Want to leave job immediately but contract says I have to give one month's notice

LegacyUser

Hello,

I recently started a new job (3 days ago) and already I feel like it's not for me. It's just not what it's imagined and although I have received good training, I already find it incredibly stressful and feel like I have made a grave mistake.

I really want to leave immediately (My manager is located in another country so I was planning on emailing a resignation letter as it's more convenient because of different time zones) but my contract stipulates I give one month's notice.

I have not received my first pay check yet as I have only been in the office 3 days. One of my colleagues was telling me a story about a person who worked there before me quit after 4 days because they could not handle it.

Could the company potentially sue me for damages if I resign with immediate effect? I would appreciate people's thoughts.

Thank you

MarkR

<SNIP>

Is there a probationary period listed? I can't imagine you could be required to give a months notice if you just started .

LegacyUser

MarkR wrote: »

Is there a probationary period listed? I can't imagine you could be required to give a months notice if you just started .

Hi MarkR, yes at the top of the contract it says there is a 6 month probationary period but then further down it says: "For business purpose's [Company Name] requires one month's notice should the employee decide to terminate employment."

guitarhappy

If you're​ worried about damages just stop showing up, or show up 3 hours late in your pajamas carrying a teddy bear. They'll fire you, no damages for quitting.
Unless you're in a country with legal slavery you have a basic human right to walk away from any job you don't want to be in.

Dial Hard

You can just walk away but I wouldn't be looking for a reference or my three days' pay.

Mind you if the job is that bad I wouldn't want either; cut your losses and go.

Honeydew3456

I also would leave and not expect to get a reference or the 3 days pay. Highly unlikely the company will look to sue for breach of contract, I have often heard of people leaving jobs like that after a few days in and no consequences as a result. Good luck.

Xterminator

Hi Op

Its not clear where you work geographically, nor what industry your in.

But in my experience this is a small country. And people know people. If you walk out with no notice, breaking the terms of the contract you signed; you leave your employer in the lurch and you co workers too. and this could work to your detriment in the future, if you behave in a manner that does not reflect well on you.

now if they were treating you badly, walking out might be warranted, but according to your post you are getting good training, and your reasons for wanting to leave are not work conditions, rather that the work des not suit you.

The reasonable thing to do here is to tell your boss you think you might have made a mistake in taking the job and you would like to finish up as soon as possible. Tell him you don't want to leave them stuck either and thank him for the opportunity. Ask them how soon you could finish up as the stress is affecting you and you don't think you could manage a full months notice.

In my opinion this is the adult approach. IE try to leave by mutual agreement instead of just leaving them in the lurch.

witchgirl26

OP might be worth a conversation with your manager rather than an email. In the first it shows that you're not trying to hide but considering how short you're with the company, they might agree with a shorter notice period for you as having you there for another month doesn't really benefit them at all. However they could enforce it and then you need to consider how just leaving will look on you going forward.

Honestly though, 3 days is an awfully short time to give a job before leaving. I've always felt a bit overwhelmed and stressed the first couple of weeks in a new job as I don't know the people, the company and getting used to how they do things on top of actually having to get work done. I'd have a really good think about it before you quit and the manner in which you do, should you decide to.

woodchuck

I agree with Xterminator on this. A proper conversation needs to be had with your employer instead of just emailing your notice. Tbh it could suit them for you to leave sooner rather than later anyway. Nobody wants to invest time and energy training/mentoring someone, only to have them leave a few weeks later - it's not worth the investment. So it could be win-win if you just talk to them about it.

Cockadoodledoo

Definitely speak to your manager. It might resolve whatever issue is there or he may waive the one month notice. I wouldn’t just quit and walk out the door.

Rubberchikken

contact your manager. at least youre doing the decent thing. maybe the position is crap. someone else lasting only 4 days would make you wonder.

we need to make mistakes sometimes to learn so try to salvage something from this experience before you start job search.

guitarhappy

I think it was Oscar Wilde who said "He was born a man, and died a grocer." Fear of the boss man, fear of what he might say or think about you, fear of the future, isn't the path to a happy life. Carpe diem!

skallywag

You will not be sued for damages.

Either party can usually terminate immediately for convenience during the probation period.

Chalk it down to experience and just move on.

miamee

They are unlikely to sue you for damages but you won't be getting a reference from them for your 3 days work. How long was the training that you got? You said it was good so I assume that you got this before you started in the office so they have put some investment into you already. I'd advise as others have said to talk to your manager, see if they can help and try to stay there until you've lined up another job (assuming that you continue to dislike it).

It can take a while to settle into a new job and it is always stressful initially while you are finding your feet.

In my opinion 3 days is not long enough to make a call on this, you must have had some idea what the job would entail while training?

Mr. Incognito

What employer is going to sue someone after three days.

Just leave and dont come back

LegacyUser

Thanks for the replies everyone. Bit more background:

I didn't receive training prior to starting. My training started on Monday. Because my boss is based in the UK, training has been done with 2 of my colleagues who have been working in the company since February. They went over to the UK to train. It's probably not relevant but I've just done interviews on the phone with both my co workers and my boss.

At the moment my gut is telling me to run and that I made a huge mistake. The job description and the way it was described to me initially sounded like it was fun and I was told my experience was relevant. Now that I've started training I feel I'm not qualified enough for the job and that I'm out of my debt.

I don't feel like I'll ever truly enjoy the job if I stay and that if I do stay, it will purely because the salary is attractive. A couple of people have advised me that it's better to get fired/made redundant than quit.

I have more training next week but I'm seriously considering what to do over the weekend. I don't know whether to arrange a phone call with my boss and inform them or to stick it out to next week and then see how I feel.

After next week, I will be working normal hours. My co workers will be finished 3 hours before me so if something happens and I need help, I will need to phone the UK office.

Any further advice would be appreciated

amdublin

Just leave. Ring your boss and tell him/her you're leaving

pwurple

Hang in there. The first few weeks of any new position has a steep scary learning curve.

I work in contracting. I change clients or project frequently , and even though I know deep down that I know what i’m doing, I ALWAYS feel like I’m chucked in the deep end with every new project/role.

It’s normal and it passes as you learn the ropes.

amdublin

pwurple wrote: »

Hang in there. The first few weeks of any new position has a steep scary learning curve.

I work in contracting. I change clients or project frequently , and even though I know deep down that I know what i’m doing, I ALWAYS feel like I’m chucked in the deep end with every new project/role.

It’s normal and it passes as you learn the ropes.

Sorry you're right.

My advice above was focussed on the months leave. I.e. if you've been somewhere 3 days and are definitely leaving. There is actually no point in staying and being trained etc

Op, pwurple above gives good advice

BBFAN

OP if you can please stick it out for another while. I recently started a new job and went home exhausted every night for the first week and felt like crying but once I got into the swing of it I realised it was actually okay, I just had to take responsibility for only my job and not the mess that had been left behind by someone else.

My father always told me to stay at least a month in any job because you really don't know before that and it turns out to be great advice.

SirChenjin

From a practical point of view, what will you do, if you do leave? Have you something else in mind? How will you pay the bills? You don't need to answer that obviously. Just something to consider.

It's not nice feeling out of your depth, but on the other hand, someone interviewed you, and felt that you were the person for the job. Bear that in mind.

Maybe it's not for you, but I would advise looking at what support is there, in terms of further training or whatever, before leaving.

All the best in your decision, no point in being miserable every day either!

never_mind

Mental health and lifestyle > job

An easy formula to live by.

AndrewJRenko

never_mind wrote: »

Mental health and lifestyle > job

An easy formula to live by.

That's true, though for most people, lifestyle is directly connected to job and salary.

OP - what is your plan for your next job? Maybe you should stick around until you have something else lined up?

witchgirl26

OP are you worried about having to potentially call the UK? If so, then I'm going to be a bit blunt here, but you need to get over that. I haven't had a boss in Ireland for the past 4 years and most of my colleagues based in other countries. Having to pick up the phone to them for queries is the norm now and you do need to get used to that as it's the way business is working now.

If you're still on training hours and all over the place, I'd advise waiting until it settles into normal hours and see what it's like then.

If you feel like you're out of your depth but they know your experience (and it wasn't exaggerated) then they believe you can handle the job.

In terms of the co-workers going to the UK to train, they probably had to as no-one based here but your boss now thinks they can train you in here which is probably better in a lot of ways.

Ignore the people who say it's better to be made redundant/fired. Your boss won't make you redundant as they obviously need the post filled and making you redundant will mean that legally they can't hire someone else into that position. In terms of being fired - how would that be better? I think if I was employing someone, I'd prefer to see that they left a position as it wasn't right for them rather than them being fired for some random reason. It's never a solution to get fired.

I'll stick with my original advice of not just quitting with an email if you want to but having a conversation with your boss. And also maybe giving it a bit more than a few days and wait until you're out of the initial starting period and into normality.

dubrov

OP, ring your boss and let him know you are leaving.
There is zero chance of them chasing you for the month's notice.

No company wants someone working for them if they really don't want to be there.
With 3 days experience you are worth nothing to them anyway.

LegacyUser

Hi everyone,

Thanks for all the advice. My main reasons for being unhappy with the job is that it involves figures on an extensive basis. It's pretty basic calculator stuff for the most part but I did foundation maths in school and find it very difficult to grasp even basic maths.
My boss told me at the start that they didn't really look at my c.v and that to them, personality is more important.
I haven't properly gotten into the swing of things yet so I'm going to wait a few weeks and see what happens.
At the moment, my plan is to hopefully stay for 3-6 months if I can. Just wondering would it be ok to put this time length on my c.v?

BBFAN

JobSeekerBlues wrote: »

Hi everyone,

Thanks for all the advice. My main reasons for being unhappy with the job is that it involves figures on an extensive basis. It's pretty basic calculator stuff for the most part but I did foundation maths in school and find it very difficult to grasp even basic maths.
My boss told me at the start that they didn't really look at my c.v and that to them, personality is more important.
I haven't properly gotten into the swing of things yet so I'm going to wait a few weeks and see what happens.
At the moment, my plan is to hopefully stay for 3-6 months if I can. Just wondering would it be ok to put this time length on my c.v?

I think if you're boss said that personality was more important that there's more stuff going on here.

Do you feel comfortable sharing what else is going on?

skallywag

JobSeekerBlues wrote: »

My main reasons for being unhappy with the job is that it involves figures on an extensive basis. It's pretty basic calculator stuff for the most part but I did foundation maths in school and find it very difficult to grasp even basic maths.

Did you know this before you took the position or did this aspect of the job take you by surprise? I can completely see how this would make you feel uncomfortable in the position. Though on the plus side if you do stick with it you will most likely find you math skills improving which is a plus I guess?

.......

JobSeekerBlues wrote: »

Hi everyone,

Thanks for all the advice. My main reasons for being unhappy with the job is that it involves figures on an extensive basis. It's pretty basic calculator stuff for the most part but I did foundation maths in school and find it very difficult to grasp even basic maths.
My boss told me at the start that they didn't really look at my c.v and that to them, personality is more important.
I haven't properly gotten into the swing of things yet so I'm going to wait a few weeks and see what happens.
At the moment, my plan is to hopefully stay for 3-6 months if I can. Just wondering would it be ok to put this time length on my c.v?

Can you take your boss aside and explain that you are not confident with your mathematical skills and in the interests of you not risking a mistake while you are coming up to speed, could someone check your figures for the first while?

LegacyUser

Hey guys,

So when my boss said personality was more important I think she meant it as part of the job as it involves sales. They're definitely a very legit company though. My boss also said that while in the job I would be taught all I needed to know and that they were aware this is my first job out of college.

In regards to the maths, no I wasn't aware that maths would be involved as it didn't mention numeracy skills in the description or interviews. But maybe that's on me as I should have probably guessed I would have to use figures.

At the moment I'm looking at staying and seeing how I go for 12 weeks as I know this role will look great on my c.v. Is 12 weeks a respectable amount of time or would 6 months look better to prospective employers?

BBFAN

JobSeekerBlues wrote: »

Hey guys,

So when my boss said personality was more important I think she meant it as part of the job as it involves sales. They're definitely a very legit company though. My boss also said that while in the job I would be taught all I needed to know and that they were aware this is my first job out of college.

In regards to the maths, no I wasn't aware that maths would be involved as it didn't mention numeracy skills in the description or interviews. But maybe that's on me as I should have probably guessed I would have to use figures.

At the moment I'm looking at staying and seeing how I go for 12 weeks as I know this role will look great on my c.v. Is 12 weeks a respectable amount of time or would 6 months look better to prospective employers?

I would say a year would look better to be honest.

Don't stress too much about the figures part of the job. As you said yourself a calculator or excel can do that work for you.

I'm an accountant and don't ask me to work out figures now without the use of excel or a calculator, it's just second nature. Can't do them in my head. Some people can and have a talent for it but most people now rely on technology to do it. You can put in all sort of checks to make sure you don't make a mistake.

I wish you the best of luck. Try to have more faith in yourself, the employer obviously seen something in you that's valuable and you should appreciate that in yourself.

mikemac2

You say you struggle with the maths but even in finance anything manual is been taken out of employees hands. Macros and formulas and cross checks going on all the time in the background.

You might use a calculator during the day but nobody will be asking for leaving certificate formulas which I sure have forgotten anyway. And that's finance and you are in a different department

Give a little longer OP if you can. I left a job where everyday was a misery and I left with nothing lined up but I stuck for 6 months so I could spin it as a 6 month contract. Total lie on my CV as it was permanent but sure gotta be done

Even try a week more OP and see how you feel

LegacyUser

Hey everyone, so I'm a little over the week into the job and just wanted to update:

Unfortunately I still want to quit. I didn't realise before joining the sheer amount of figures I would use (even speaking about prices and percentages to customers).

Today was probably the worst day.

My colleagues were trying to explain to me about a certain discount that customers are entitled to when they purchase a particular item. I couldn't understand at all and needless to say I guessed wrong on every question.

My colleagues seemed really exasperated as to where I was getting my figures from (in order to use calculator you need to know whicn figures to look for) and said to me: "No, No, why would that be the figure? Why would you think that, where are you getting that from?"

In the end I just told them I understood because it was easier.

Every morning since I started I have a feeling of dread. I don't have anything else lined up so I feel I have to stay in it for the time being and endure being miserable for maybe 6 months.

Every day seems harder and harder and I don't know what to do.

Our Christmas party is also next Tuesday and I don't know whether to go or not. I really don't want to but I'm expected to attend and I feel like it will reflect badly on me.

On one hand, at the moment claiming JSA is actually more appealing than staying in the job but the one months notice is also stressing me out

.......

Ive two pieces of advice for you.

1. Leave the job, its not worth the stress levels.
2. Work on your maths skills independently, you need them in adult life and not just in jobs.

witchgirl26

OP I know you mentioned the job was in sales - is this an area that you'd like to continue in? Ignorning this particular job just in general. If it is, then I would also recommend that you'll need to work on the maths skills part yourself as all sales roles will involve an element of this. Larger than you might expect in fact.

As for JSA - if you quite, you won't be entitled to this straight away so you need to factor that in.

dhaughton99

Steal all their pens for the month.

Purple Mountain

Hey there.

I just want to say that I feel you should hand in your notice ASAP.
I can hear your anxious thoughts and stress in your latest message and no job is worth that.
As for a previous poster saying that if you quit a job then the JSA will be disqualified for a few weeks, this unfortunately is true. Have the new job registered you with revenue yet and have you told social welfare of the job?
My two cents would be.. it's Christmas season. Retail are crying out for temporary staff.
Get yourself to a bar or cafe or shop this weekend with CV and look for temporary work to Christmas on the tills or stacking shelves or waiting tables.
Then you have that to fall back on, speak to your boss Monday and say you are leaving and that you know the role isn't for you and it's best you leave ASAP before they invest any more time in you and vice versa.
After Christmas you should maybe go to a career coach and assess where you want to be in your job and maybe do some one to one tuition in maths.
You won't even need to put that short stint in sales on your CV.
Good luck!

woodchuck

dhaughton99 wrote: »

Steal all their pens for the month.

Mod note:

dhaughton99, unhelpful posts are against the PI charter. Please read the charter before posting again.

LegacyUser

@Purple Mountain I REALLY want to but I'm worried at how my boss will react and also the one month notice.

Purple Mountain

I've learned many lessons in this life and I'm a good bit your senior but one valuable lesson was.. in a job you are only a cog in a wheel.
If you hand in your notice on Monday by Monday week you won't be a thought in anyone's head in there.

BBFAN

Okay OP I can feel see your stress and really feel for you so it depends on a couple of things what you do next:

1. Do you have any bills that have to be paid? If you manage just on your wage you will unfortunately have to stick it out until you find something else.

2. Do you think you can learn after work the maths that you need to? As another poster mentioned, any job in sales will involve some maths so you do need to get your head around this to a certain extent.

Anyway, either way, just know that this will pass. I've had some disastrous jobs in the past, even been sacked, but I've learned a lesson from every single one.

Can you just hang in until the Christmas break so that your Christmas expenses are covered?

Don't worry about the company or the boss, they won't give a **** about you when you're gone. Only worry about yourself and what you have to do to survive.

professore

OP I am going to teach you something. I assume you can add and subtract numbers?

Using a calculator makes % discounts easy. Say you have to work out 20% discount on €1000.

Get out a calculator (or the one on your phone) and try it. There is a % button on every calculator.

Type 1000 x 20 %. Press equals. That's your discount (€200).

So the discounted price is 1000 - 200 = 800.

That's it. That's all there is to it.

Also rule of thumb 10% means knock a zero off. E. G 10% of 500 is 50. 20% is double that (100). 5% is half it (25) etc. Makes it easy to work out in your head.

I 1000% agree with the others. You need to work on these basic skills. There are some great adult literacy courses out there, they also do numeracy. My neighbour teaches one of them and she has helped so many people.

Rubberchikken

if sales are your future then help with figures would probably help.
if sales arent where you want to be then you need to make a decision on what you actually want to do.

i know exactly what its like to be doing a job i actually hadnt the ability fir or interest in.
the days are endless. the feeling in your stomach the night before work is truly uncomfortable.
the sheer misery is indescribable.

no job imo is worth that.
you reference the months notice so often. is this really legal? do you really need to give that much notice seeing as youve only worked a short time?

witchgirl26

professore wrote: »

OP I am going to teach you something. I assume you can add and subtract numbers?

Using a calculator makes % discounts easy. Say you have to work out 20% discount on €1000.

Get out a calculator (or the one on your phone) and try it. There is a % button on every calculator.

Type 1000 x 20 %. Press equals. That's your discount (€200).

So the discounted price is 1000 - 200 = 800.

That's it. That's all there is to it.

Also rule of thumb 10% means knock a zero off. E. G 10% of 500 is 50. 20% is double that (100). 5% is half it (25) etc. Makes it easy to work out in your head.

I 1000% agree with the others. You need to work on these basic skills. There are some great adult literacy courses out there, they also do numeracy. My neighbour teaches one of them and she has helped so many people.

It's not always as easy as that in sales though. Sometimes the % are awkward as it's well it's 10% on the first €1k if you buy this product mix and then an additional 2.5% off the next €500 if the product mix stays the same.

OP if you do want to stay in sales, it really would be worth doing some maths course yourself to help with things and also just to help with general things.

BBFAN

professore wrote: »

OP I am going to teach you something. I assume you can add and subtract numbers?

Using a calculator makes % discounts easy. Say you have to work out 20% discount on €1000.

Get out a calculator (or the one on your phone) and try it. There is a % button on every calculator.

Type 1000 x 20 %. Press equals. That's your discount (€200).

So the discounted price is 1000 - 200 = 800.

That's it. That's all there is to it.

Also rule of thumb 10% means knock a zero off. E. G 10% of 500 is 50. 20% is double that (100). 5% is half it (25) etc. Makes it easy to work out in your head.

I 1000% agree with the others. You need to work on these basic skills. There are some great adult literacy courses out there, they also do numeracy. My neighbour teaches one of them and she has helped so many people.

That's quite a patronising post.

professore

BBFAN wrote: »

That's quite a patronising post.

It wasn't meant to be patronising. If the OP genuinely doesn't understand percentages, then this should help him / her. If they want to take it as patronising then that's their choice.

In life in general there is no shame in not knowing something. There is only shame in pretending to know something and as a result remaining ignorant.

The OP clearly has very good spelling and grammar.

Ursus Horribilis

Being good at spelling and grammar doesn't mean the OP will be good at maths. Sometimes jobs like these can be a step too far for people, no matter how hard they try.

Emme

OP this link might be helpful. It outlines the Minimum Terms of Notice and Terms of Employment Act 1973-2005.

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employment/starting_work_and_changing_job/changing_job/giving_notice.html

If you do everything to the letter of the law nobody will have any comeback.

professore

Ursus Horribilis wrote: »

Being good at spelling and grammar doesn't mean the OP will be good at maths. Sometimes jobs like these can be a step too far for people, no matter how hard they try.

I get that, but from the OPs own description, it seems they got left behind in maths, so there is a good chance they can catch up with a little help. Recent estimates put the amount of people in this category in one subject or another as high as 25%.

Maybe the OP has some medical condition such as dyscalculia that means they will never be able to learn this but at the very least they should try to find out.

OP I apologise if I've offended you in any way, it was not my intention.

BBFAN

professore wrote: »

It wasn't meant to be patronising. If the OP genuinely doesn't understand percentages, then this should help him / her. If they want to take it as patronising then that's their choice.

In life in general there is no shame in not knowing something. There is only shame in pretending to know something and as a result remaining ignorant.

The OP clearly has very good spelling and grammar.

Apologies so, maybe I took it up wrong but I think most people would know how to take 10% away from something it's when the calculations become more complicated that people run into trouble.

But as I've said in a previous post the majority of people rely on calculators and Excel to do this now. I say this as an accountant who has to have one or the other to hand.

.......

Im excellent at maths but I use a calculator app on my phone to do any calculations I need to for work.

I think most people do.