Employee walks out

Peter W · #1 18-08-2008, 06:32 PM

Suppose a monthly-paid employee walks out of a job in the middle of the month. No notice is given, and the employer's business suffers as a result. The employment contract just says that one month's notice should be given. The employee is entitled to be paid for the days in the month that he has worked, but does anyone know if he is entitled to any pay for the rest of the month?

BenEddie1112 · #2 18-08-2008, 06:47 PM

Isn't it nothing because they quit?

Peter W · #3 18-08-2008, 06:53 PM

That would be the common sense answer, but employment law is not always like that.

boxby · #4 18-08-2008, 09:14 PM

Get their notice/decision to quit in writing.

I didn't and employee took us to tribunal, we didn't have employment cover, and it costs around £1800 to fight a tribunal case - we were stuffed. All because we didn't have the resignation in writing. We wrote to them confirming we accepted their verbal resignation/actions of walking out, but this is not enough to win a tribunal case.

And you need to protect yourself here for one very important reason. Said employee can't get benefits if they walked out, only if they were sacked, (or made redundant) they need to complete a DSS form giving the circumstances around the sacking, and this form is fundamentally a duplicate of the first claim form lodged in the tribunal case.

Take proper advice. Are you/your client a member of the FSB?

Peter W · #5 18-08-2008, 09:28 PM

It is difficult to get anything meaningful in writing from an employee that has just walked out. They are not good with paperwork at the best of times.

If you don't mind me asking, assuming you paid them up to the point they left, what was their main complaint in taking you to a tribunal? Just trying to anticipate what else could go wrong.

boxby · #6 19-08-2008, 04:15 PM

They denied that they had resigned. They claimed that they left because they were ill.

After negotiating, and being paid all settlements, and outstanding holiday pay, three weeks later they wrote to me informing me that they had now been cleared by the doctors of "stress" and were ready to return to work.

When we said "you walked out" they slammed in the forms for unfair dismissal.

And the daft bit, is that it doesn't matter how nonsensicle all of that is, how ridiculous, and how incorrect, it still is going to cost around £1800 to fight it, and we didn't have employment cover as we only had 2 employees.

They, of course, got free legal representation because they were out of work!!!!!

Cathy · #7 19-08-2008, 06:16 PM

It seems ludicrous that even sending a letter to say that you accept their resignation doesn't count.

In that case it would seem the best option is to send them a letter with a form to return in which they must clearly state that they are resigning.

If they fail to do so then I would presume that you can take it down a disciplinary route for failing to turn up for work...what a crazy world.

Peter W · #8 19-08-2008, 06:29 PM

Employees have so many rights, the odds are stacked against employers. No wonder that it is so tempting to use freelance subcontractors where possible - you don't get any of this.

boxby · #9 19-08-2008, 06:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peter W

Employees have so many rights, the odds are stacked against employers. No wonder that it is so tempting to use freelance subcontractors where possible - you don't get any of this.

That is exactly our solution. We use Manpower now for Alistair's house clearances, and just pay someone for the 4 hours they work. Plain and Simple.

80% plus of tribunals are won by employees. It's totally stacked against employers, and small employers, who don't have someone dedicated to ensuring that the rights of their employees are protected, are doubly, tripley stuffed.

If your contracts, annual reviews, terms of emplyment etc are not absolutely bang up to date, and regularly reviewed, then you're starting off from a "guilty" position, because you've breached their rights as employees. How many small employers can be 100% assured that this isn't the case.

JOIN THE FSB, JOIN THE FSB, JOIN THE FSB!!

Coffee Trial · #10 19-08-2008, 07:58 PM

Call ACAS - they offer free employment advice as well - very friendly and every time I have consulted them over staffing matters they have picked up within 5 minutes and had answers to the questions or known exactly who to speak to.

Employee walks out

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