Quitting a Job

Under the Doctrine of Employment at Will and in the absence of an explicit or implied employment contract that indicates otherwise, your employee rights entitle you to quit your job at anytime for any or no reason and without giving advanced notice.

However, your employer might have the right to deny you certain termination benefits, such as accrued sick pay, if you don't give the minimum advanced resignation notice required by company policy when quitting your job.

But, generally, for employers to rightfully impose such penalties, employers typically must clearly warn employees in advance about the consequences of violating company policies.

You might also delay your final paycheck when quitting your job, if you don't give the minimum advanced resignation notice required by a state law that has final pay provisions.

Your employer likely has the right to terminate your employment before your resignation notice period ends, even though you're quitting your job. Read Resignation Pay for more information.

If you quit your job for good cause (as determined by your state's unemployment office), your employee rights might entitle you to collect unemployment benefits until you become gainfully employed or self-employed. If you didn't have good cause to quit your job, then you might not be entitled to collect unemployment benefits.

For example, if you quit your job simply because you don't like your boss, then the unemployment office might not accept your reason as good cause; but, if you quit your job because of a serious employment-related conflict with your boss that you've reasonably tried to resolve to no avail, then the unemployment office might accept your reason as good cause.

When quitting your job, if you don't have a new one lined up that provides health insurance benefits, your employee rights might entitle you to continue your current group health insurance benefits at group rates, through COBRA.

If your employer implements or allows an extraordinary change that makes your working conditions so intolerable that it forces you into quitting your job, then your employee rights might entitle you to seek relief for constructive discharge in a court of law through a lawyer.

Consult a lawyer or contact the relevant state labor department for more information about quitting your job.

Employers file resignation letters as potential evidence, should resigned employees later sue their former employers. Subsequently, when writing your resignation letter, it's a good idea to keep it simple. Never put in writing what you may later regret!