Asking to leave work on time or taking some time off can be tricky enough. Even trickier is tendering a resignation, which can be seen as the ultimate form of disrespect in the world’s fourth-biggest economy, where workers traditionally stick with one employer for decades, if not for a lifetime.
In the most extreme cases, grumpy bosses rip up resignation letters and harass employees to force them to stay.
Yuki Watanabe was unhappy at her previous job, saying her former supervisor often ignored her, making her feel bad. But she didn’t dare resign.
“I didn’t want my ex-employer to deny my resignation and keep me working for longer,” she told CNN during a recent interview.
For context, American. Those were the best 6 weeks of my life as far as work trips go. Having to go by German law was amazing. Unlike the 80-100 hour weeks I was doing at times in the UK for the same customer. The PM on the US side tried to encourage some of the team to work in the hotel after hours, or on their days off, but not let on with the customer who would send you home if they found out. That didn’t go over well. Screw you, I am going to a museum, having delicious schnitzel, beer, and touching some grass.
Let’s just say that we pretty much begged for future jobs in Germany. Never got to go back, but was definitely one of the few jobs I can fondly look back on.