what is voluntary termination 
voluntary termination may refer to a variety of actions but most commonly it refers to an employee s decision to leave a job on their own accord it differs from a layoff or a firing in which the decision to end employment was made by the employer or another party rather than the employee voluntary termination can also be a reference to the voluntary cancellation of personal financial contracts such as car leases or cell phone contracts or the voluntary cancellation of institutional level contracts such as credit default swaps and interest rate swaps understanding voluntary terminationemployer initiated termination includes being laid off fired for cause and being downsized termination can also be employee initiated however an employee may choose to leave a job for a wide variety of reasons for example a change in personal circumstances such as family demands a choice to go back to school dissatisfaction with working conditions such as a hostile supervisor lack of recognition of work performance and lack of autonomy challenge or work relationships among others an especially common reason for voluntary termination is leaving for a new and better job typically one that offers higher remuneration or improved career prospects this is more likely to be cited as a reason for leaving a job during periods of strong economic growth and labor market demand than during recessionary times during recessionary times or even during times when a particular firm is under duress companies going through downsizing may ask some employees to voluntarily resign in order to reduce the number of layoffs the firm must carry out in these circumstances the company may offer the employee that is leaving voluntarily an improved exit package including extra weeks of severance pay longer coverage of health insurance and any other benefits 1in most cases voluntarily leaving a job means that the employee will not be eligible to collect unemployment insurance unless the person has quit for a reason deemed to be a good cause such as unsafe working conditions 2 however eligibility for unemployment benefits can vary based on where you live 3conventional wisdom suggests that workers do not leave jobs but rather leave supervisors over conflicts in management style lack of respect or poor communication over goals objectives and practices the process involved in voluntary terminationvoluntary termination by an employee will generally start with either a verbal or written notification of resignation to their supervisor in some circumstances there may also be the perception of job abandonment when a worker fails to show up for work for three consecutive days without notifying a supervisor employees who choose to leave a job are generally expected to provide at least two weeks of notice before their final day at work this is considered to be a professional way to handle resignation it allows the company time to begin the process of finding a new employee and allows the worker time to prepare for the transition 