retracting a resignation

lcavey · March 2003

I have a situation where an employee resigned in writing and came back a few days later indicating that she wanted to stay. We do not have a policy regarding this, but are not interested in keeping her on board. Has anyone had a situation similar to this that came back to haunt them? We have never encountered this sitation in the past, so I feel confident that we are ok.

Don D · March 2003

We've had people resign who later wanted to rescind. It's the company's option to do as they please. It's an easy way to rid yourself of someone who you don't want. The written resignation speaks for itself and the company is under no obligation, except maybe in California, to allow the employee to rescind it. The best answer to give your employee is, "We have your written resignation and it's been accepted. If he puts up a stink, cut him loose now and pay him through the period of notice.

Anita · March 2003

I have had this happen only once in the 20+ years I have been in Personnel.

The employee was told we had accepted their resignation and that if they wanted to reapply when we had a job opening they could. x0:)

Gillian · March 2003

There is no such obligation in California. Say goodby.

Balloonman · March 2003

Tell them good luck. If you let them stay they will just use the time to look for another job. Like the others said, tell them the resignation has been accepted.
My $0.02 worth.
DJ The Balloonman

jimlegal · March 2003

Provided that this employee has no military service affiliation where USERRA might apply. Accept the resignation and send the (former)employee on their way!

System · March 2003

Had this happen. Just said "We've accepted your resignation. There will be no change." Your situation is one of the reasons why I always advise managers who call and say x has just resigned to get it in writing. Handwritten is fine.

Dasher · March 2003

Wow, did I just finish a case like this. It was a top level engineer who was a nightmare! We were so glad to see the resignation that when his supervisor brought it to my office we did a jig (I closed the door). Of course he just wanted to blackmail his boss (which backfired on him). It was great to coach the supervisor through this and to learn from the many strategies the engineer used in attempting to rescind the resignation. Bottom line -- You resigned and we accepted. Goodbye.

Shawn · March 2003

In Ohio public employment the employer must be able to prove that they have acted on the resignation. So, we make a habit of immediately responding with a letter, saying we accept your resignation. If we can't show that we have acted on the resignation, then back they come.

terryb · March 2003

Our manager of a few years back submitted a letter of resignation, then a letter of rescinsion. He said he was pressured into resigning, but the Board voted not to accept the rescinsion. We were probably lucky that that ended it.

ray a · March 2003

Happened once to me - a person who resigned in writing wanted to back out. Like other posters, we were happy to see this person go. I told them it was too late, we accepted their resignation and there was no turning back. I believe they never intended to resign it was a ruse to get us to quake with fear that we were losing them and we would make a counteroffer to entice them to stay. They were totally shocked that we didn't beg them to stay.

So, another angle, if you do allow someone to rescind their offer, coworkers may assume you offered them more money to stay and think it unfair.

retracting a resignation

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