2 Week Notice--not Being Able To Work It Out

[Derreck]

If you give your 2 week notice in NC and your employer does not let you work it out, do they have to pay you for the entire period or just until the last day they let you work?  

I am asking due to repayment of a relocation sum, and not knowing if this negates the contract due to them not allowing me to work out the time I offered to work.  

I wasn't sure if this technically meant they let me go since my last day was supposed to be 10 days in the future.  Thanks in advance

[MacNicol]

North Carolina is an at-will work state, which means that an employer or an employee may terminate their relationship at any time, for any reason, with or without cause. Because NC is at-will, an employer is not bound to agree to an employee's resignation request to work a notice period. However, most employers touch on the topic within their policy manual. Usually, the policies deal with the suitable amount of time that a resignation and/or notice is given connected to the pay-out of accrued PTO(paid time off) and the repayment of fringe benefits(such as the relocation expenses you mentioned). If possible, my advice is to try and find this section in the company's policy manual and see if it applies to you.

As far as the payroll question is concerned, an employer is only required to pay you for the hours you have worked, no more, no less. Even in the situation of exempt employees, the FLSA(Fair Labor Standards Act) allows employers to reduce the salary of an employee on the week of termination by time worked, but only in full-day increments. So, if you are an hourly-paid employee(non-exempt), the employer only owes you for how many hours you actually worked, and if you are salaried(exempt), the employer only owes you for how many days you actually worked. It is also important to state here, that if you are exempt and you work a partial day, the employer must still pay you for the entire day.

On the subject of termination type, if you submitted a resignation, regardless if the employer declined a work notice, you have voluntarily terminated. Even if an employee finds out somehow that he/she is going to be fired, if he/she approaches the employer first, resignation in hand, and the employer accepts it, the employee cannot be deemed fired or involuntarily terminated. It all depends on who delivers the primary news.

Hope this helps!

Shannon M. Reising, MSP, PHR