In an ideal world an employee will quit by providing a two week notice and at the end of the two weeks will stop working. Sometimes though an employee gets so frustrated and states “I quit” and walks out of the place of the employment. As an employer though one cannot be too quick to accept this as the employee’s resignation. Courts in British Columbia have determined findings of wrongful dismissal when an employer has accepted resignations in circumstances described above.
A leading case in determining whether a resignation has occurred or not is Beggs v Westport Foods Ltd., 2011 BCAA 76. The Court of Appeal determined that there is a two-factor analysis when deciding whether an employee has truly resigned consisting of the following questions:
- Whether the employee intended to resign?
- Whether the employee’s words and acts, objectively support a finding of resignation?
The Court will consider the employee’s state of mind at the time of the alleged resignation and whether the employee attempted to retract the resignation.
When it comes to a spur-of-the-moment resignation it is advised that an employer let a few days pass before acting upon the resignation to see if an employee comes back into work.
If you are faced with the above situation properly as an employer it is your duty to inquire into whether the employee truly meant to resign or not and not take advantage of the opportunity to dismiss a disgruntled employee.
