Its very unprofessional on employees part to leave the company without serving Notice. They need to give Notice to the employer so that they can do the knowledge transfer. 1 Bad fish spoils the whole pond, same way people who leave without notice spoils image of every other employee. Employee needs to understand employer's view point. there are company's which have 2 to 3 months of notice period, so you should atleast serve 1 month notice period> if you do this profesional and ethical way than the employer may also try to understand your problem and relieve you on time. but if you leave the organisation without serving notice they may file case againts you. They may not be able to recover money from you, but they can harass you and create problems. Its small world, you dont know when you will see your manager again, as your senior. So leave organisation with dignity and leave good impression on the employer and your seniors so that no one has any issue working with you again and also help you in refering. People think that if they dont serve the notice period they will save some money may be 20K or 50K, but that will remain for short period only. what matters in long run is that every one you worked with knows you as a professional. They dont need to think to refer/ recommend you.