Hey Aska!
I was wondering if you could answer a question for me that isn’t so much related to academics, but still relevant to students: is there a law in Ontario that states that employees have to give a two weeks notice to employers (not under any contracts)? I’ve been trying to research this and I haven’t found anything. I work in a restaurant and I would like to leave my job at the end of this month, and I was thinking that I’d quit right when I wanted to leave without any notice. I’m afraid that my boss will fire me on the spot if I try to give any notice because that’s what he tends to do and I want to work until the very end of the month. Any information would be great! I’m having trouble deciding what to do.
Thanks!
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Good question. I once worked in a hideous, Mexican chain restaurant. I really wanted to quit because I was getting horrible hours, the managers were forty-year-old men who were stuck in the restaurant business in a town that was wanna be Toronto, and the food was terrible. The rice was as dry and lifeless as the humour in the (now unaired, thank God) Global television series Bob and Margaret. Needless to say, he fired me before I could quit. What ?happened? was someone had emailed him telling him that my service was terrible. There was apparently a list of all the awful things I?d done that day during the lunch ? only I never saw the email. Later, I learned that him waving around the folded up, anonymous piece of paper was totally illegal. But, I mean, it was a better way to get cut than the girl he called afterwards, asking her not to come in because she didn?t have a ?Mexicali Attitude?, whatever that means. Hell, I wouldn?t want to have one either. Aaah the summer tourism was down and the world was conscious of their pennies. But:
?The ESA does not address the issue of employees giving notice to the employer when they quit their job, except under the pregnancy and parental leave provisions, which require that employees give notice to their employer if they are not returning, and in cases where the employer is terminating the employment of 50 or more employees in a four-week period. Employees may be required to provide their employer with notice that they are quitting under other laws?
I would assume you’re not preggers, so that option of notice is out. Did you sign some sort of work contract? If not, do whatever you want. Restaurants have such a high turn over that it doesn?t really matter, unless you want to put it on your resume for proof of previous experience. And, it sounds like your boss is a total dick. In the restaurant I work at now, there?s a jerk who works in the kitchen who always tells me what I should be charging my customers and telling me he?s too busy to get me a sample of the soup. But actually – HOW HARD IS IT TO LIFT A LID AND SCOOP AN F*ING LADLE? So what I always say to myself afterwards is: ?that?s ____________. He?s a dick.? I promise it?ll make you feel better.
So, if you don?t need the position on your resume, work for the tip money and then quit. If you did end up signing a contract, be wary ? because you may not get paid that restaurant minimum wage if you leave unexpectedly. Some bosses are awful like that and then you’ll have more to worry about because of the job you were escaping. ? But, if the tips are good, who cares about the petty cash ? enh?