'Boss claims that me quitting will result in the business closing': Worker gives 2-week-notice after basically running the company they work for for their boss, prompting boss's total meltdown

Author image for Brad Dickson
Brad Dickson • Managing Editor
Nov 10, 2024 12:00 PM EST

It is truly mind-boggling how some employers will treat the workers who are essential to the success and operation of their business. They gamble that they can pay them below market rates and keep them exactly where they are and that their workers will continue to be milked like the cash cow that they are… After taking on increasing responsibility in their boss's small business, this worker knew it was time to move on to greener pastures. They did what they thought was the right thing and gave their boss their two-week notice, prompting a meltdown that they could not have anticipated. 

As commenters in the original thread noted, this begs so many questions. Like, if they were so important to the business why didn't their boss recognize that and reward them for it? Surely, there were chances and opportunities for their boss to give them a promotion or even a partnership in the business that they were so essential to. Still, their boss's general laissez-faire attitude and seeming reluctance to lift a finger to support their own business has spelled their own doom. It seems that they were totally complacent and happy to let the employee do all the work while they raked in all the profits.

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    Submitted 2 weeks notice - Boss claims that me quitting will result in the business closing Just venting. Work for a company. Just me, my boss, and a book keeper. I do a lot. Office admin/ shipping/receiving customer service and help with accounts payable and receivable. I was hired on as an office administrator and ended up taking a lot of additional roles.
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  • 03
    Slowly, over the 2.5 years that I've been here I've noticed my boss lacks work ethic... we worked alongside each other for about one year. after that, he slowly stopped coming into the office. He made a mess of his personal life. Proposed to a girl he dated for a year, moved an hour away from the office to be with her. She left him and now he uses his hour drive as an excuse not to come in.
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  • 04
    I submitted my 2 weeks letter of resignation notice on Wednesday Nov. 6 at 4:30pm (end of my work day) and said I'd like to make some time to talk the following day. Instead, he read my message at 5:30pm and called me on my cell phone. I decided not to answer as I was not clocked in (I am an hourly employee) and I knew he would just be angry about my notice. My last day was highlighted as Nov. 21st.
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  • 05
    The following day (yesterday) he ignored me all day. Refused to acknowledge my email and left the office without saying a word to me. Today I come in and try to talk - to him. That is when he tells me that because I quit - he is at risk of going out of business. I should have told him that I was looking for a new job.. and that 2 weeks is no where near enough time for the unique situation we have here.
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    That he moved out of his house (an hour away) in the middle of the night to move into an RV so that he can park it near by so that he can be here everyday. He's also mad I didn't pick up his phone call on Wednesday evening. Just a vent... so badly want to just walk out of here and avoid the drama for the next 2 weeks but I care about the bookkeeper.
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    fenriq • 3h ago Let him know 2 weeks is a courtesy and you can just leave now if he's an al h le.
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    RosieQParker • 3h ago . If the business is that dependent upon you to keep operating, he can hire you back as the general manager and scale back his own responsibilities to hands-off owner. Your new salary should reflect your worth to the company.
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    AMonkeyAndAL... • 3h ago • If you're so irreplaceable he should consider making you a partner and not just an employee, right?
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    West_Instructi... . 3h ago Sounds like his problem
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    TheVoiceofRea... 3h ago. Tell him you will consider staying for a 400% raise retroactive for the last 6 months.
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    sufferingplanet • 3h ago Repeat after me: "Not my pig, not my farm."
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    TheDkone • 3h ago . "the unique situation we have here" - how were you able to suppress your laughter when he presented this as a 'we' problem.
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    With2 3h ago It's not your company, who cares?
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    Dominoodles 3h ago • • I had the exact same spiel when I left my last job. I'm destroying the business, it won't stay afloat without me, all his hard work will go to waste if I abandon him... Three years later he's still operating. It's all a guilt trip, don't fall for it
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    • s... 3h ago Edited 3h ago • • I mean, if he needs you that bad... then you are worth a MUCH MUCH larger share of the profits. Tell him you think a 3 way split of the pre wage revenue is a very generous offer (to him) given that he doesn't contribute 1/3 of the productivity.
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    If you are already receiving more than 1/3 of the pre wage revenue of the business, then maybe letting HIM go as a cost cutting measure is in order.
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    DripPanDan 3h ago If your business dies because an hourly worker quits, maybe you should have done a better job with them and paid them like a partner.
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    Turbulent_Bake... . 3h ago • Lol you know the business in and out, find a partner and open a new shop. Also hiee the bookkeeper.. lolz
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    RJRoyal Rules . 3h ago If you were so important for so long he could have easily secured your presence by giving you more money, ownership equity, or some other form of collateral. He chose not to and now he will face the consequences. He's at risk of going out of business due to his decisions. Hopefully it will be a lesson for him but probably not!
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    Whynot151 3h ago This sounds like a him problem.
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    ninte_tantha • 3h ago If you are practically running the business then start your own business.
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    ZaryaBubbler • 3h ago If my boss told me that, I would honestly laugh and tell them that if the labour situation is that bad in the business then it deserves to fail
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workplace discussion employment issues antiwork workplace-stories jobs employment-discussion job work i quit quit workplace Horrible Bosses quitting employment in the workplace
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