Employee hands in notice, manager demands she write 100 page technical manual in her last 10 days: 'I have spent seven years building these processes'

How much responsibility should an employee have with a company when they know they're going to leave?

Many would argue that a notice period is pure courtesy. Technically speaking, any employee who doesn't want to work at their job anymore could just clock out and not come in the next day, but that would leave an employer in a tricky situation. 

As a result, most workplaces dictate in their contracts that those who agree to work with them have to give them a heads-up before they move on to greener pastures. If they don't, they may not get that reference that could be necessary in the next job. It isn't a perfect system, but it is understandable as to why it exists.

For those workers who want nothing more than to start on the next new thing, this process can be annoying. More than that, when some employers find out that a valuable employee is going to leave, they get downright exploitative with them for their final weeks of work. They want to get the most value for money that they can before they send out that final paycheck, and it can leave the employee second-guessing whether it is worth it to stick around for so long.

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  • An employee writes on a clipboard and gestures at her laptop while sitting at a table
    via Ahmet Kurt (Unsplash+)

    An employee writes on a clipboard and gestures at her laptop while sitting at a table

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • An employee in the construction industry put in her notice after landing a better paid job, and initially felt like her manager took the news well. It soon turned out that they were not even hiring a direct replacement for her, as they planned to outsource her role to an overseas company.

    As a result, management expected her to write a 100 page manual to explain to them the processes that her job entailed, as well as working on her normal projects for her final 10 days. She felt this was totally unreasonable, and was not sure how to proceed after this request.

  • Company wants a 100 page manual for an outsourced team before I leave

    I put in my notice two weeks ago after landing a senior BIM coordination role that actually pays what the market dictates. My current manager seemed fine at first but then he dropped a massive bomb during our sync yesterday. Since the department is
    via N3bulaforge
  • "restructuring" they arent hiring a direct replacement for me. Instead they are outsourcing my entire workflow to a firm overseas that has zero experience with our specific mechanical standards or Revit templates.
    via N3bulaforge
  • The kicker is that my manager expects me to spend my final ten days writing a comprehensive step by step technical manual for this new team. She specifically asked for a document that covers every single edge case and custom script I use to keep the projects
    via N3bulaforge
  • on track. When I told her that a hundred page manual is a project in itself and wont fit into my remaining hours while I am also closing out three active jobs she got incredibly passive aggressive. She hinted that if the "knowledge transfer" isnt satisfactory it
    via N3bulaforge
  • might reflect poorly on my final performance review and future employment verifications.
    via N3bulaforge
  • I have spent seven years building these processes and half the stuff I do is based on intuition and technical troubleshooting that you cant just write down in a pdf for someone who doesnt know the difference between a pipe and a duct. It feels like they are trying
    via N3bulaforge
  • to strip mine my brain for cheap labor before kicking me out the door. I offered to record a couple of screen shares and leave my basic file structures organized but that wasnt enough for her.
    via N3bulaforge
  • She actually told me I should stay late every night this week to "do the right thing for the team". The irony is that this same team has been understaffed for a year and they never cared about my workload until it affected their bottom line. I am seriously considering just handing in my equipment early and taking the hit on the last few days of pay just to avoid the headache.
    via N3bulaforge
  • Is it even worth trying to play nice at this point or should I just give them the bare minimum and let the outsourced team figure it out on their own?
    via N3bulaforge
  • An employee looks at a piece of paper while sitting at a table with her laptop beside her
    via Ahmet Kurt (Unsplash+)

    An employee looks at a piece of paper while sitting at a table with her laptop beside her

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • Petrichrome The irony of being told to stay late for 'the team' when that team is being replaced by overseas contractors is painful. Hand in the equipment early if you can afford it. No manual you write in a week will save a team that doesn't know the difference between a pipe and a duct anyway.
    via Petrichrome
  • stein63 "Stay late and do the right thing" is wild coming from a company doing the cheapest possible thing.
    via stein63
  • Independence Mean8774 Goodbye. I'm out. Have a nice life. Two weeks' notice is a courtesy, not a legal requirement.
    via IndependenceMean8774
  • Prestigious-Board-62 Bare minimum. Who cares if they'll give you a bad review? "May we contact your previous emplayer?" No. Ez pz.
    via Prestigious-Board-62
  • Gallick Slow walk it. Offer consulting services to write it at 5x your current pay.
    via Gallick
  • Alterception LOL. Burn that bridge with a flamethrower. It's her problem now. I'd turn in 100 pages with nothing but smiley faces on them.
    via Alterception
  • No-Cream-2593 resign effective immediately. Here is my Key card and I wish you all the best.
    via No-Cream-2593
  • ariegel57 I had a boss who asked for something like this, but before I even had plans to leave. I made it, monogrammed the document with my initials and locked it for editing. Provided a print to pdf version.
    via ariegel57
  • Adventurous_Can_7437 Yeah nah, i wouldn't stress that - they'll probably forget you existed 2 days after you leave anyways.
    via Adventurous_Can_7437

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