Employment Rights: Resignation
Ending employment can be tough for both employees and employers, but what if you want to resign? How do you go about it as an employee? In this article, we aim to answer your questions regarding resignation.
When an employee resigns, they may have to give notice to their employer. The notice period:
- starts the day after the employee gives notice that they want to end the employment
- ends on the last day of employment.
Once an employee gives their employer notice, the employer should make sure the amount of notice is correct.
An employer doesn’t have the choice to accept or reject an employee’s resignation. Usually, employers will acknowledge an employee’s resignation and then the employee works as usual until the end of the notice period, when their employment ends.
If an employer doesn’t want an employee to work out the notice period, they should first check the terms of their award, enterprise agreement, other registered agreement or employment contract.
An employee can take paid annual leave during a notice period if the employer agrees to the leave.
Notice can include public holidays. They don’t usually extend the notice period.
An employee can take paid sick or carer’s leave during a notice period if they give:
- notice of the leave as soon as possible
- evidence if the employer asks for it (eg. medical certificate).
An employee who has used up all their paid sick leave may be able to take unpaid leave. They would have to give the employer notice and evidence.
