The letter is the easy part. The date is not.
Every resignation letter template on the internet gives you the same three paragraphs with the nouns swapped. None of them work out the thing that actually decides money, which is the last day of employment. Final pay, accrued holiday, the P45 and the end of your continuous service are all worked from that one date, and two rules move it.
Employee notice does not grow with service
Section 86 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 is asymmetric, and almost everybody assumes it is not.
- Section 86(1), what they owe you: a week for every complete year of service, up to twelve weeks.
- Section 86(2), what you owe them: one week, once a month's service is up, and it never increases.
So somebody twenty years in is owed twelve weeks and owes one. A contract can require more of you and usually does. Where it is silent, or where it tries to require less than the statute gives, section 86 is the floor and the contract term is unenforceable to that extent.
Notice runs from the day after you hand it over
The day you give the letter is not day one. A week's notice given on a Monday ends on the following Monday, not the Sunday before it. One day, but it is the day that sits on your P45 and it changes what your accrued holiday is worked to.
That is why this tool asks when you are handing it in rather than just how long your notice is. Put the two dates in and it gives you the termination date, then writes the letter round it.
The threat about your final pay is usually empty
"Walk out and we will not pay you" is one of the most commonly repeated things in British employment, and it is usually wrong. A deduction from wages is lawful only where a statute requires it, where a written contract term you were given a copy of beforehand authorises it, or where you agreed to it in writing in advance. Without one of those, it is an unlawful deduction under section 13.
Leaving without working your notice is still a breach of contract in its own right, and an employer can in principle claim for losses it genuinely causes them. In practice they very rarely do, because the loss has to be real and provable. The two things are separate: a breach by you does not create a right to dock pay for hours you have already worked.
What to leave out
A resignation letter is a document that gets kept and can be produced later, sometimes years later and sometimes by people you did not write it for. It needs the fact of resignation and the last day. Everything else is optional.
You do not have to give a reason, and a letter that lists grievances is a letter that hands the employer a written record of your case before you have decided whether to bring one. If there is a grievance, raise it through the grievance procedure, where it is meant to go. If you are resigning because of how you have been treated and you think you may have a constructive dismissal claim, take advice before you send anything, because what the letter says and how quickly you resign both matter to that argument.
Keep a copy, and keep whatever confirms it was received. If you agree a different last day with your manager, get that in writing too. Verbal agreements about termination dates have a way of being remembered differently once the final payslip is being calculated.
Common questions
How much notice do I legally have to give?
One week, once you have a month of service, and it never increases. Section 86(2) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 sets a flat one week for the employee however long you have been there. Your contract almost certainly asks for more, commonly a month or three, and where it does the contract is what you owe. Where the contract is silent, or tries to require less than a week, the statute is the floor.
Why does my employer have to give me more notice than I give them?
Because section 86 is deliberately asymmetric. Section 86(1) gives you a week for every complete year of service up to twelve weeks when they end it. Section 86(2) only ever asks one week of you. Somebody with twenty years in is owed twelve weeks and owes one. It surprises almost everybody, and it is the correct reading of the section.
Does my notice start on the day I hand the letter in?
No. Notice runs from the day after it is given, so the day you hand it over is not day one. A week given on a Monday therefore ends on the following Monday, not the Sunday before it. That single day moves your termination date, and the termination date is what final pay, accrued holiday and your P45 are all worked from.
Can my employer refuse to accept my resignation?
No. Resigning is a unilateral act: once clear and unambiguous notice is given it takes effect, and it does not need agreeing to. What can be agreed is a shorter notice period or a different last day, and if you want either, get it in writing rather than relying on somebody saying it was fine.
Can they withhold my final pay if I do not work my notice?
Usually not. A deduction from wages is only lawful where a statute requires it, where a written contract term you were given a copy of beforehand authorises it, or where you agreed to it in writing in advance. Without one of those it is an unlawful deduction under section 13 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. Leaving early can still be a breach of contract in its own right, and an employer could in principle claim for losses it actually causes, but that is a separate matter from docking pay for hours you already worked.
Do I have to give a reason for leaving?
No, and most letters are better without one. A resignation letter is a record that gets kept and can be produced later. It needs the fact of resignation and the last day. Anything else is optional, and grievances belong in the grievance process rather than in the letter that ends the employment.
What happens to my holiday when I resign?
Accrued but untaken statutory holiday is paid out on termination, worked to your last day, which is another reason the date matters. Whether you can be made to take holiday during your notice depends on the contract and on the notice the employer gives you to take it. Resigning also ends continuous service, and continuous service is what qualifies you for redundancy pay and unfair dismissal protection. It does not carry over to a new employer.