Staff resignations and retirement

This section will help you to follow best practice when dealing with resignations and retirement. It will guide you through what to do when an resigns, including how to deal with notice periods, how to protect your business’s confidential information and business contacts and how to avoid claims. It will also help you to plan for retirement within your business, including the steps you should take in both voluntary and compulsory retirement situations.

Proposed reforms under the Employment Rights Bill

  1. 1.What are the proposed reforms to unfair dismissal under the Employment Rights Bill?

What to do if a staff member resigns

  1. 2.Can I stop a staff member from resigning?
  2. 3.What are the first things I should do when a staff member resigns?
  3. 4.What should I do if a staff member resigns during the heat of the moment?
  4. 5.If a staff member resigns and later says they want to withdraw the resignation, do I have to agree?
  5. 6.If a staff member stops showing up for work without explanation, can I assume they have resigned?
  6. 7.What should I do if a staff member resigns whilst they are on long-term sick leave?
  7. 8.What should I do if a staff member resigns whilst they are on maternity, adoption or shared parental leave or parental bereavement leave?
  8. 9.What should I do if a staff member resigns because of something I have done?
  9. 10.What should I do if a staff member resigns because I have changed their hours, pay or job description?
  10. 11.What should I do if a staff member resigns whilst they are under a disciplinary investigation?
  11. 12.What should I do if a staff member resigns because I am transferring their employment to another business?

The notice period following resignation

  1. 13.How much notice does a staff member have to give when they resign?
  2. 14.What should I do if a staff member resigns and refuses to work out their notice period?
  3. 15.What should I do if I do not want a staff member who resigns to work during their notice period?
  4. 16.When can I make a payment in lieu of notice to a staff member who resigns?
  5. 17.What is garden leave?
  6. 18.When can I put an employee who resigns on garden leave?
  7. 19.Can I stop a staff member who resigns from working for a competitor or using my confidential information or business contacts?
  8. 20.What clauses in my employee's employment contract will protect my business if they leave for a competitor?
  9. 21.What should I do if an employee resigns and tries to take other staff with them?

Planning retirement

  1. 22.Do my staff have to retire at a certain age?
  2. 23.Can I force a staff member to retire at a certain age?
  3. 24.Can I set a compulsory retirement age for my staff?
  4. 25.Can I ask older members of staff if they are planning to retire soon?
  5. 26.Does my staff member have to retire if they are receiving a pension?
  6. 27.What should I do if a staff member nearing retirement is performing poorly?
  7. 28.What should I do if the poor health of a staff member nearing retirement affects their ability to do their job?
  8. 29.What should I do if a member of staff nearing retirement asks to work fewer hours or days?

Retirement process

  1. 30.What steps do I need to take if I want to force a staff member to retire?
  2. 31.How much notice must I give to a staff member I want to retire?
  3. 32.When giving notice to a staff member I want to retire, how do I know when the notice period will start?
  4. 33.Can I retire a staff member without giving them notice?
  5. 34.What steps do I need to take if a staff member voluntarily retires?
  6. 35.How much notice must a staff member give me when they want to retire?
  7. 36.What can I do if a staff member gives notice to retire but refuses to work their notice period?
  8. 37.What should I do if a staff member has told me they want to retire but then change their mind?

Issues after notice of retirement is given

  1. 38.What can I do if I do not want a staff member to work their notice period up to retirement?
  2. 39.Can I make a payment in lieu of notice when a staff member retires?
  3. 40.Can I put a staff member on garden leave when they retire?

Checklist for departing staff

Use this checklist for departing staff to tick off the various tasks you need to undertake when a staff member leaves your business, and make sure you don’t forget anything important. This checklist covers practical matters for the security of your premises, like returning keys, and administrative matters, like dealing with final salary payments. It also includes measures to take to protect your business interests, such as removing the individual’s access to your internal systems. You can also purchase this checklist as part of the TUPE transfer toolkit for outgoing employer .

List of common disabilities

This list of common disabilities sets out conditions that are commonly regarded as disabilities. It includes those which always qualify as disabilities, no matter what the actual effects on the individual who suffers from them, and those conditions which are most commonly classed as disabilities, provided there is a substantial or long-term effect on the person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. This will help you to identify whether a member of your staff has, or may have, a disability. Guidance is available throughout Sparqa to assist you to ensure you do not treat people with disabilities unfairly and you look after their health and safety. You can also purchase this document as part of the Disciplinary toolkit .
£10 + VAT
See all solutions