[spectramax]

Nailed it. At-will employment in CA, so the employee can be fired or laid off instantly in an afternoon - happens all the time. But, they're generally expected (not required) to give 2-3 weeks notice. I always found this a bit asymmetric.

[mistersquid]

> But, they're generally expected (not required) to give 2-3 weeks notice.

California at-will employment cuts both ways and requires neither employer nor employee to give notice.

Many employers will typically notify employees 30 days in advance of layoffs and provide severance on top of that.

Many employees give employers two weeks’ notice before quitting.

Some employers and some employees do neither, which is fully within the bounds of at-will employment in California.

[FireBeyond]

Many companies in CA, while you absolutely do not have to give notice, legally, will refuse to provide a reference or employment verification or flag you as "not eligible for rehire", (most companies I've worked with lately don't ask for references, per se, but _do_ verify dates of employment and eligibility for rehire) including to prospective employers, if you do not.