The answer is no. You don’t need to give a two weeks’ notice as California works on an at-will employment basis. The two-week’ notice law of California doesn’t require an employee to give any advance notice to the employers. You can check out the two weeks’ notice letter example if you wish to leave the job at your will and wish to be in good terms with the employer. But that’s absolutely up to you and there’s no compulsion. However, there are certain exceptions to this. Not all jobs allow you to leave without any advance notice.

What is an ‘at-will’ employment?

As per the California labor laws, an ‘at-will’ employment is one where the employer can terminate or dismiss their employees at their will. On the other hand, the employees can quit or terminate a job relationship voluntarily. They can do this even without giving any advance notice before leaving a job. However, California labor laws don’t require the employees to give notice if he/she has been harassed, molested, or racially discriminated. Employers cannot terminate an employee for unlawful reasons. An employee has the right to take legal action against the employers if they are wrongfully terminated or harassed. Employees should know how to write an appeal for unemployment benefits in case they’re wrongfully terminated.

Though you don’t need to give a notice, there are certain benefits to give one. You stay in a cordial relation with your employer and this increases the opportunity to get all your pending wages. By and large, when you don’t share a good rapport with your employer, they’ll try not to clear your wage payments. As per the state’s labor laws, the employer should make the payment available to the employees if the latter resigns without any prior notice. But if the employee gives prior notice to the employer, then the latter has to make the wages available to the former immediately at the time of quitting.

There’s only one disadvantage of giving a prior notice. The employer can dismiss you even before the expiration of the two weeks’ notice. In such instances, the worker cannot even claim it as a wrongful termination by the employer.

Exceptional cases where you do not need to give a two-week’ notice:

There is an exception to at-will employment. Not all jobs have the same agreement. One such exception is the contractual jobs that work on a contract basis. Such contracts may require the employee to give advance notice before resigning from the job.

There are exceptional cases when you’re not bound to give any notice to the employer for quitting a job. The examples include:

• Employment discrimination
• Gender discrimination
• Racial discrimination
• Age discrimination
• Medical condition discrimination like pregnancy
• Sexual harassment

If the workers feel harassed or threatened by their colleagues, supervisors, clients, or contractors, the employees can quit a job without notice. The victims should always consult with an employment attorney before leaving a job. The best employment lawyer is the Nakese law firm skilled in gender discrimination, wrongful termination, racial discrimination, unpaid wages, and sexual harassment.  Employees should always seek trusted legal advice on employment matters. They have knowledge and experience to discuss the case with you and provide additional guidance.