Dear Popa Bar Abby,
For the last year or so, although I have had a job, I have been looking for a different one. Recently, I found a new job and while I was thinking about when (as late as possible) and how (as passive-aggressively as possible) to tell my old job that I’m leaving, it occurred to me that the kind of work that I do can be done from home. Not forever, and not well, but for a while and poorly.
I’m thinking that instead of telling my old job that I’m leaving, I will simply set up an autoresponse on my email and an out of office on my messages and continue working at the old job until I’m fired. I mean, I’d rather leave on my own terms, TBH, but two jobs are better than one, right? I am not worried that anyone will see me because the new job is in a different city. I think that if I dedicate an hour a day to my old job, I’ll be able to get paid for another six months.
So here’s my question: Is this ethical? I thought it wasn’t, but I checked and there’s no law against it. At my last job, I was fired because I am a liberal, and I thought it was wrong to fire someone for speaking their mind on political issues, but it turns out that no, private employers are allowed to fire employees at will. In fact, the company lawyer specifically pointed out that if Congress thought it were wrong, they would have made a law about it. So while I would have thought that drawing two paychecks is wrong, apparently Congress doesn’t think so. What do you think?
Best,
Veltz Meshugener
PS: Also, if I get caught and fired, but neither company wants to defend a for-cause hearing, would I get one or two unemployment checks?