Can your employer refuse your resignation and then dismiss you?!?!

lennysgirl

Hi there

I am in urgent need of advise. I resigned from my post as nursery manager a few months back due to the company being in much financial difficulty and I had the opportunity for another job. I resigned first verballly by telephone and then later confirmed this in writing, however I did not give notice as the company was closed to change premises so was not working at this time. I know I should have worked notice and I am regretfull of this now but at the time I felt I had no choice.

As part of the regulation of care work in scotland, all childcare workers have to be registered with a regualating body, I recieved a letter from them today to say I am being reffered to a conduct case investigation as they recieved the following information from my my employer:

* A letter from my employer saying that they refuse my resignation and due to my conduct are dismissing me on the the grounds of miscondut. This was allegedlly a copy of a letter sent to me by my employer but I did not recieve any such letter.

I am looking for any advice before I contact the registering body on Monday, particularly:

• Can resignation be refused?
• Any ideas on how I can approach this misleading information sent to the body as I did not recieve any copy of the letter that they sent?

I understand I shouldnt have left without notice and started another job and I regret this now but surely, she cannot get away with claiming she dismissed me when I recieved no corrsepondance regarding this????

Sorry for the long post, I am just extremly worried on the impact this will have on my current and future career.

Thanks in advance.

DVardysShadow

I would suggest a solicitor's letter to your former employer - this is basically a lie - and if she is going to dismiss you for misconduct, she has to conduct proceedings, putting an allegation to you and hearing you out. Hopefully, you will not only carry this through to see yourself cleared, but also take it to the point where you poke her one in the eye by making the regulating body accept that she is not credible.

lennysgirl

Thank you so much for your quick reply.

Yeah that is a great idea, I never thought of a solicitors letter. I have just reread the letter and it says I failed to turn up for a disciplinary meeting, but I wasnt informed of this either, am I write in saying I should have recieved written notification of any such meeting as well? or could this be a case of her word against mine?

Thanks again for the quick and helpful reply

zzzLazyDaisy

lennysgirl wrote: »

I have just reread the letter and it says I failed to turn up for a disciplinary meeting, but I wasnt informed of this either, am I write in saying I should have recieved written notification of any such meeting as well?

Yes.

In any event, the employer cannot conduct a disciplinary if you have already resigned.

The only time that would apply would be if you attended a disciplinary and when you were told you were going to be dismissed you decided to resign instead - at that point they can refuse to accept your resignation and proceed with the dismissal instead.

Does the letter say when you were supposedly dismissed? Was it after you started working for your new employer? In that case you can prove you were not employed by the ex-employer at the time, so they couldn't have dismissed you.

I suspect that the regulatory body is more concerned about the allegation of misconduct itself. Have you been provided with any information about the allegation that is being made about your conduct? Leaving without giving proper notice isn't grounds for a misconduct dismissal, because you can't dismiss someone who has already left, so the concern may be that you left during the course of disciplinary proceedings.

lennysgirl

Thank you for your relpies, I feel much better now. I think the regulatory body have to investigate any information they have regarding dismissal and I plan to speak to them on Monday to find out on what grounds I was alledgedlly dismissed for becuase other than leaving without notice and commenincing new employment I cannot think of any other reason.

Thank you again for all of your replys and help.

Sambucus_Nigra

Just out of interest; what did they say when you resigned verbally? Did they accept that resignation on the phone?

lennysgirl

She said that she would have preffered if I let her know that I was looking for another post, that she wouldnt have held me back. She also stated I had four weeks notice to complete, I replied by saying as I did not have a contract I did not think this was the case as she had stated in a previous conversation that if I dont give contracts you dont need to give notice to me when I had been asking her repeatedly about giving us contracts.

She then asked if I would still help her complete paperwork that had to be completed for another regulatory body, I said I was happy to do this but this was my last correspondance with her, as I was sending emails relating to work issues such as childcare vouchers infor I had recieved but I recieved no replies from her.

I understand her anger at me leaving without notices and I regret this but I feel these revenge tactics have went to far.

zzzLazyDaisy

lennysgirl wrote: »

she had stated in a previous conversation that if I dont give contracts you dont need to give notice to me when I had been asking her repeatedly about giving us contracts..

The law requires an employer to provide a written statement of employment particulars to the employee within two months of the employee starting work.

If the employer refused to provide a contract then the statutory notice period would apply, which for an employee is one week's notice, no matter how long you worked there (different rules apply for the notice an employer must give to an employee).

It is worth telling the regulatory body that you were never given a contract, despite requests, as this is unlawful. It also means that you have no way of knowing what your rights are or what the employer expects of you.

ohreally

The SSC will not be at all concerned with the procedural issues surrounding your alleged resignation and disciplinary. They will simply look at establishing your fitness to practise and remain registered.

The invitation to attend a disciplinary hearing should have been sent recorded mail - ask for evidence of this as part of your challange.

Since you have already parted company, why do you think your ex-employer is behaving in such a manner?

lennysgirl

Thanks ohreally, your post really helped make me feel better as I know I havent done anything that can affect my registration.

ohreally

Be aware this may hang around like a bad smell in terms of an appropriate reference being supplied from this employer.

Is there any scope to resolve this aspect or are we past this stage entirely?