‘What do you want from me?’: Employee hands in their 2-week notice, only for boss to refuse to accept it without being provided with reasons for the resignation

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Bar Mor Hazut • Senior Editor
Apr 9, 2025 5:00 AM EDT

When you leave a job, sometimes all you want to do is open your mouth and spill everything you hated about the job. You want your boss to know about all the times you've been wronged, of all the bad days, and of every single mistake that was made. It may not lead to anything, or help anyone, but it would sure make you feel better, and allow you to leave with everything off your chest.

However, most employees don't actually do that when they decide to leave their job. Whether it is because they don't want to burn any bridges, because they are too shy, or because they simply understand it won't do any good, they keep their mouths shut until their last day on the job. Even if their boss wants to know what went wrong, they keep their reasons to themselves and don't reveal anything about why they decided to leave.

Whether you agree with these tactics or not, they still must be respected, something that did not happen when the employee below decided to leave their job…

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  • When this employee handed in their two-week notice, they did not expect their boss to fight back. The employee thought it was more than clear why they decided to leave, but apparently it wasn't, and their boss wanted to know exactly why they decided to resign.

    The employee, on the other hand, was not too eager to reveal their reasoning, which led to quite an awkward two weeks at the office. 

    Keep scrolling to read the full tale.

  • Cheezburger Image 10491647232
    via Robert Kneschke

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • "Manager keeps poking into reasons after I gave 2 week notice"

    as title says, I gave my 2 week notice 2 days ago (Monday). I had a brief convo with boss and mentioned this and then sent formal resignation email to boss and CC'd HR to make it
    via pinkk7
  • official and on paper. I stated that X date would be last day-- short n sweet. Then I start getting pings/emails from boss and boss's boss about "can we
    via pinkk7
  • connect later this week-- maybe sooner?". And then they keep telling me what to do like "don't tell other team members or anyone that you are leaving yet". I
    via pinkk7
  • also woke up to boss scheduling a 8:30am meeting and when I hopped on, he kept asking me about reasons why I'm leaving and what are things that could have made me stay.
    via pinkk7
  • At first, I said "Better Opportunity" bc i didn't want. to elaborate, but afterwards boss asked me what specifically and kept trying to drill into this.
    via pinkk7
  • I'm just kind of insulted by these actions, tbh, bc they definitely KNOW why im leaving... I also said I'd be working remotely the rest of the notice
    via pinkk7
  • period except the last day so that I can return all company assets. Then boss told me just this morning that they require me in office for 2 days next week lol.
    via pinkk7
  • Anyone been through this?? Kind of confused on what they want from me atp... they knew how miserable i was during my last 8 months here..
    via pinkk7
  • Cheezburger Image 10491644160
    via 89Stocker
  • ksants87 Don't take the bait. You don't have to tell them anything you don't want to.
    via pinkk7
  • pinkk7 OP Accidentally took it.. he kept poking after I said better opportunity. Then he kept asking drilling questions and I ended up just saying "flexibility and compensation factor". I think thats vague enough. I definitely will not disclose the new company!
    via pinkk7
  • rowingbacker They could also be looking for clues to prevent the rest of the team from following you out the door. Looking for areas to improve, etc. They could also be working to put together a
    via pinkk7
  • counter-offer, which is why they don't want you telling anyone you're leaving. However, if that's the case, they should have been upfront and said 'hey, we're preparing an counter offer'.
    via pinkk7
  • pinkk7 OP Yeah if they come up with a counter offer.. im not accepting. Had annual perf review recently and got 1.5% merit after putting my head down and working like a hog for them lol. Why do management do this?? Like why do they realize. this after the fact that the employee has made up their mind to leave.. i'll never understand
    via pinkk7
  • Fresh_Caramel8148 Seems like they don't want to lose you. And this is insulting?? It's fine to not give them details. But I'm not seeing anything unusual here if they actually want to try and keep you.
    via pinkk7
  • pinkk7 OP Moreso insulted because during the past few months, i've complied to RTO. I was originally a wfh hire and came in office 5x a week under this management. Then it started being too much (commute is 1.5hrs away and they know this) so I was adamant about getting my wfh day back
    via pinkk7
  • rven just a few. They declined.. and just for context, my other team members have 3x wfh.. lol. So then I didnt dispute further. But comes around perf review, i only get less than 2% increase. I was pretty offended by that
    via pinkk7
  • considering I had thr most workload and competent in my job. So when boss asked me what could have made me stay, it was just odd bc it's not like they didnt know what I wanted/what I was going thru.
    via pinkk7
  • reddits rdnow Never give notice, don't give them anything except your normal workload, or less.
    via pinkk7
  • pinkk7 OP Didn't want to burn the bridge— never know when it might bite me in the . So even tho i despise them, i want to keep it professional
    via pinkk7
  • GreenLion777 So let me digest this, you want to work remote for last days, and they've decided they need you in office all while trying tell you not to tell your colleagues that you are leaving, how stupid.
    via pinkk7
  • Obviously that is completely up to you (informing team members of resignation) 100% your prerogative.
    via pinkk7
  • pinkk7 OP Yep u summarized it perfectly. Ty for the input- i feel validated
    via pinkk7

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boss two weeks notice workplace-stories employee manager job tales-from-the-workplace leaving reddit story ceo overworked-employees workplace Reddit company resignation
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