Boss refuses to accept employee's resignation after denying them a well-deserved raise: 'He thinks he can just order me not to quit'

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Jul 15, 2025 8:00 AM EDT

It's always amusing when bosses think they can enforce something that is fully out of their control. Sure, these folks may have risen the ranks within their respective companies, but that does not mean they are responsible for the way the entire world is run. 

In this case, we have an employee who was sick and tired of being the most dependable person on the team, even though they kept on getting denied their well-deserved raise. So when it came time for them to confront their boss about this, their raise was once again rejected. At that point, it was the final straw for the author, and they knew that it was time to resign. After all, at this point, they had gained enough experience to be able to get a much better job offer elsewhere with a salary and a title that would be worthy of their talents and skillset. 

However, there was a bit of a hiccup in this process: the employee's boss refused to accept their resignation.

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    RESIGNATION
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

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

  • The most amusing part of this story is the fact that this employer thought he could dangle the possibility of pursuing legal action against the author if they chose to move forward with their resignation. Of course, as several members of the online community pointed out, this was not possible given the fact that the employee was not violating their contract whatsoever. Still, the boss had the audacity to think that he could get away with this empty threat. Laughable! Good luck finding a replacement, sir!

  • 02
    I put in my two week notice 14 days ago. Working as a data management worker, with tons of I/O, in a very unintuitive workflow. It'll take weeks (maybe months) to train a replacement for the custom workflow our system has.
    via kaihoneck
  • 03
    I'm the only person in my department, and been working for $17ish an hour for the last 3 years, with laughably small raises. (+ $.20/year)
    via kaihoneck
  • 04
    I asked for a raise to $22/hr toward the end of 2021, and it was rejected, with a counter offer of $18.50. I wrote a letter of resignation and gave it to my boss, who brought up that I had
    via kaihoneck
  • 05
    been offered more of a raise than the last 3 years combined, so I didn't need to quit, resignation not accepted. I have a good relationship with him, so I think he thinks he can just order me not to quit. Even so, I'm out. Sorry.
    via kaihoneck
  • 06
    For the last 13 days, I have mentioned every day that I'm leaving on the 19th. Every time, he has told me that I can't leave, because that would be debilitating for all my coworkers,
    via kaihoneck
  • 07
    and that maybe I can renegotiate at raise after the first quarter, but leaving now would result in untold losses for the company, implying that I would need to be available after to help transition a new person into my role, and if I didn't, legal action might result.
    via kaihoneck
  • 08
    Yesterday, I didn't say anything. I didn't bring it up, and the work day went forward as usual. Today, I have 9 missed calls from him, but I'm not answering.
    via kaihoneck
  • 09
    There's no way they would/could take legal action, right? I did not submit my letter directly to HR until seven days ago, but got no response.
    via kaihoneck
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    Cheezburger Image 10528815104
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

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

  • 11
    mid.... The f they gonna do, sue you to force you to work for below market value? Save the messages and post them here so we can make fun of them
    via kaihoneck
  • 12
    [deleted]. What're they gonna do, fire you?
    via kaihoneck
  • 13
    Melkor7410 . The moment he mentioned about the untold losses, I would've snapped back, "if it's really that bad, you can afford to pay me the $22/hr.
    via kaihoneck
  • 14
    If you can't afford that then it's not untold losses sorry. How did you get to run a business if you can't do math?"
    via kaihoneck
  • 15
    Happy Cat. I have a good relationship with him No, you don't. legal action might result No, it won't.
    via kaihoneck
  • 16
    Familiar-Pie-2863. Or offer them to hire you as a consultant for $300/hr
    via kaihoneck
  • 17
    bru... Your boss is an idiot and a terrible manager. He should have taken your resignation letter to his boss, demanded your raise, and enumerated the consequences to the company if they declined.
    via kaihoneck
  • 18
    He obviously didn't do that or the company doesn't care about the consequences, so F HIM AND THE COMPANY!
    via kaihoneck
  • 19
    I hope you left with another, better job offer in hand. Hopefully your coworkers will get the message and leave for better jobs too.
    via kaihoneck
  • 20
    NiAdecker ⚫ Text him back that you no longer work there, as stated in your resignation letter and that your freelance rate is $100/hour in 8 hour blocks paid up front.
    via kaihoneck
  • 21
    lordroode · Maybe it's me but I am genuinely shocked at how much a worker thinks control the boss/manager/supervisor has over them. Yes the boss can say whatever they want,
    via kaihoneck
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    but legally they can't do sh. They can't take any action if a worker decides to leave a job. They can't sue you but for some reason workers fear that they might get in trouble legally or they are causing some sort of harm.
    via kaihoneck
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    Also if you have a good relationship with your boss, he wouldn't threaten you with legal action. A good boss and a good friend would shake your hand and
    via kaihoneck
  • 24
    wish you the best in the future and could leave the door open for you in the future if you wanted to return. What he's doing is pure manipulation. He's using the good relationship
    via kaihoneck
  • 25
    you 2 have and trying to lure you into staying. And let's say you decided to change your mind and not leave. Now since he knows that you wanted to leave, he can use that and hire a new person, have you train that person and then fire you.
    via kaihoneck
  • 26
    Those are classic tactics that employers use so they can squeeze as much work out of you as possible and then once all the work is done, they'll dump you like trash.
    via kaihoneck

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workplace-stories employee work stories toxic-workplace job work i quit satisfying quitting story quitting work overworked-employees Horrible Bosses company quitting toxic-work-environment
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