Refusal of resignation

Bigboris_2

My wife has been working for a company for 18 months and has never been given/seen or signed any contract.
She handed in her notice last week and was told that it had been refused as she was under investigation.
She was given the paperwork but not suspended. She's under investigation or unauthorised leave even though the cctv has her being there.
She went into work the following day and was ask to hand over her keys and was told that she was on gardening leave.

4 days later she received an email to say they never said gardening leave and they are not accepting her resignation. She not has to attend a formal disciplinary. They have since named a full time replacement in her post.

I could be wrong but it seems like they want her in so they can sack her as she has a good case for constructive dismissal??
Can they refuse her resignation? As she has no contract can she just leave?
Would they withhold her march pay?

Cheeky_Monkey

With less than 2 years service, she has no grounds for unfair dismissal

stator

If she has resigned, then she has resigned. No contract then it's statutory notice periods.

getmore4less

They cannot refuse a resignation.

Statutory notice would be 1 weeks but if she is aware that her notice is longer then that contractual notice applies.

Masomnia

As above in the absence of a longer contractual agreement then her notice period is one week. So once a week has elapsed since she sent in her notice, that's it. She should write in to inform them that she has fulfilled her legal obligations regarding notice and won't be going back.

They can't refuse her giving her notice, though they could refuse resignation with immediate effect.

Cheeky_Monkey wrote: »

With less than 2 years service, she has no grounds for unfair dismissal

May depend on the circumstances, there are a number of reasons for dismissal such as discrimination that are automatically unfair and the qualifying period is disapplied.

Undervalued

Bigboris wrote: »

My wife has been working for a company for 18 months and has never been given/seen or signed any contract.
She handed in her notice last week and was told that it had been refused as she was under investigation.
She was given the paperwork but not suspended. She's under investigation or unauthorised leave even though the cctv has her being there.
She went into work the following day and was ask to hand over her keys and was told that she was on gardening leave.

4 days later she received an email to say they never said gardening leave and they are not accepting her resignation. She not has to attend a formal disciplinary. They have since named a full time replacement in her post.

I could be wrong but it seems like they want her in so they can sack her as she has a good case for constructive dismissal??
Can they refuse her resignation? As she has no contract can she just leave?
Would they withhold her march pay?

The cannot lawfully withhold pay for any hours she has worked plus they must pay her for any accrued but untaken holiday.

She does have a contract by virtue of the fact she worked there and they paid her. However, unless they can demonstrate a clear agreement to a longer notice period then she only has to give one week. If they didn't let her work that week then they must pay her for it.

They cannot force her to attend any disciplinary procedure or withhold any of what she is owed for failing to do so.

sangie595

As others have said, they cannot refuse her resignation provided that it is in line with her contractual requirements. And technically they cannot refuse to pay her money owed. But that doesn't mean they won't.

As you may be aware, without two years empowerment she doesn't have a good case of anything at all, much less constructive dismissal, which is rarely a good case at all. However, I am confused by elements of this account, which seem totally at odds. Why would they refuse a resignation if the strategy is to dismiss her - resignations are easier for employers? Why would the employer allege something easily disproved by their own CCTV? And if she isn't suspended and they refused to accept her resignation, why then put her on gardening leave? Are you quite sure that you have the full story - it wouldn't be the first time a partner hasn't got the correct facts. The reason I ask is that this may well impact on whether they pay her and what you might do about it. If they are claiming, for example, unauthorised absence, they are likely to refuse to pay her for any of these absences. That could make any potential legal action messy.

Bigboris_2

Yes I am correct in what she told me.
Like one of you said why refuse her resignation if they want to sack her anyway.
They are denying putting her on gardening leave and this Friday it will be a week since she was told to go home.
She is not going to her disciplinary meeting as I think it's pointless as they are trying to stitch her up for things when she wasn't even there

TBagpuss

Well, if she went then she might at least find out exactly what they are alleging and can give them the information to correct it. But they cannot make her go, although they would be entitled to tell anyone who contacts them for a reference that she resigned while under investigation or (depending on the timescale and her notice period) that she was dismissed.

As others have said, if they are alleging unauthorised absences then they will not pay her for those periods, so again , going to the meeting to specifically dispute the alleged absences and to ask that the CCTV be reviewed to prove the case one way or the other may improve her chances of being paid what she is owed.

She would only have a case for constructive dismissal if she was alleging that she was dismissed for a reason which is discriminatory. Otherwise, they are allowed to dismiss her for any or no reason. In addition, failing to attend the meeting and pre-emptively assuming that they are going to dismiss her might well mean she would scupper her chances in any event.

Xbigman

When the keys were handed back were they signed for? If yes, and this happened before the end of her resignation period that adds some weight to her being on gardening leave. The same applies if they say she had not resigned, taking back the keys stops her ability to work thereby she can continue to argue she was on paid leave.

Is the disciplinary date during her notice period? If it is she should attend if she wants to get paid for the notice. If its after then politely tell them she has resigned and is no longer employed by the company.
Expect trouble over her final pay. Don't muck about, issue a letter before action and take action to get the money.



Darren

Bigboris_2

No keys were not signed for. She emailed and asked for notification of her notice being received and for her gardening leave and they denied putting her on gardening leave. They said she would get a phone call at the weekend but never got any call. Just an email Tuesday about her disciplinary. She hasn't had any investigation meetings at all.
She handed her notice in last Thursday and as she does not have a contract or anything in writing from the company, from what you are all saying, then she is done with the company tomorrow? As that will be a week.
They have to pay her for what she worked in march but I suspect they will mess about.

Just stinks as the investigating officer is her manager who appointed his friend into her position, so even if found innocent there's no job anyway. She's had no policy or procedure regarding discipline either.