If you have received your employee resignation, there are a number of things you need to consider.
Whilst employee resignation can cause a business difficulty, and as an employer can cause personal doubts and in some circumstances soul searching, there are a number of things that you must do to ensure that you comply with the legal requirements following an employees decision to leave your employ.
Here’s a checklist of things to do:
- Get written confirmation of resignation from your employee
- Check how much holiday the employee has accrued, and how much notice their employment contract states they have to work.
- Discuss this with the employee and confirm how their notice will be worked, including whether you are going to give then ‘Gardening Leave’ or ‘Pay in Lieu of Notice’.
- Ensure payroll are informed of the leaving date of the employee, and that their P45 will be made available to them on leaving or shortly afterwards.
- Ensure that all company property is retrieved from the employee on their last day or before.
- Ensure you part on good terms where possible. They may still be a business contact if they stay in the same industry and a disgruntled ex-employee can damage the reputation of your business.
It is also a good idea to plan how the employees time that remains will be spent with the company and what their responsibilities are. Depending upon the size of the organisation, and the role of the individual the scope of this point is huge. However a meeting, where these points are discussed agreed upon and documented should be held as soon as possible after the resignation has been accepted by the company.
Finally, ensure that the departing employee is wished well with their future endeavours and thanked for the service to the company. Regardless of whether the employee has resigned in a professional manner ultimately it is the responsibility of the company to act professionally and take the high road.
Further information on how to handle employee resignations can be found on the Gov.org website:
