A recent Personnel Today article examines the issue of determining the termination of employment date when an employee says that they have no choice but to resign. This can be really important if you need to establish wthere or not an employee has the required service to bring an unfair dismissal claim at employment tribunal. The same principle applies in terms of figuring out if an employee has brought a claim in time (usually three months from the termination date).
However, it’s not always clear when the termination date is if an employee resigns in the heat of the moment or doesn’t specify if they are giving notice. In Secretary of State for Justice v Hibbert, the employee resigned after her grievances were not upheld. She stated in her resignation letter that there had been a breach of her employment contract and that she had no alternative but to resign from her job. Her employer tried to dissuade her from this action and gave her five days to reconsider.
On 11 July 2012, the employer wrote to accept the employee’s resignation, stating that she was required to give notice and that her final working day would be 27 July 2012. The employee submitted an unfair dismissal claim more than three months after her resignation letter of 29 June 2012 but within three months of 27 July 2012. The employee argued that her termination date was the latter.
The employment tribunal ruled that the employee’s letter contained no ambiguity as to her resignation but was unclear on when it would take effect or if notice was being given, concluding that her termination date was 27 July. At EAT, however, the decision was reversed. It found that the employee’s letter was unambiguous and that it was clear that she was resigning in the heat of the moment. Her termination date was therefore 29 June.
Other cases listed in the article suggest that it is always important for employers to do their utmost to clarify the termination date wherever possible.
Read the full article here: Employee resignations: Establishing the effective date of termination
