Resignation

Employee termination by resignation

An employee may terminate his or her contract of employment by resigning. You should always accept the employee’s resignation in writing. The letter should confirm receipt of the resignation, the employee’s notice period, the last day the employee will be expected to work and the day on which the employment will terminate, if different. The HR Team will prepare this for you.

You should also remind the employee of any particularly relevant terms and conditions, such as confidentiality, that will continue to apply after they leave.

Unless you and employee agree otherwise, the contract of employment will continue to operate as normal during the notice period. This means that the employee is obliged to attend work and to perform the job as usual during the notice period.

Employee resigning in the heat of the moment

A resignation is a unilateral act which, if expressed in clear and unconditional terms, terminates a contract of employment. Therefore, the withdrawal of a resignation is not straight-forward and will depend on the circumstances of the particular case.

We would ask you to be mindful if the employee used ambiguous actions or words when offering their resignation or if they did so ‘in the heat of the moment’.

Sometimes an employee makes a decision without being fully informed or they are not in a position to fully evaluate their options or the employer may act on a misrepresentation of something which is said or done.

If the situation is retrievable, it would be considered unreasonable for the employer to deny the employee the opportunity to withdraw the offer of resignation once the position is made clear.

The employer needs to evaluate what the employee may have in fact meant when they said “I quit”.

Where an employee resigns in the heat of the moment using unambiguous words of resignation, there is no onus on the employer to seek to recoup the situation and investigate the employee’s due intentions. However, there may be special circumstances which may indicate to the employer that an employee’s resignation, if made in the heat of the moment, may not have been seriously intended by him. In such a case, the employer should allow a reasonable period of time to elapse before accepting the resignation at face value.

What do I need to do?

Firstly, you only need to complete a leaver form if you have an employee who has resigned or if an employees contract has come to an end.

If you have a copy of the employee’s resignation letter, and haven’t already done so, please email it to the HR Team, so they can save a copy on the employees’ file.

You will need to make arrangements with the employee who is leaving to handover any outstanding work before their last day and also arrange for them to return company property such as, mobile phone, laptop etc.

Company Cars – If the employee has a company car, you will need to contact the Fleet Team and they will make arrangements with you and the employee to collect it on or before the employees last working day.

Employees will have £300 withheld from their final pay, to cover any damages or penalty charges to the company vehicle. If no damages or charges are found, this money will be returned to the employee.

Employees who are on garden leave may keep their car during their period of notice.

Last working day – You will need to know the employee’s final working day as well as their actual leave date. These may be different if you have agreed that the employees can use any accrued but untaken annual leave during their notice period.

What happens if the employee is no longer leaving?

If the employee is no longer leaving and you previously submitted a leaver form, please contact the HR Team as soon as possible so that the leaver is not processed.

What happens if the employees leave dates changes after you have submitted their leaver form?

If the leave date changes, you must contact the HR Team as soon as possible and include the new leave date in order for the relevant systems to be updated.

What happens next?

The HR Team will receive the approved leaver form and process the employees final salary, leaving date and confirm acceptance in writing to the employee.

Remember to discuss the vacant role in your Team with the Recruitment Team, who will work with you on what happens next. For some additional information feel free to visit the ‘I’ve got a vacancy’ page on the intranet. Please note all vacancies should be requested via the recruitment Gateway.

Points to remember

Notice Period

The employment contract usually provides an obligation on employees to give a period of notice of their intention to leave the organisation.

Across the Group the standard notice is 1 week or 4 weeks. For Senior Management 3 months and in some case longer depending on the role and level of responsibility.

Please contact the HR Team for further advice on notice periods.

Outstanding holiday

When the employee’s employment ends and they have accrued, but not taken, leave, you have the option to either allow the employee to take the leave during their notice period, or pay them in lieu of untaken leave.

It is important you confirm the holiday taken with the HR Team, in order that we can confirm the outstanding holiday.

Any annual leave the employee has not accrued but taken, will be deducted from their final salary.

Guidance on how to deal with resignations:

• Acceptance – Where the employee has genuinely resigned (and the employer does not intend to persuade the employee to stay), you should immediately accept the resignation.
• Written confirmation – The employee’s resignation and the employer’s acceptance of it should be confirmed in writing as soon as possible. The HR Team will arrange this.
• Avoidance of threats – Wishing to invite an employee’s resignation must be extremely careful and should not combine that invitation with any suggestion that if they do not resign, they will be dismissed or subjected to any other detriment.