Posted: Tuesday 16 August 2011
Resignations
I noticed this article recently on the BBC website about resignations:-
How To Have An Honourable Resignation.
Whilst the article doesn’t specifically cover this, I often see some confusion from employers who talk about whether to accept a resignation or not. The other issue that arises from time to time with resignations is where someone has resigned and then tries to withdraw their resignation at a later date.
The legal position is that a resignation (like a dismissal) is a unilateral act and does not require to be accepted by the other party for it to be effective. So an employer doesn’t require to accept a resignation for it to be effective.
This means that once an employee has resigned then, if they change their mind during their notice period, it is entirely up to the employer whether to allow the employee to withdraw their resignation and carry on working for the employer or not.
There are two main exceptions to this:-
- resignations given in the heat of the moment;
- resignations that are ambiguous.
In these circumstances if an employee does attempt to retract their resignation (or denies that they resigned at all) then depending on the exact circumstances an employer will be acting unreasonably not to allow the employee to do this. There may also, depending on the circumstances, be an onus on the employer to pro-actively check with the employee whether they actually intended to resign or not. If the employer refuses to allow the employee to retract their resignation in such circumstances then, from a legal perspective, the law may deem that the employer has dismissed the employee which could then result in a finding of unfair dismissal.
Accordingly, for the most part, a resignation once given cannot be withdrawn. Be careful though in situations where the exceptions potentially apply.
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