What are an employer’s rights if an employee states to their HR department that they are going to
quit but they do not know when?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
What are an employer’s rights if an employee states to their HR department that they are going to
quit but they do not know when?
Asked on November 14, 2016 under Employment Labor Law, Oregon
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
The employer can treat their notice of resignation/quitting as effective immediately--the employee has stated that he or she does not want to continue to be employed, after all. Or less contentiously, since doing that deprives the employee of his/her eligibility for unemployment (if you quit/resign, you don't get unemployment benefits), which could prompt a legal challenge by the employee--and even if the employer wins, as they very well may in this circumstances, simply responding to the challenge could be a distraction and cost some money (e.g. for an attorney), the employer could simply terminate the employee immediately: unless the employee had a written employment contract preventing termination in this situation, he or she was an employee at will and could be let go at will. Terminating them means they can get unemployment; while the company may not want that, and would appear to be justified in treating the employee's announcement as an immediately effective resignation, again, a litigious employee could dispute a denial of unemployment or otherwise try to take legal action, and there is a certain value to avoiding potential litigation.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.