Is leaving a company without serving a notice period all right?
Practical Advice: Employee’s leaving without sufficient notice was a big problem for us; despite being honest and fair dealing I realized we were paying the price because other companies “walked employees out” immediately or treated them shoddily after they submitted notice.Simple Change: I sent out a company wide policy letter letting people know that if they were considering or would like to leave to please let me know and I guarantee that I would not replace them early. They could work till a last day of their choosing.Huge Impact: Prior to this I’d say we were “lucky” if most employees gave us 2 weeks notice. They didn’t want to replaced (its common in our industry) early but in reality I needed at least 45 days to replace them. Average time now is well over 3 months. I recently had an employee give almost a year notice because she was enrolling in a PHD program; she even gave us 3 really good candidates to replace her. How easy do you think those recruiting calls were?-Super Easy (We actually ended hiring 2 of them) but they came into the interviewing process knowing that we were not a company that treated people like numbers and that we believed in respect going both ways.2 Words of Warning: One, you obviously have to keep this promise every time no matter how inconvenient. We had a great candidate for a different position that we lost because we couldn’t bring them on quickly enough with someone still working. That employee who gave plenty of notice wasn’t a rock star and the replacement probably would have been but you violate this promise once no amount of excuses matter.The second, I still take an extremely dim view of those who leave without proper notice unless its extraordinary circumstances. If I get asked for a reference (and for some reason many of them are still asked for) I make sure it includes that the individual left without proper notice. I also don’t re-employ them for any reason, I’ve had one person who left with 2 days notice several years ago whose applied almost a dozen times for various positions. He’s simply ineligible for rehire for life.
Can I cash out my 401k if I have an outstanding loan against it when I leave my job?
Yes, you can. If you rollover your remaining 401k assets into an IRA, you will have to pay tax and a 10% penalty on the unpaid loan balance. The 401k plan may withhold 20% of the value of the unpaid loan balance (a kind of down-payment on the tax bill you will have next April) from the rollover check.If you can come up with the money to pay-off the loan balance, the 401k will allow you to rollover the entire amount to an IRA, without withholding any money.If you then want to take the pay-off amount back out, once it's arrived in your rollover IRA, you can do so without a withholding (you will still owe tax and penalty next April)If you decide to have the 401k send the money directly to you, they will withhold 20% of the remaining assets plus 20% of the unpaid balance.Hope this helps.
Can an Employer withhold your pay for walking out on the job ???
No, they have to pay for the work you performed (and refund you for any vacation / sick / comp time due), regardless whether it was a voluntary / involuntary termination. The only things that would be withheld from your final paycheck are: taxes / union dues, monies for losses for dishonesty (vandalism or theft of company assets), and any specific deductions you mutually agreed to (401k, health, ECT). Even if you owed money to the employer on the day you quit, the employer cannot take what's owed on your final check (they'll typically sue you for that money in court).
Do you remember post Watergate/Nixon America; do you think there a post Trump US will have the same swing to the left?
Question answered Do you remember post Watergate/Nixon America; do you think there a post Trump US will have the same swing to the left?I certainly do! I turned 21 in 1972. Nixon went from one of the biggest landslide wins in American political history that year, to his Vice-President resigning as part of a plea bargain for accepting bribes in 1973, to his own resignation in disgrace in 1974. I was a McGovern supporter, who lived in Washington DC, only blocks from the Watergate Hotel. I knew people who worked for Nixon’s re-election and for most of them I couldn’t help but to feel a visceral dislike. I think it’s absolutely no coincidence that DC was one of the few places Nixon lost in ’72.At any rate, by the time Nixon resigned, everybody was furious with him. The Democrats picked up seats in Congress, though they had held a majority in both chambers since the 1954 mid-terms. Ford was a nice guy but some of the fury fell on him for pardoning Nixon after becoming president.Democrat Jimmy Carter would ride the wave into the presidency in 1976. Then unfortunately he turned out to be more conservative and tenuous than people wanted. His party split, allowing Reagan’s victory in 1980. The latter used many of the same propaganda techniques (and people) Nixon had used, and too many people fell for them.Since Trump remains president and a Republican Senate would most likely block impeachment, I think we’re stuck with Trump in a way that we weren’t with Nixon through the coming election. On the other hand, if Trump continues behaving as he has and the obvious corruption in Republican circles continues, it won’t matter. A Democrat will be elected.We’ll see how my prediction turns out…!