I gave 2 weeks notice on April Fools and they walked me out the next day. Guess they didn't like my decision. I only regret not giving 2 months notice LOL

I even offered to do contract work part-time, but that didn't fly either. However, upon my return, I got a contract and am still there for a few more months before the next trip. So it worked out in the end.

Kate and Dan wrote:Thanks for bumping this post, LizzieB.

Hey strawberrylemonade, come back! Let us know how things worked out with your employer!

Here I am! So sorry Kate and Dan, i thought i updated here...

Unpaid LOA was approved! No one more surprised than me!! I've got the signed (by the CEO) form on my fridge and every now and then look to make sure it's still there, it wasn't a dream!

My spouse's employer is restricting upcomping vacation requests because of the H1N1 situation, but I think he's exempt from that because his leave is already approved.

108 days and we hit the road. Just starting planning now, tentative flights(booking on points soon) are: Vancouver-Fiji-Sydney-Frankfurt-Vancouver with side trips to New Zealand, Vietnam, Iceland, South America and lots of overland travel in between! 2010 is going to be a great year!

Oh, and good luck to you Kate and Dan, I'm sure your employer situation will work out in the best possible way, wether you're meant to continue on working there after travelling or not!

Liforce wrote:
That said, you might want to quietly inquire as to whether they are considering voluntary buyouts, or you can ask your manager to place you at the bottom of their employee ranking so you are among the first to be considered. If you have a good relationship with your manager and they believe you are definitely leaving regardless, this may work. But both of these options will be difficult to pull off if you have been a good performer. Your manager will have to make a case for why they should let go of someone who's been a good return on investment thus far.

If you actually get to choose between getting laid off or taking a LOA, take the lay off. You'll likely get some severance, and you'll have no obligations to return. Also, many companies prefer to rehire former employees after a recovery, so it's not like you couldn't reapply for a job with them later, if you still want one.

I have a little expertise in this area (it's my line of work), so I wanted to chime in. Whether or not you can take advantage of a buyout, or will receive any severance in the event of a layoff depends greatly on where you work and whether you have a contract giving you severance. Most folks in the US do not have any right at all to severance pay (which I understand is different from the UK). Also, severance -- if offered -- is usually based in large part on years of service with the company, so that is something to consider. If you have very little service (e.g., one or two years), it's not worth getting laid off to get one or two weeks' pay. Also, in the States, voluntary buyouts are usually offered to high-salaried employees who may be tempted to take the buyout and retire (if they are eligible). The idea being that the most costly employees can voluntarily take themselves out of the game. That is why it is unusual to see folks with only a few years into the company being eligible to participate in a voluntary reduction in force. If a layoff is being done by ranking/performance review -- with all due respect Liforce -- I think it is a bad idea to ask to be ranked at the bottom if you don't truly belong there. If you want to come back years later, your old boss may be gone, and the new boss may not realize that your placement at the bottom of the heap was orchestrated. You also will probably have to represent to future employers that you were involuntarily let go. Some employers also ask for a copy of a last performance review in connection with your application, and you don't want it showing that you were the worst performer at the company (even if it was orchestrated). Many companies code former employees as "rehire eligible" or "no rehire," so if you are interested in a future job with the company, I would discuss that with your boss and/or Human Resources department.

strawberrylemonade wrote:

Kate and Dan wrote:Thanks for bumping this post, LizzieB.

Hey strawberrylemonade, come back! Let us know how things worked out with your employer!

Here I am! So sorry Kate and Dan, i thought i updated here...

Thanks so much for the update. So happy to hear that it worked out! Hopefully the same will happen with us!

A few years back I chose the quitting work option to go travelling. My team leader was excited for me, but my boss (who I had to hand my notice to) was a bit mystified and mumbled something along the lines of "well if that's what you think will help your career"!!

It was a simple choice for me, since I wsa bored in that job and didn't particularly like the Company I worked for, and also I was sick to death of living in London and wanted to move back home (Newcastle) when I returned from travelling, which is what I did some 18 months later.

A couple of years after that I did the same thing again, leaving my job to go and live in Japan for a year, but since I was going there to work it was a bit different although I didn't have a job arranged to go to at that point, but found one when I got there.

Hey gang, great encouraging stories. I was originally planning on quitting and leaving in march/april but I can't take it anymore. I'm handing in my notice in December and getting on the one way flight to nowhere in January.

It's three months away and it seems like FOREVER. I'm so jealous of all of you that quit your job already. I'm going to have the biggest smile on my face after I hand in my notice. I'll be sure to update this thread on "game day."

They were really cool about it. I think my direct boss was kind of disappointed, because our team was losing a valuable member

But our department's boss was totally excited, and told me to come see them when I came back. He related a story of another former employee who left for a similar reason and then came back to the company. So I left on good terms.