When employing staff in your business, you will have employment contracts with them. Where business is going well, and your employees are working effectively, you are unlikely to have a reason for ending your employee\u2019s employment contracts. However, unfortunately, there will be times when you must end your employee\u2019s employment contract, such as for a disciplinary issue or due to redundancy. There will also be times when your employee decides to end their employment contract with you. Therefore, you must be clear about when and how an employment contract can end and the rules surrounding this. If you do not terminate an employee\u2019s employment contract according to the rules, you could find yourself in an employment tribunal.<\/p>\n
This article will explain ways to end an employment contract in England and Wales. It will explain what an employment contract is and the two main methods for ending employment contracts. It will also outline the basic rules when terminating an employment contract.<\/p>\n
An employment contract<\/a> is a legal agreement between you and your worker. It sets out the relationship between the two of you regarding your obligations towards your worker and their rights and responsibilities.\u00a0<\/p>\n An employment contract can come to an end in two ways:<\/p>\n Resignation is often referred to as resigning, quitting a job or handing in your leave notice. This is when your employee decides to end their employment contract<\/a> with you by stating they no longer wish to work for you. Resignation is also called voluntary termination. It is the most common form of ending an employment contract.<\/p>\n As an employer, you may have a set process in place for when an employee wants to resign. Likewise, you might state this in their employment contract. Where you do have a set process, your employee should follow it. For example, you might identify who your employee should notify concerning their resignation.<\/p>\n Additionally, your employee should give you notice of their resignation. Their employment contract should state the notice requirement. Where it does not, if your employee has worked for you for one month or more, they are required to give you a minimum of one week\u2019s notice before the date they wish to leave.<\/p>\n Further, when your employee resigns, there is no legal requirement to respond to their resignation. However, it is good practice to do so in writing. This allows you to:<\/p>\n\n
Ending an Employment Contract Through Resignation<\/h2>\n
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