Effectivity of an employee’s resignation

Under the Philippine Labor Code, an employee may choose to terminate his or her employment in a company with or without just cause or reason. This is addressed in Article 285, which provides:

• An employee may terminate without just cause the employee-employer relationship by serving a written notice on the employer at least one (1) month in advance. The employer upon whom no such notice was served may hold the employee liable for damages.
• An employee may put an end to the relationship without serving any notice on the employer for any of the following just causes:
  • Serious insult by the employer or his representative on the honor and person of the employee;
  • Inhuman and unbearable treatment accorded the employee by the employer or his representative;
  • Commission of a crime or offense by the employer or his representative against the person of the employee or any of the immediate members of his family; and
  • Other causes analogous to any of the foregoing.

Withdrawal of resignation

In situations wherein an employee files for resignation and is accepted by the employer, the employee may no longer withdraw the resignation unless the employer permits it, allowing the employee to retain his or her job. If the employer does not accept the withdrawal of resignation, an employee cannot claim illegal dismissal.

This recognizes an employment’s contractual nature, which requires the mutual consent between the employer and employee. Employment contracts are considered consensual and voluntary. In resignations accepted by an employer, the consequent effect is severance of the contract of employment.

Resigned employees who request to have their job back need to re-apply to the same position. He or she cannot claim the same position in the company which he or she previously decided to leave. Allowing a resigned employee to do so deprives employers of their basic right to select whom to employ.

30-day resignation period

While employees are required to submit a written notice to employers at least one month before the intended date of resignation, the law does not compel employers to retain employees who have filed for resignation to stay for a one-month period. The 30-day period is placed only to give employers sufficient time to find a suitable replacement for the resigning employee. Employers have the option of shortening a resignation’s period of effectivity.

The rule that requires employees to complete the 30-day period prior to resignation is discretionary on the part of the management, allowing them to provide a shorter period before a resignation becomes effective.

For further enlightenment on this matter, on September 9, 2015, the Supreme Court ruled in the case of Paredes vs. Feed the Children Philippines, Inc. and/or Dr. Lao et al.:

“We held that the act of the employer moving the effectivity of the resignation is not an act of harassment. The 30-day notice requirement for an employee’s resignation is actually for the benefit of the employer who has the discretion to waive such period. Its purpose is to afford the employer enough time to hire another employee if needed and to see to it that there is proper turn-over of the tasks which the resigning employee may be handling.”

To learn more about the effectivity of an employee’s resignation, get in touch with the attorneys at Duran & Duran-Schulze. Call (+632) 478 5826 or email info@duranschulze.com today.