Letter of Resignation

A Letter of Resignation is used when an employee wants to leave their current position of employment for a new job. Often, especially in professional positions, letters of resignation are required in order to properly memorialize the employee's terms and conditions for leaving. Although verbal resignation is generally given in most employment situations, a Letter of Resignation finalizes the resignation and gives the employer something to keep in the employee's file. Because a Letter of Resignation also contains the employee's details of departure, the employer will be able to refer to it to help plan the employee's transition.

In a letter of resignation, along with the employee informing the employer that they are leaving, other details are covered such as when the last day of employment will be. Generally, the employee can include as much or as little information as they would like, being sure to give the employer as much as is necessary.

How to use this document

This document can be used in any scenario where an employee has decided to leave their current job for a new one. Keep in mind that the employee may be subject to certain requirements about when to send this letter of resignation, generally included in the Employment Agreement, so the employee may want to check on that as soon as they have decided to leave their job. Once information about the timing is known, however, this letter will enable the employee to create a record of the terms of their departure.

In this Letter of Resignation, pertinent details of the work relationship will be entered, such as how long the employee has worked at the current position, as well as when the employee is leaving. If chosen, information about why the employee is leaving the job can be entered, as well as how the employee plans to help transition out or how the employee plans to handle the remainder of work. These details are optional, however, so the letter can be as basic or as complex as desired.

Once the employer recieves the letter of resignation, they have officially received notice of the employee's plans to leave. They can then finalize the resignation process. This often includes the employer making an announcement to the rest of the staff and informing them that the employee will be leaving. They can do this in writing by using an Announcement of Employee Departure letter.

Over the course of resignation and on the last day of employement, the employer may require that the employee complete paperwork, such as a Non-Compete Agreement, to finalize their resignation. Non-Compete Agreements are especially common when the employee who is leaving had a managerial position or was in a position to have access to many of the employer's business plans and trade secrets. This document stops the former empolyee from taking this knowledge to a competing business in the same field.

Applicable law

There are no laws outlining what must be put into a letter of resignation. There are, however, some overall accepted practices for creating such documents, including ensuring adequacy of information for the employer and having a professional presentation, both of which are done already in this Letter of Resignation.

How to modify the template

You fill out a form. The document is created before your eyes as you respond to the questions.

At the end, you receive it in Word and PDF formats. You can modify it and reuse it.