I was a contractor working in a third-world country as an advisor to their military. It was a job that would never end because they refused to change.
I had been in the position about 18 months and the overall contract had come up for bid. The company that I worked for didn't win the renewal. We all just moved to the new company. With a $5,000 bonus. Quite a few folks took the bonus, then resigned a few weeks later. The new company was not amused. But, there was nothing in the contract that mentioned a timeline or repayment.
I already knew a couple of months earlier that I was going to change to a new contractor position in another country. But, I needed to keep my head down and push on. And I did.
Some people started giving a two-week notice because contracting for US contracts is weird. You start looking for your next job the day that you start your contract. The new company, not amused, put people on flights the day after they received the two-week notice from people. So, instead of getting two more weeks pay, they got two days.
I had a resignation letter all ready to go with a three-week notice. I knew that it would take more than two weeks to find a replacement and thought that I would be a good guy and give an extra week. I was getting a better job in a better location and was a bit miffed that a co-worked got a $30,000 annual increase and I only got $5,000. But, what ever. Better negotiating?
Then the two-day thing started. I had already booked a flight to leave for Christmas for a Friday, returning two weeks later. My boss, an idiot but got the job because he was a retired colonel, came back from a meeting on Tuesday.
He plopped his large butt into his chair after his meeting and said “I really think that the team is coming together.” I slid a folder onto his desk. He said “When you leave on Friday, you aren't coming back are you?” I said “No, and I leave tomorrow”.
They hired two more people to replace me.