I'm leaving my job after almost 9 years without giving notice. Am I being unfair?
For most of the time I've spent at this company, I thought I had one of the best jobs I could ever hope for. I worked as a senior developer, loved my team, helped build several core parts of the company's website, and updated many outdated processes. The only major downside was spending about two and a half hours commuting every day.
A few years ago, my daughter had surgery, and the next morning I fell and broke my wrist. I arrived late to an important meeting, and management responded by giving me a written warning and putting me on probation. I should have paid more attention to that incident, but I convinced myself it was just a one-time bad decision.
A few months ago, my wife had an extremely severe heart attack on a Thursday night. She was placed in a medically induced coma, put on a ventilator, and needed a catheterization and three stents. I called my manager from the hospital and told him I had no idea when I would be back at work. After that, I kept sending my team updates while she was in critical condition in the ICU.
On my ninth day away from work, after they had used up my sick leave and vacation time, my manager called me and scheduled a meeting with HR. They gave me another warning, put me on probation, and told me I had to decide which was more important to me: my job or my wife. They ordered me to return to the office five days a week or they would fire me.
HR suggested that I take FMLA leave, so I did. Apparently, my manager has been telling people that everything will start moving again as soon as I return. What he doesn't know is that I plan to use the rest of my PTO, turn in my laptop, and resign.
A recruiter contacted me about a position less than 15 minutes from my home. After several interviews, they made me an offer and agreed to delay my start date until my wife had completed most of her follow-up appointments. I'll start there next week. Am I wrong for not giving the customary two weeks' notice, especially since my current company has shown so little concern for my family? My wife is recovering well, and the doctors are optimistic.
