Resigning from a Job

Resignation... freedom! Many people dream of handing in their notice for all sorts of reasons; often on a cold and miserable Monday morning where they have just seen how large their pile of work is and the boss is checking up to see how much they have done so far!

But for many, resignation happens for a range of reasons. Sometimes this is because you decide to go your own way and become your own boss, or a change of lifestyle such as going travelling for a while. Most often people resign because they have been offered a job elsewhere and therefore clearly can't work for two different employers full time at once, leading to the resignation letter, the leaving party and so on.

Resignation, then, is telling your employer through word of mouth or written form (usually the latter) stating you are going to leave the job.

Remember that if you resign it should be for positive reasons and not due to problems in the workplace. If the latter are the reason, then you should consider things carefully and see if things can be done at work to improve the situation before just leaving to get away from those issues. Ideally it will be because you are going elsewhere or through positive choice and empowerment.

There are a few key points to remember when you resign. For instance, you can't change your mind - unless the employer agrees, anyhow!

Also that you get the final pay amount on the pay day that employees are standardly paid, and not any earlier. The employer must also accept your resignation, they can't choose to keep you if they want to, however what they will expect is for you to work the agreed notice in your contract. This is often a period of 4 weeks for standard workers, though can be 6 months or even longer for those in particularly sensitive or important positions within a company.