Resignation was a fact not a fake

In December, a carpenter was told that he was no longer welcome at his workplace since he had resigned. He disagreed but was presented with a resignation document. The document showed that the employee had resigned on his own in March and that his last day of work had been in April.

Although the signature was his, the employee did not remember giving his resignation. He meant that the company had faked the document by using his signature from another document and terminated him by not giving him access to the workplace.

Confirmation of receipt was crucial

The Swedish Labour Court found that the resignation document was real. Therefore, the employee had not been terminated but resigned on his own.

Since the employee claimed that the signed written resignation document was fake, the company had to prove that the document was real. As a result, the company presented the original resignation document and showed that the employee had handed the document to the company.

Colleagues also testified that they had seen the employee hand over a signed resignation document at the office. After this, the company sent a confirmation of the resignation by post to the employee. The confirmation, along with the fact that the company had marked the last pay slip as the “final salary”, only supported that the document was real.

IUNO’s opinion

Employees are not required to give their resignation in writing. However, this case confirms that companies must be ready to show that the document is real and was provided by the employee. Therefore, when an employee resigns, it is important to secure more than just the resignation document.

IUNO recommends companies to have clear off-boarding procedures to handle resignations and terminations. Companies should document and send a confirmation of the employee's resignation document. Written confirmation will also be helpful if the employee has not made a written resignation. At the same time, companies can specify the conditions that apply during the notice period and mark the last pay slip as the employee's final salary.

[The Swedish Labour Court’s decision of 22 March 2023 in case 18/23]