Resignation.. advice?

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My manager is currently on vacation and I have accepted another position that requires me to put in my resignation. The place I am at now is severely affecting my mental health, as we are constantly short staffed and I am the charge nurse to three other graduate RN nurses and four LPN's (IF we are full complement) causing me a great deal of stress as I don't feel safe with these ratios based on my floor's acuity.

Luckily, I was able to score a less stressful gig that I already work at casually. The problem is that my manager is away on vacation. My union requires 30 days notice so the later I put in my notice the later I will have to wait to start at my new job. I'm debating sending a draft email and leaving it in my managers mailbox to at least start the 30 days... I do plan to talk to her once she is back. Just wondering if this is a good idea... I just want to move on.

I would assume that you would have to put your notice in writing so I would send an email right now so that it would be in writing and dated and make sure you write in the body that on this date... you are giving your 30 days notice. Then, you can talk to her when she gets back.

I had a similar situation, I emailed my manager who was on a 2 week vacation with a cc: to Human Resources. In fact, that saved me trouble as this manager, being vindictive, tried to have me placed on the "do not rehire list" because in her eyes I didn't give enough notice. Fortunately, HR was on my side and that didn't happen.

Specializes in Surgical, quality,management.

Your manager may be on leave but they have a manager. Send it to them. Sending an email to someone on leave is not acceptable.

Notifying your immediate manager of your resignation is a curtsey only. Your formal resignation ultimately needs to go to HR go ahead and submit it to them.

Specializes in retired LTC.

You need to go up the chain. Your boss has a boss. And notifying HR is a very good suggestion. Talk to your boss when she returns.

Be polite with your resignation but be specific with your LAST DAY to work.

Also cc copies.

Specializes in Public Health, TB.

Some one is covering the manager's duties while she is on vacation. Her availability is not your problem. I concur, submit to who ever is covering or above her, and HR.

Specializes in school nurse.
19 hours ago, kp2016 said:

Notifying your immediate manager of your resignation is a curtsey only. Your formal resignation ultimately needs to go to HR go ahead and submit it to them.

When I first read this I thought you were writing "curtsy" (although that would be cute) instead of courtesy. ?

Specializes in RN.
On 8/15/2019 at 10:32 PM, ertoclinics said:

I would assume that you would have to put your notice in writing so I would send an email right now so that it would be in writing and dated and make sure you write in the body that on this date... you are giving your 30 days notice. Then, you can talk to her when she gets back.

Totally agree. You owe this job no more than that. A 30 day notice and whether or not your manager is there shouldn't influence the days. Just date it and give 30 days from the email, letter. That's all the ie required. Keep the email/ letter short and don't put why you are leaving. A good resignation letter should never had the reason why. State you will be resigning such and such date, thank you for the opportunity work and such and such place, etc. and sign it.

Specializes in Mental Health.

Someone is still in charge, it doesn’t have to be the regular manager. I agree with cc’ing HR and starting the clock.

I got a job offer while I was on vacation. I told them I would need to give my current job a two week notice and then I could start. I believe that something like that deserves an in person delivery IF your manager is not on vacation. Therefore, I gave a two week date AFTER I would be back in town to talk to my manager in person.

So, this is where I give advice-tell HR in writing also-weird things happened following my two week notice-normal for HR to call for exit interview (which I decided to not participate)-not normal to get a call three weeks later wondering if you were coming in to work even though you self terminated your employment one week prior (two week notice required-completed now three weeks).

I had documentation to back me up from HR. Manager acted like she thought I had another week. Funny thing was, I asked if I should send a copy to HR and she said she would cover it-and she did-voice mail for exit interview recorded with date and time-yet she scheduled me after that date and claimed she thought it was for after date written in letter. Lesson learned-save time and grief-notify HR regardless and cover your butt. I waited until I got back from vacation to give an in person notice as a courtesy-got a phone call after that date asking if I was coming to work. I just though they deserved an in person notice-turns out it really didn’t matter.

Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.

If your manager is not in, submit it to her manager. Also, submit it to HR at the same time...you're going to have to notify them anyway. Do NOT rely on your manager (or her manager) to notify HR for you, as you'd be surprised how often these things are "forgotten." Hand-deliver a copy of the resignation to HR yourself and be sure to write down the name of whoever you left it with.

Best of luck with your new job!

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