Pay for notice (Score 2, Interesting)

There is neither a need to give notice nor is there a requirement for employers to pay you for that time if you do. They're only required to pay you for the time you actually work. If your friend got a "3 month paid vacation" by giving 3 months notice, it just means his company's HR department forgot to terminate his employment and the payroll department never caught the mistake. That's pretty unlikely at most companies.

I didn't believe this at first (because I've given two weeks notice and been walked out with pay for those weeks), but it's true, at least in California.

http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/FAQ_Paydays.htm

8. Q. I just gave my employer two weeks advance notice that I was quitting. Instead of letting me work until the date of my resignation, he told me that I was discharged, and instructed me to collect my personal belongings and leave. Upon leaving he gave me a check for all wages earned up through my last hour of work. Am I entitled to be paid for the time that I gave notice? Additionally, when must my final wages be paid?

        A. You are not entitled to any wages for the notice period because you did not perform any work during that period. For the purpose of wage payments, your employer changed a quit into a discharge, and all of your earned wages became due and payable immediately at the time he terminated you.

Giving notice is purely a courtesy. It legally can not affect recommendations or references

This I'm skeptical of because every employee handbook I've been subject to says no notice = no references. I lost good references because I didn't give a full two weeks notice, which was the company's policy.