Resignation retraction, constructive dismissal?

[John Clancey]

Hi

I was wondering if I can have some feedback on an issue I am facing as a new HR manager within a large company.

Last week a Dept Manager handed his resignation in. The resignation included the normal fair and our Regional Manager accepted it. This week the employee has retracted his resignation. The retraction letter contains information I was not aware of such as:

The Manager due to project commitments had worked 15 days straight & lengthy hours to prepare & launch the products into market. The letter also states that the employee has been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder and that he felt that he had no way out & decided to resign, later regretting his decision.

The problem I have is that the Regional Manager was aware of the circumstances minus the mental issue and still accepted his resignation without asking the employee to go home immediately to rest & think about it.

Our policy is to not accept retraction letters, however in this case I believe that the Regional Manager being fully aware of the situation & accepting it in light of the circumstances may leave us open to litigation? possibly on an OH&S front

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated

[HRLINE]

Hi John

I would say that yes, that you are correct. The employee is providing evidence that his resignation was an irrationale decision. You could ask for proof from a doctor in regards to the anxiety disorder. However, it does sound like from this information that Regional Manager was not looking at the 'big' picture and the reasons why the manager would have resigned. In arguement, however the employee did take a week to retract his decision, which may be used as evidence that the staff member did have sufficent time to retract his decision, I would say 2 days is a suitable timeframe, not a week.

In the end, seek legal advice.

[HRIMHO]

If you proceeded with the resignation then an employee could claim constructive dismissal. Whether or not hard work and anxiety are legitimate reasons to win such a case is a matter for FWA/IRC... there is probably some kind of case law/precident out there somewhere.

Obviously asking for an employee to think about it is a good approach to circumvent constructive dismissal claims, but as HRLINE says, it doesn't look like the Regional Manager had much interest in them reconsidering the decision. And I understand this... sometimes.