The resignation of Pope Benedict XVI has caused worldwide surprise as he is the first Pontiff to voluntarily leave the Seat of Peter in over 600 years. As the head of the Catholic Church the Pope has resigned for health reasons and will vacate his position on the 28th February 2013 at 8.00 pm. at which point a conclave will be held no earlier than 15 days after this date.
The Pope's resignation has thrown into question the leadership of the Church, however if one was to take a business view of this resignations occur very frequently in business, and there are matters to consider with such events. Do employers have a procedure in place for dealing with resignations?
Pope Benedict being the head of the church has a significant amount of power in determining the manner and timeframe by which he will vacate his position, and effectively provided close 3 weeks notice of this decision, however one would imagine that internally the decision would have been known before this. Of course this situation is very different to that of an Employer/Employee relationship, and no conclave would be held in organisations, however as mentioned the issue of resignation occurs frequently in business so it is important for employers to be aware of the process to adhere to when dealing with an employee who wishes to give their notice of termination
The first step for any employer is to ensure that any resignation is confirmed in writing by the Employee. This is important as a verbal resignation alone cannot be relied upon, as this resignation could be said to have been given in the heat of the moment. In the case of Sothern v Franks Charlesly & Co. (1981) IRLIR 278, the employee was said to have been “immature” and that the decision to resign was taken in the heat of the moment , and thus not an effective resignation.
The second step is to ensure there are no underlying issues provoking the resignation. This is important to avoid a potential issue of constructive dismissal. With Pope Benedict he has cited health reasons as being the rationale behind the decision, however in standard resignation process should there be any underlying issues giving rise to the decision to resign, the Employer should seek to resolve these before accepting any resignation, either by offering the employee access to the Company Grievance process, or by informing the employee of the Company bullying and Harassment policy. The employer should also offer the employee the opportunity to reconsider their decision as the case of McCarthy v Gary O’Donovan (UD 2009/154) illustrates. In this case the employee made a throwaway comment and the employer took this to mean he had resigned. The employee was given no opportunity to reconsider his options or explain himself and the Tribunal viewed this as a dismissal and awarded €22,000 to the employee.
The third step is to view the resignation in context. On the face of it a resignation may seem straightforward but when viewed in context may present issues. In the case of Maxwell v Coruscate Ltd. (t/a Glenview Hotel) (1992) ELR 122, the employee was a chef and told to get out of the kitchen, at which time he asked for his p45. The company took the view he resigned and when he went back some days later to discuss this the Owner said there was nothing he could do, and the head chef stated he did not want him back. The tribunal took the view he was dismissed from his position.
The final step is to confirm the Company’s acceptance of the resignation. This is important to avoid any future claims, as merely issuing the P45 is not enough to confirm a resignation, as the P45 is only a tax document, and does not confirm the termination of employment. The resignation must be confirmed in writing by the Employer, with the end date of the employee included also, in order to have a complete paper trail by which the Company can argue against future claims. The case of HSE South v Dr Robert J Gordon DET No FTD1123, illustrates the importance of an employer confirming the intention of the Employee to resign or their own (the Employer’s) intention to accept a resignation.
It can be a straightforward process where there are no underlying issues and the employee is amicably parting ways with the Company, however the issues occur where the employee maintains the “had no option but to resign” or “couldn’t stand working there any longer”. the four simple steps above should allow an employer to reduce any liability or damage stemming from a resignation of an employee.
The Vatican will have their own procedure in dealing with the resignation of the Pope, and an employer should also have their own procedure when dealing with the resignation of their employee.
