One of my employees resigned and she stated in her resignation letter that she “had an injury whilst at work and hence cannot work”. She was on SSP for 4 weeks (shoulder and neck pain) and when her Fit Note ran out she sent the resignation letter.
She had not reported the injury whilst at work and there is no accident report in her file. I have not accepted her resignation and stated to her that I would like to meet up with her before I accept the resignation.
It is a common myth that an employer can choose to accept or reject her resignation.
Either party has the right to bring the employment relationship to an end. She is entitled to resign and your ‘acceptance’ of it makes no difference whatsoever. A written acknowledgement of their resignation is always good practice especially if the employee later changes their mind and declares they now want to stay. If you have formally noted their request to leave if they change their mind later you do not then have to agree to keep them on if that no longer suits your purpose.
As you have said that you would like to meet her then you should try to do so. What you can do is say that you wish to give her time to reflect, so that her decision was not ‘in the heat of the moment’. If she does not wish to meet then you should just conclude matters by writing to acknowledge her resignation and wish her well. You may also point out that at no time were you aware of the injury that she is now claiming she has sustained so if she wants you to investigate matters she will need to provide you with the facts.
She may or may not think she has grounds for a Personal Injury claim. You should inform your insurers accordingly, tell them that she did not report the injury at the time so there is no way of really verifying what she is now claiming especially if there were no witnesses to the incident.
To recap:
- An employer cannot choose to accept or reject a resignation.
- Should an employee change their mind and wish to stay, if you have formally noted their request to leave; you do not have to agree to keep them on.
- See if you can meet the employee to find out what happened.
- If you are unable to meet the employee then put in writing that the injury was not reported while at work and that if they want it investigated they will need to provide the facts to the organisation.
- Inform your insurers, stating that the injury was not reported at the time and there is no way of verifying the claims, (particularly if there were no witnesses) in case the employee may think there are grounds for a Personal Injury claim.
The guidance provided in this article is just that – guidance. It is not legal advice as every case depends upon the facts. The law is forever changing and you need to keep up with these changes to ensure that you are behaving in the correct way.
Before you take any action make sure that you know what you are doing, or call us for specific advice.
