Writing Resignation Letter
Few of the most popular questions I received related to the resignation issue are:
“Can you help to write my resignation letter?”
“Do you have a sample of a good resignation letter?”
“I just wrote my resignation letter. Can you check if the letter sounds OK to you, or not?”
With all due respect, while resignation letter is an important document that needs to be officially submitted upon resignation, writing a so-called good resignation letter is the least you should be worry about. Some people try too hard to make impression in their resignation letter without realizing that it carries little or no impact.
After all, it is not how you write your resignation letter that forms the overall feedback to your employer; it’s your work performance that does. So, if you work in your company and you were doing a pathetic job over there, then no amount of beauty that you put in your resignation letter will change the way your boss thinks about your job performance.
So back to the writing the resignation letter, let us understand that it is an official document that indicates our intention of leaving the company. It can be as short as 1 or 2 sentences. For example, you can write the following:
Date:
I am writing to inform you of my resignation and will be serving my notice effective immediately as per stipulated in my offer letter.
I take this opportunity to thank you for the opportunity provided for me here and I wish the company a continued success in the future undertakings.
That ought to do it. As you could see, the letter contains two important elements; first, the information that tells you are leaving, and secondly, the date of your resignation letter. As for your last date of employment, this will be decided after due discussion with the Human Resources department, or this will be done purely based on what is stated in the agreement or letter of offer. I noticed that a number of employees make attempt to calculate their last day based on their length of notice they need to serve.
For example, if your resignation date is 14 of July 2007 and your resignation notice is 1 month, you figure you last date of employment will be 13 August 2007. Even though that may be true, the process is not that quite right. It is the employer that should tell you your last date of employment, and not the other way around. Further, it is very likely that your last date will not be 13 August, if we factor in your unused annual leaves.
Once your boss receives your resignation letter, he or she needs to pass it to Human Resources for the proper follow up, which includes calculating your remaining annual leaves and salary issue that covers your last salary amount, date of last salary payment, and method of last salary payment (normally by cheque). If you still have unused annual leaves, the HR may ask you if you want to utilize them, or if you would like to cash in (=more money).
After all required elements are covered, then the HR will give a letter that acknowledges your resignation, and stating the closure of outstanding issues that we have discussed above. For example, here is how an acknowledgment letter is written:
Dear Jenny,
This is to acknowledge your resignation with us. Your last date of employment is 10 August 2007. Your last salary is is RM3200 and will be paid via cheque, which will be ready for collection on 22 August 2007. You also have 2 days of remaining annual leaves that you can utilize during serving the notice.
We at ABC company would like to thank you for your contribution in this organization, and wish you the best of luck.
Some of you who have resigned before may be surprised that you have never received such a letter before. Actually, many companies do not practice this and the final agreement of matters especially payment is purely based on mutual agreement and trust. However, this is not supported by any official document. In any case you don’t get any payment, you will have to undergo a tedious process to claim your last payment. This has happen to a friend of mine before. So, to avoid any disappointment, especially when you and the company do not have a good term, make sure all things are put in place when you resign.
Get Your Boss to Write a Reference Letter For You.
If you and your boss have formed good partnership during your work there, as much as possible, try to get a reference letter from your boss that gives testimony of your work there. You will know that you are doing at least an OK job if your boss agrees to writing a reference for you. A good reference letter could help you later in your job quest as the prospective employer may waive making a reference call after seeing the reference letter. This saves time for all.
Understandably, your boss is a busy person and may hesitate (or forget) to write you one because of the time constraint. If that is the case, take the initiative to offer writing the letter by yourself and show it to your boss. It does not have to be long. A reference letter tells the reader what he thinks about the person he is referring, strengths, weakness and if he recommends you to work with the reader. If your boss likes the reference letter you have written, he signs it. If not, he makes a few adjustment accordingly. I will upload a sample of a reference letter that I have written before [update: You can get an Employment Reference Letter sample here].
Getting It Right.
So, whenever you are resigning, ensure the process is right, and ensure all important aspects are covered:
1. State your intention to resign, and submit resignation letter
2. Wait for acknowledgment from your boss/Human Resources. Ask for a letter that indicates settlement of your annual leaves, salary, bonuses (if any) and other related matters.
3. Get a reference letter from your boss before you leave the company for good.
Other posts you may want to read:
- Resignation Letter Sample (Short Notice)
- Resignation Letter (24-Hour Notice)
- How to Write a Resignation Letter
- Resignation Letter Sample
- Resignation Letter Sample (General)
- How to Withdraw My Resignation
- Resignation Letter Sample (Unhappy)
- Employment Letter Sample
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21 comments ↓
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The points you are in your article are good, however I would like to refer to one paragraph which you wrote:
“For example, if your resignation date is 14 of July 2007 and your resignation notice is 1 month, you figure you last date of employment will be 13 August 2007. Even though that may be true, the process is not that quite right. It is the employer that should tell you your last date of employment, and not the other way around. Further, it is very likely that your last date will not be 13 August, if we factor in your unused annual leaves.”
I disagree with your statement “It is the employer that should tell you your last date of employment, and not the other way around”.
It is entirely professional and ‘the right process’ to state in your resignation letter when the last day of your employment will be *provided* your last day is consistent with the resignation notice period specified in your contract (or in workplace law, if a notice period was never explicitly defined when employment contract was formed).
Afterall when you resign you are exercising your legal right to terminate a contract of employment. You are not asking permission from your employer to leave your job, so there is no need to be coy about when your last day will be. Your letter of resignation is also a legal document whose sole purpose is to communicate your last day of employment to your employer, so to omit the termination date would be remiss.
As for unused annual leaves, these normally do not affect the termination date because they are simply paid out on your last day as a lump sum. To ‘use’ your accrued annual leave after you’ve handed in your resignation would serve no purpose for you or your employer, as you won’t be in the office (i.e. no benefit to employer) and you will get paid your annual leave salary more slowly (i.e. no benefit to employee as you will be paid via the normal weekly/monthly payment cycle instead of a lump sum on your last day).
There may be circumstances where you, as an employee, may wish to serve a notice period longer than what you are contractually obligated to serve. To use your example, if your notice period is 1 month you may want to work for 1.5 months. In this scenario you would need to negotiate the extra 0.5 months with your employer because you are not legally entitled to it. Conversely if your employer wants you to terminate your employment immediately before the notice period is served (e.g. because you are moving to a competitor), then you’ll be paid 1 month’s salary in lieu. In either case, you still need to nominate a termination date in your resignation letter. If you agree to something later on that is different to the resignation notice period, just type out an formal addendum to your resignation letter and have both your employer and yourself sign it. Simple, everyone’s bases are covered (including your employer’s) and you look professional and organised.
At the end of the day it is as you say: the key to resigning gracefully is by doing high quality work during your resignation notice period and maintaining a professional attitude whilst still on the job.
Reply
SKORCAREER reply on March 30th, 2008:
Thanks for your input. Very much appreciate it.
The resignation above is for the normal circumstances. Of course, there are other types of resignation/ termination e.g. 24 hour resignation, giving 1 month notice instead of 3 months as per stipulated in employment agreement, and such. Then writing the resignation letter will have to be slightly different, depending on the prevailing condition.
As for annual leave, that also depends on what you’ve agreed with the employer. Why can’t the employer allow the employee to consume their annual leaves during resignation notice? A lot of companies do this, and as long as it is mutually agreeable, it should not be an issue.
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I have been browsing your website for 2months already. I am not sure how i found it….but it has been a great form of information that you put in & there are daily updates of articles as well. Bravo! The information really updates me a lot in the industry to keep updated. I am a daily fan of your website, I visit daily to see articles.
In order to write the resign letter, I have refered to your sample.
Now I have some problem in calculating my last day of work. Not sure if you know how to calculate. plan to tender my resign letter on 6Aug2008 with 1 month notice period. I have 8 days of balance Annual Leave. Therefore I not sure if u can help to see what is my last day of work after minus the balance of 8days that I should put in my resign letter. I want to utilize my annua leave so that I can leave earlier. Does boss have the right to ask us not to utilize the balance? I want to prepare in case my boss ask me not to.
Thanks
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Mo reply on August 1st, 2008:
Hi Shirley,
Unless there are some special circumstances you’re trying to grapple with, you don’t normally need to take annual leave into account when calculating your notice period.
You wish to resign on 6/08/08 with one month’s notice. Simply add one month to that date, which would make your last day 03/09/08. As for your annual leave, it will be paid out as a lump sum when you exit the business.
In my two jobs, I had 5 – 6 weeks of annual leave accrued. I resigned on day X, finished up a month later and got a large lump sum pay out from my employer due to the large annual leave accrual.
With respect to utlizing your annual leave, I’m from Australia and thus am not familiar with your country’s labour laws. But unless there is something in legislation or your contract, I don’t believe your employer can force you to extend your notice period by the length of your annual leave. All your employer can do is decide whether or not to let you serve out your month in full or terminate you immediately and pay you a month in leiu.
Those are my thoughts, based upon my experience. I’d be interested to see if SKORCAREER has any additional insights to add.
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Zul reply on August 1st, 2008:
Thanks Mo! I think you summed it up very well there.
Thanks Shirley for the comment. Do visit us often.
Rgds
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Mo reply on August 2nd, 2008:
Hi Shirley,
Re-reading your post, I noticed I may have misanswered one of your questions. You’re asking if you can use your 8 days of annual leave to reduce your 1 month notice period? The short answer is “no, unless your employer voluntarily agrees”.
If your employer wants you to serve the full month notice period, it’s their legal entitlement. But it swings both ways – if an employer wants to fire you, you’re legally entitled to 1 month’s notice or 1 month’s pay in leiu if you’re immediately terminated (unless you’re being terminated for criminal misconduct, which is not true in your case).
You can ask your manager if they’d be willing to reduce your notice period by 8 days, but just be aware they are not legally obligated to consent. Also bear in mind that with such an agreement, your employer may end up paying you less money because your annual leave is coming out of your notice period.
Muhammad
PS. Thanks Zul!
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Hi, I hope you can help me.. i would like to resign from my present company but I cant find a good excuss to leave the company. I have around 10 days of annual leave which was c/f last year and I have few hours that i can claimed which is not a cash convertable. I plan to leave the company early .. I plan my last day would be on the 12 Sept and I plan to work till 5 Sept.
Can you give some sample or tips to write a resignation mail.
Thanks
Nesh
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Zul reply on August 8th, 2008:
You are under no obligation to tell the exact reason or excuse why you’re leaving, but you can always tell them a sensible reason such as moving to new opportunity, new challenge or simply finding new environment.
“I plan my last day would be on the 12 Sept and I plan to work till 5 Sept.”
Don’t quite understand that, but looks like you possibly want to ‘burn’ some of your leaves. Talk to your manager and ask if the arrangement is possible.
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Dear Skorcareer
I have been working for a company for the past 6 years and recently, i have received a much better offer from a different company. The actual reason of me leaving is basically the fact that I am not happy with my current employer – inconsistent, unprofessional and I felt that I have outgrown the company and at the same time I am not being rewarded as much. There is a lot of conflict of interest in the company since the MD’s children are also working here. I have been made stagnant for the past 3 years and instead of getting people to assist me, i felt that my job for the past years was to assist the new children. Anyway, on the other hand, i am very close the MD’s family and hence my dilemma is tendering my resignation. I am planning to leave early, as the other company is willing to pay for my notice. I also felt that as soon as I tender my resignation, I would like to leave ASAP since things will be akward afterwards. Simply put, I am no longer happy working here.
Can someone please advise me when would be the best time to sit down and talk. I just have not had any experience resigning from a job before! Help me make this easy.
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Zul reply on September 19th, 2008:
Hi Diena, here’s my 2-cent:
In making decision about your career and professional world, you must not let the emotion to overpower you. You must know to distinguish between personal relationship and business relationship.
For whatever reason, it’s quite apparent that your job is filled with frustration now. You should be able to tell your boss with your head high that you’re moving on to gather new experience and knowledge. It’s nothing personal, it’s just business. A good employer would let their staff to leave, and would be willing welcome them back with open arms.
To avoid burning the bridges, discuss with the current employer to reach a compromise on your final date so that they will be adequate time for passover and everything.
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Hi!
I put down my papers and as per the aggrement i gotto give 1 month notice and my outstanding leavs were 9, I dont have any problem in working for complete 30 days if my employer is ready to pay for my o/s leavs, same time dont bother if he relieve me before 9 days without paying for these 9 days
But the problem is neither he is relieving me before 9 days nor he is ready to pay me the amount for 9 days, Iam presently working in india, can any one help me out with exact rules as per indian labour Act, which I can refer to my employer
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Hi,
I’ve resigned from my previous employer, The Hour Glass with given 1 month notice, with balance about 15days replacement leave. If chosen to clear leave instead of in lieu of 1 month’s pay. They (my previous employer) there after deducted my leave and my pay, stating I started work at new work place during my replacement leave, refuse to pay me what I’m entitle, my replacement leave’s pay.
Do they have the rights to act that? Is Human Resource taken away employee’s right? When they act what they thought is right, Are they human’s resources or human suckers(after what we earn from the company, it’s just taken away like that)? What and who can I seek advise on this situation? I hope there’s a win-win solution.
Thank you.
Shadacq Chai
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I got a friend resigned, he gotten official HR letter (last day: mid-April). The following day, his manager told him that he’s been terminated (poor performance, didnt improve fast enough) and actual last day is a week from now. Can some1 tell me is that legal? HR acknowledged Resignation, official letter SIGNED… but terminated next day? Need advice ASAP. Thx!
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Zul reply on March 5th, 2010:
Get him to discuss with the HR. Ask them what’s happening and what you can/should do next. If the HR is being unfriendly, then get some external advice, including the officers in the labour office, to see if the company is following all the right procedures. It is likely they are not.
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This was a Great blog post, I will save this post in my Propeller account. Have a great evening.
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Hi,
I joined this Company XXXX (a local bank) as a management trainee. I wanted to leave the bank for a couple of times as I have better job offers. But I couldn’t afford to leave because in the contract, it says that if i leave the company, I have to pay back what I’ve earned from the company.
For eg, I’ve worked for a year, therefore i have to pay back one year salary (say my salary is RM3k, hence i have to pay back RM36k). The bond is for 2 years.
My question is, can the bank impose such a clause in our contract? Are they allowed to do so and is it legal?
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Zul reply on April 11th, 2010:
I do not see much justice in the clause. Perhaps you can discuss with them and ask them politely why such clause exists. Did they send you overseas or something? (yeah probably too late now but better late than never).
Try to reach a compromise or win-win solution. If they insist on the penalty, try to engage with the nearby labor office and see if they can help you on this.
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