To be shocked at treatment following resignation?

[Username1233]

For a bit of background info, I’m based within financial services and secured a job last July (subject to me paying for, and passing my necessary exams - to formally start in October). Completed all of this, and quickly realised that this company is perhaps “not for me”.

I was approached via a much more supportive financial institution a few months ago with a great job offer. I have been mulling it over, and on Monday decided to accept. This is where everything went wrong!

I work from an external office on my own, so called my manager (company owner was away with work) on the Monday. Verbally gave my notice (followed up in an email), promised I would do as much as I can throughout August to make the process as easy as possible for everyone. Manager told me to keep this between ourselves, and he will speak with company owner and let me know next steps.

On Tuesday I’m working as normal, when suddenly I’m locked out of everything! Tried to call manager - no response. Tried to call IT - they hung up on me! Then had a call from an employee to tell me to come to the main office straight away to hand back all equipment.

Hand it back (no management to be seen), and told they will pay me for 1 week and that’s it! A few calls on my part to ACAS, I am now being paid my full 4 weeks as given, but on garden leave.

AIBU to be absolutely miffed how this whole situation has panned out? Is this normal for financial services? No goodbyes, no calls from management, no exit meeting, nothing! I am still in utter disbelief at the way this has been handled. I was told by above employee that the company owner is extremely cross with me, and feels I have used them for my own progression.

I know I shouldn’t care, but I do! I wanted to leave on good terms and feel disappointed that the company think this way of me!

I think this is pretty standard practice in the finance sector.

weve got a week of great weather coming up so enjoy it!

Husband is working for a Swiss bank and his role has been deemed redundant and has just been given 9 months gardening leave.

That's what people do. Progress. Does the owner think you should be there for life? Month off with pay and no contact sounds fine to me.

Yeah, this happened to someone I knew who worked in IT because of sensitivities around the information he had access to. It was ridiculous because he had a couple of days between accepting his new job and resigning when he could have done what he liked.

That’s exactly what gardening leave is! Your employment is terminated but your ex employer meets their contractual obligations regarding paid notice period. This is completely normal in any industry where you could take any customer or product info to a competitor

They handled it poorly and with a lack of respect for you but its normal to go on gardening leave in some industries to avoid conflict of interest etc.

Enjoy your unexpected holiday!

Velmy · 07/08/2025 09:31

Devil's Advocate: They probably see it as having waited for you to get your qualifications, training you up in the role etc, only for you to jump ship (to a competitor?) after just a few months. Now they have to start the process again.

Tough shit for them though isn't it, really? They could offer better pay and conditions so that staff don't leave for competitors, or put something in the contract about paying back training costs, or similar. If OP has acted entirely according to her contract and the law, then they've no cause to be annoyed over whatever extras they imagine she owes them. An employee-employer relationship is entirely a business one.

In that industry, it’s fairly standard to be locked out of things and put on gardening leave but the communication is terrible. Your manager should have called you and explained before shutting everything down. But it’s all good because a) you’ve got a month off on full pay and b) it confirms what you’d already thought - the company is definitely not for you!

Completely normal for financial services. I cleared my desk and archived (in line with company policy) everything I could before hitting the exit button on a previous role so there was nothing left to do. I knew as soon as it was official then I would be locked out of everything. I even did a factory reset on my work phone so nothing of mine was on there.

I’ve seen people supervised whilst clearing their desk or immediately excluded with their stuff couriered to their home address.

You can’t risk someone who has access to confidential info, banking or trading systems sitting there with no commitment to the company no matter how decent they may be. Too often it’s a conflict of interest if you are going to a competitor firm.

Handled particularly badly but definitely normal for financial services to get locked out of everything and no calls etc. People often escorted off the premises even when resigning under friendly terms

Handled particularly badly but definitely normal for financial services to get locked out of everything and no calls etc. People often escorted off the premises even when resigning under friendly terms

How do you get approached with job offers?

Depends on what’s in your contract. Not a legal requirement

Don’t take it personally.

I left a banking job last year on really good terms - I’d set the team up for massive success, shared out some plum accounts with others in the team. Was leaving for a change in direction after a solid tenure not to a competitor.

Still locked out, escorted out etc. What’s worse is loads of colleagues, particularly management, who I travelled with, had strong bonds with, met their families, have totally cut me off. Some even defriended on Linkedin. It’s just a quirk of banks it’s seen as disloyal to keep in touch with people who have left. Strange.

It’s called PILON. Pay in Lieu of Notice. They basically pay you what is due and set you free. It’s common in finance careers. I do think they communicated poorly with you in this case as they didn’t say what to expect though. Termination like this is common in some industries.

Speak to acas again to make sure they aren't trying to screw you over with poor references, not paying holiday leave etc. Make sure you get everything you're entitled to. It sounds like they're trying to fire you for handing in your notice. Take these clowns for everything they have.

Enjoy your 4 weeks off and consider leaving a factual review on glassdoor and indeed once your settled into your new role. I always look at employee reviews of companies I apply for.

They are being ridiculous. You don't owe them anything. If covid taught us one thing, it's that most companies will always look after their own interests and wouldn't hesitate to get rid of staff, put out redundancies. Look out for your own interests, just like they do.

make sure they pay you for any unused holiday you have accrued too.

what a bunch of arses. Yes in some financial roles you do need to be put on garden leave, but they’ve totally went around it the wrong way with how they’ve handled things.

good luck in your new job x

Being locked out is normal in heavily regulated industries, happened to me recently but I was expecting it. I was allowed to continue working (on nothing!!) but they did consider gardening leave.

so long as you’re not out of pocket in terms of being paid for your contractual notice etc that’s fine.

@MyDadWasAnArse I do a lot of online networking with other people in my job role. I was approached / asked if I would be interested in working for X company.

They are acting terribly. While is is not uncommon after resignation to escorts the employee out and lock everything, ghosting an employee and not telling what will happen is just bad management.

I left my long term employer (been there 6 years) last year due to cancer. Firstly, I’m not even sure they really believed I had cancer. I was a bit treated like I was making it all up, despite undergoing 3 surgeries while on sick leave.

But then when I left, nothing. No flowers, hope you survive this cancer thing. No card. No gift. Also locked out of my email and all accounts. It was literally like I’d died and they sort of forgot about me. 🤷🏻‍♀️ To be fair, my line manager was an absolute cow, so that’s why.

What’s hilarious though is that the jokes on them. They were so quick to boot me out the door when I was no longer useful to the project, that no one remembered to request all my equipment back. I still have a laptop and a mobile phone and several other expensive pieces of tech, probably at least £2000 worth sitting in my home office. 😂

I got put on gardening leave for two weeks when I handed in my notice. To be fair, I was shit at the job and I was lucky not to be sacked 😂 Not saying you’re shit, just saying that gardening leave isn’t that bad, just think of it like some ‘free’ annual leave. I was able to leave without a fuss, two weeks pay and my NHS continuous service in tact.

They are behaving terribly.

But I'd be ecstatic at the 4 weeks leave on full pay- Kerching!!!

Yes, they were rather more brutal than necessary but the rest of it is normal in FS and other sectors where information/clients could be stolen.

Edited to say that their "brutality" was probably due to your short employment with them. They were pissed off about it and also possibly suspicious.

Worked in finance for a decade or so and, yes, garden leave and a fairly immediate exit would have been the form BUT it would have been handled kindly and professionally. You’d have had a meeting with manager to explain the process, that the company felt (given you may perhaps be going to a competitor) that paid garden leave starting immediately would be in both your interests and the process of handing back equipment etc would have been walked through at that meeting, which may also have served as an exit interview.

So the way you have been treated is shockingly unprofessional, but not the expectation of an immediate departure.