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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/xtab8 on 2025-08-25 16:41:03+00:00.
(Not in the US btw)
I used to be an operations engineer on a 1-year contract in a small department. There were only 4 of us and the seniors absolutely hated doing additional work, so when there was additional networking stuff required as part of a new project, it was dumped unto me. I didn't mind doing it as I was learning new stuff, but the lack of appreciation from the rest of the team and being underpaid made me look for other jobs when my 1 year contract was almost up.
Fortunately I was able to get a much better offer from one of my ex employers with about a month to go for my current contract. My current company never reached out to me to talk about renewing my contract, so I thought i'd just give them a heads up that I'm resigning and not renewing my contract.
My manager at the time used to be an engineer like us but was promoted 6 months prior and was incredibly cocky because of that. I went into his room and handed him my resignation letter, told him I was resigning and would be happy to hand over my stuff and train the others before leaving. He takes a look at the letter, gets really pissed, and tells me he isn't going to sign and acknowledge the letter until he decides what date I'm allowed to leave. He said this will happen after he's found someone to replace me and when he's in a better mood, essentially trying to hold me hostage. "But, my contract only has 1 month...", before I could say 2 words he says NO MORE TALKING, DID U NOT HEAR ME SAY I WON'T APPROVE IT UNTIL I'M HAPPY! I DON'T WANT TO HEAR A WORD ABOUT THIS FROM YOU UNTIL I'M READY!!! (Note this was very long ago where resignations via email weren't as common)
I thought about explaining to him when he had calmed down, but decided fuck it, if that's what he wants then I'll comply. So I continued working for the rest of the month, with absolutely no handover done until the last day.
On the last day of my contract, I head into his room and hand him my laptop, badge etc.
"What's this?"
"My stuff, today's my last day"
"Stop fucking joking around, I told you that I haven't acknowledged your resignation letter yet. Which by the way, I've just decided your last day will be 2 months from now because we need to look for a replacement, train him up and get a proper handover before you can leave. So keep your stuff and get back to work" He gives me this incredibly cocky look like he got me.
"Nope, my contract runs out after today. I'm not paid to work beyond that"
"You...what?"
"Yup, I've been trying to tell you from the start, my resignation letter was a courtesy since my contract runs out anyway, but u didn't allow me to talk"
"You're fucking bullshitting me!!!!"
"Nah go call HR and check, seeya!"
I watch his face turn from anger and cockiness to shock as I walk away from his room.
A few months later I find out that he got a stern lecture by the director even though he tried to put the blame on me, ended up hiring a network engineer that cost triple what they paid me, and breached multiple SLAs for the period before the new hire joined.