is back from holiday so if everyone's up for it we'll meet at the pub on this date"...