verbal and written notice

gerry2869

Iam an employer and one of my staff has decided to leave giving verbal notice a week before written was given to me. when verbal was given i explained that notice is only accepted when its written and notice period starts from when i recieve the letter.
when staff are employed they sign a resignation policy and it clearly states that if no notice is worked then they waver the right to any accrued holiday pay owing. She has signed this policy. also the member of staff will not take any of my phone calls and has sent her mother in to shout her mouth off and to pick up last wages before they are due. what can i do? Am i right in with holding holiday pay?

Roobarb_73

No. I would say that clause is illegal. and while getting a resgnation in writing is better, there is also nothing wrong with accepting verbal notice - you can always confirm it to her in writing. It's also a pretty pointless policy, because if she gives you her week's notice verbally, doesn't put it in writing, works it and leaves - what's the point in insisting on it in writing? She's gone. All you are doing is opening yourself up to a completely unnecessary claim for the holiday pay. Even if someone resigns with no notice at all (verbal or otherwise) then they are entitled to their accrued holiday pay. You can't lawfully withhold it.

SarEl

It is unlawful to withold any pay due, whether or not notice has been given. An employee cannot be made to sign an agreement of the type you have described and it is unenforceable. If you refuse to pay she will take you to a tribunal.

Googlewhacker

it is adviseable to get a written notice because employees have been known to 'resign' only to come back 'ill'

gerry2869

thank you for your answers. looks like the employer aint got a leg to stand on really.:beer:

cavework

'when staff are employed they sign a resignation policy and it clearly states that if no notice is worked then they waver the right to any accrued holiday pay owing.'

Not legal gerry2869 and you are opening yourself up for a tribunal if you try to enforce it.

Sambucus_Nigra

gerry2869 wrote: »

thank you for your answers. looks like the employer aint got a leg to stand on really.:beer:

In what context?

If you are forcing people to sign illegal agreements, then no!

Why not spend a little time working through the legalities of employment and drawing up legal contracts and then you will know what to do when an employee decides to leave.

Uncertain

gerry2869 wrote: »

Iam an employer and one of my staff has decided to leave giving verbal notice a week before written was given to me. when verbal was given i explained that notice is only accepted when its written and notice period starts from when i recieve the letter.
when staff are employed they sign a resignation policy and it clearly states that if no notice is worked then they waver the right to any accrued holiday pay owing. She has signed this policy. also the member of staff will not take any of my phone calls and has sent her mother in to shout her mouth off and to pick up last wages before they are due. what can i do? Am i right in with holding holiday pay?

The only point "on your side" here is that you do not have to hand the wages to the employee's mother or have any dialogue with her!

You do however have to pay the wages, including accrued holiday pay, by the due date.

Although it is probably easier for both parties if the notice was in writing there is no legal requirement for it to be so. With only a very few exceptions in English law, contracts do not have to be written down to be valid.

Given that you seem to have next to no grasp of employment law and issue contracts with totally unenforceable clauses I would suggest you pay this lady what she is legally entitled to ASAP. Otherwise, when she gets professional advice I suspect she will find a whole number of other things you are doing wrong.

Learn from this and do things properly in the future.

Roobarb_73

Googlewhacker wrote: »

it is adviseable to get a written notice because employees have been known to 'resign' only to come back 'ill'

sometimes they just won't give it in writing though, so I would normally advise the employer just to accept the verbal resignation in writing.

Savvy_Sue

Roobarb_73 wrote: »

sometimes they just won't give it in writing though, so I would normally advise the employer just to accept the verbal resignation in writing.

and then confirm it back to them in writing, as already advised.

Dear Fred, further to our conversation earlier today in which you gave a week's notice, I confirm that your last working day will be X. Your final wages will be paid to your bank account at the normal time of Y, and this will include your holiday entitlement of 1 day. Your final payslip and P45 will then be posted to you.

I wish you all the best in the future

The Boss

benham3160

From my understaning, essentially a "notice" is only a customary and "polite" way of resigning. To my knowledge generally you are free to "up and leave" any job without any notice period at all, albeit generally getting peoples backs up.

I had the misfortune to work for a chain store some time ago, and I just "resigned on the spot" after an altercation with my manager. She threated me will all sorts of nonsense that was buried in my contact about notice periods and witholding pay, although she did not excute any of "those clauses."

Regards,
Andy