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22 days ago I announced my resignation by mail, and personally delivered a hard copy with a signature. My notice period is 2.5 months, and I want to make sure that 2.5 months starts from when I initially gave notice (rather than when the company officially acknowledges and accepts my resignation).

After delivering the notice, my Senior Project Manager told me that "we will discuss" the resignation, but verbally acknowledged that he had received the notice. I would like to receive written acknowledgement accepting my resignation so that the resignation date is fixed.

How should I approach this? In my experience, the company should be able to provide an official letter acknowledging my resignation within 10 days, but it hasn't come yet. How can I ensure that my notice period will not be extended?

How can I write an email for resignation acceptance?

Nit
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    You must be somewhere in Asia. None of this makes any sense in North America, and I'm not sure what difference it would make in Europe, or at least the English-speaking part of it. – Meredith Poor Jul 17 '13 at 05:05
  • @Meredith Poor : does it make sense where i am from?. I think its open community for anyone to ask question. However, i accept your mark for english writing skill. – Nit Jul 17 '13 at 05:26
  • Welcome to the Workplace Nit! I have edited your question to clarify the question and get you better answers. It doesn't seem like English is your first language, so I did my best at trying to clarify what you were asking but may have made a mistake. If anything in my edit is wrong, or you think it can be improved, please edit the question yourself! – jmac Jul 17 '13 at 05:44
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    @Nit this doesn't have anything to do with whether the English is good, it's that in North America at least people don't ask for recommendation letters after resigning. Somehow this sounds like something that seriously affects your prospects in your next job. In what countries does that matter? – Meredith Poor Jul 17 '13 at 16:00
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    @MeredithPoor what are you talking about? who cares if it doesn't make sense to NA or Europe. He's asking about his situation. If you have no experience with resignation letters, don't write an answer – squeemish Jul 17 '13 at 16:44
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    @Nit - It's a cultural thing. In most Western cultures, employment is "at will" on both sides; you choose to be employed there and the company chooses to keep paying you for your work, and if either of these two change, employment is terminated, sometimes immediately. When you decide to leave, a resignation and two weeks' notice are welcomed and indicate professionalism on your part, but they're ultimately formalities; in the U.S. in most cases you can walk off the job and start a new one the next day. The company cannot force you to keep coming to work for them (though they can ask). – KeithS Jul 17 '13 at 16:53
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    @Nit - In your case, there appears to be a binding employment contract of some sort, and/or a cultural viewpoint that you "belong" to the company, and they have to let you go in order for you to leave. This is not the cultural norm for most of your audience here on this site, though we will try to help you as best we can. – KeithS Jul 17 '13 at 16:56
  • Keiths : can you help me to write constructive email to get resignation acceptance? if possible than provide me well drafted mail to ask for resignation acceptance. – Nit Jul 18 '13 at 08:33
  • Isn't this a legal Q as the OP is asking about how to avoid having a variation of contract applied to him/her – Neuro Jul 18 '13 at 10:04
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    It would be nice to add a tag if this is Asia, this is regionally specific enough that it helps to target it. It's totally worth asking - we agreed a long time ago that region-specific answers are fine here, I'd just like to tag it for usability. – bethlakshmi Jul 18 '13 at 22:50
  • bethlakshmi : +1 for your constructive thought... – Nit Jul 19 '13 at 03:03
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    Regarding earlier comments: In some parts of Europe, the notice is defined by law and runs from the moment the letter has been received. To get a proof that your letter has been received it must be delivered by registered mail. Firing someone is not necessarily extraordinarily complicated but there are some forms to respect and employment is not “at will” the way this is understood in the US. Please avoid generalizations like “the Western world” when you are only really talking about your experience in one or two countries. – Relaxed Aug 08 '13 at 13:47
  • This question is certainly be relevant to the UK where notice periods of a month (or more) on each side are normal. – Chris F Carroll Mar 10 '14 at 20:50
  • @ChrisFCarroll in the UK the notice would start from the day of notification to the employees manager. – Pepone Nov 29 '14 at 18:25
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    @KeithS "In most western countries" is untrue. Pretty much of all the west only the USA practices at will employment. – Magisch Jun 23 '16 at 08:20
  • In France, the period is 3 months.....taken from the date written on the enveloppe of the mail you did send. So it's long, but there is no place for negotiation. You cannot stop now, but you can stop at will(even if the price for the employer can be high). It's intermediate between the USA's situation and the OP's situation who is rather in the dark. – gazzz0x2z Jun 23 '16 at 09:17

2 Answers2

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This problem is easily avoided by defining an absolute resignation date instead of a duration of time for resignation.

If I intend to resign after 2.5 months, then I figure out what that date is from the day I intend to turn my letter in, and stick with that. Depending on employment law, cultural norms, and good etiquette, I always give slightly more notice than is typically required to account for the fact that managers can be hard to find or get hold of when you are just looking to hand them a resignation letter. In this way if your manager is not in this day then you are still okay with the date you picked.

The important thing here is that you are letting them know when your last day will be, regardless of when they choose to acknowledge or accept this.

This in the very least works in most western cultures where employees have even a modest amount of human rights. Many countries however have laws that make proper resignation extremely difficult, or attempt to take employee rights and power away in this situation.

Before taking any advice on the internet however you should verify any advice you read is sound advice based on the employment laws in your country.

maple_shaft
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  • Its very helpful for me...I have provided last day based on count. In between may be I will take 2-3 leaves in 2.5 months for specific reason but i think that should be fine for them. I am ready to extend 3 days notice period for my absent day but not more than that. – Nit Jul 17 '13 at 12:18
  • +1 For implying the issue of law, but the emphasizing of 'western culture' sounds like sideswipe to eastern. – mike Jul 17 '13 at 12:35
  • Mike : can you help me to write constructive email to get resignation acceptance? if possible than provide me well drafted mail to ask for resignation acceptance. – Nit Jul 18 '13 at 08:33
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I had a similar issue once. I wanted an important document from my manager. I planned ahead, I needed it after two month, but within one month I had no answer.

So I friendly asked for the state of the matter via mail. Turned out that sth. got mixed up, he politely apologized and after some days I got my documents.

You should try the same. It sure will work out. Provided that the the delay is not intended from your manager, if it is, you will notice it in the way he answers. Maybe you should put a second person in CC to have some kind of proof that the mail didn't get 'lost'.

mike
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