We have posted recently on the issue of resignations and an employers responsibilities, and also on 'heat of the moment' resignations and the impact they can have. A recent EAT case has again cast the issue of resignation into the spotlight with an award of almost €68,000 to the employee due to ambiguity over their resignation.
In the case of Kelly -v- Monkstown Inns t/a Ashtons (UD581/2011) the employee had been working with the employer since 1989 and due to a decline in trading from 2008 to 2010 the company had to implement a reduction in pay and staffing numbers.
In October 2010 the employee sought redundancy which was refused by the employer, as they had the right to do. In November 2010 the employee received a letter informing him that his resignation has been accepted and it had enclosed his P45 and any monies due.
The Employee contended that he had never in fact resigned and only ever enquired to a potential redundancy package and upon returning from a weeks holidays was "gutted" to see the letter informing him his resignation had been accepted. The Employers view of the situation was that he informed the employee that he would be the last person to be made redundant if it came to that, and had asked him to meet with the Company accountant to convince him to stay. This meeting was not successful and the Employer argued that the employee was being very clear that he wanted to be gone in a month and that they had come to an arrangement for him to keep the Company Car, and it was at this point that a "resignation" was raised.
The Employer stated that in his letter to the employee he had invited him to speak to him to discuss the issues however he did not avail of this.
Misunderstanding
the evidence on display his largely contradictory with the employer's side stating a resignation was made and the employee stating that he made no such resignation. The tribunal found that " there is a greater responsibility on the employer than ont he employee to ensure full clarity with respect to the ending of the employment relationship".
"The employer failed to take adequate steps to formalise in early course what is understood as an explicit resignation. Because of this failure, the Tribunal finds that a dismissal took place and that it was unfair."
The Tribunal awarded €60,000 for unfair dismissal and €7,813 (8 weeks pay) for the employees notice period.
Impact for Employers
This case demonstrates that an employer must be very clear on the situation and it is always prudent to get any resignation in writing and then to clarify the Company's position in writing following this. Verbal resignations can be dangerous to rely on and clear record keeping can avoid ending up in a situation such as that above.
