What to do when an employee resigns

Confirm the resignation and what the employee has said

You cannot reject a clear resignation. A short written response is still useful because it gives both sides the same starting point. Confirm when the resignation was received, the notice you believe applies and the provisional final day. Ask the employee to flag any disagreement before payroll or handover plans are built around it.

If the words were unclear, said in anger or sent during a difficult personal situation, do not rush to close the record. Clarify whether the employee intended to resign. If they later ask to withdraw a clear resignation, discuss it reasonably, but neither side can usually withdraw it unilaterally. Acas explains the employer response in Great Britain.

Work out the notice period and final day

Start with the person's employment status, service and written terms. In Great Britain and Northern Ireland, an employee who has worked for at least one month normally gives at least one week's notice when resigning, unless the contract requires more. Below one month, there is no statutory resignation notice unless the contract says otherwise. The Acas notice guide and nidirect route set out the respective rules.

Read the clause rather than relying on what the team usually does. Check whether notice is expressed in days, weeks or months, when it starts, and whether a longer contractual period applies. A fixed-term contract may have its own end and early-termination wording.

Use the notice period calculator to check the dates, then write down the inputs. Keep the resignation itself, the clause used, any continuity date and the calculation beside the result.

Decide how the notice period will be worked

The ordinary position is that employment continues and the employee works as usual until the final date. Pay, contractual benefits, holiday accrual and the employer's duties continue too. Change access because the role and risk require it, not simply because somebody is leaving.

There are other possible arrangements:

• The employee works some or all of the notice.
• The employee takes agreed holiday during notice.
• The employer places them on garden leave under an applicable term or agreement.
• The employer makes a payment in lieu of notice where the contract allows it or both sides agree.
• Both sides agree an earlier release, including what happens to pay and benefits.

These choices do not mean the same thing. On garden leave, employment continues. With payment in lieu, it usually ends without the notice being worked. Acas explains the different ways an employee may not work notice. Put the chosen arrangement and its effect on the final date, pay, holiday and benefits in writing.

Plan a proportionate handover

Agree what must be transferred, who will receive it and what can stop. A useful handover names live work, decisions due, important contacts, document locations and access that needs reassignment. It should help the next person act, not become an autobiography of the role.

Set reasonable priorities for the notice available. The employee still has their normal job and should not be expected to rebuild every process before leaving. If client, financial or administrator access needs to change, record the reason and keep enough access for the person to do the work you still expect.

An exit interview is optional. Use it to listen and spot a pattern, not to press the employee to justify leaving or reconsider a settled decision. Keep any feedback appropriately private and separate actionable workplace concerns from general comments.

Calculate final pay, holiday and benefits

Build final pay from visible lines: ordinary pay to the final date, notice pay where applicable, accrued untaken holiday, agreed deductions, expenses, commission or bonus under the relevant terms, and any benefit treatment. Tell the employee when it will be paid and give them a calculation they can follow.

Workers must be paid for accrued statutory holiday they have not taken when they leave. If they have taken more holiday than accrued, a deduction needs a contractual or other prior written basis. The Acas final-holiday guidance explains both sides of that calculation.

Do not make a last-minute deduction for equipment, training or another cost because it feels fair. Check that there is a lawful, written basis and that the calculation matches it. Ask payroll or an adviser to review a disputed or unusual payment before the normal pay date.

Close payroll, access and the employment record

Report the leaving date in the final payroll submission and give the employee their P45. GOV.UK sets out the employer payroll steps. Use the same final date in the resignation confirmation, payroll instruction, access schedule and HR record.

Recover business property and transfer ownership of shared accounts or files. Do not delete the person's employment record as part of disabling access. Retain each category for its proper purpose and period, restrict it to the people who need it, and record where any active matter now belongs.

Finish with a short closure check: final pay sent, P45 provided, property returned, access closed, work reassigned, contact details updated and any reference route explained. That leaves an understandable record without turning departure into a prolonged administrative project.