Resignation Letter Template

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P. Laurore updated on September 21, 2020

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If you are willing to quit your job, you may have to give your employer a resignation letter.

HelloSafe provides you with a resignation letter template written by our legal department. It is free and available in Word format. You can download it for free and anonymously.

Formal Resignation Letter Template

There is no particular formality to respect for a resignation letter. However, it is important to be very clear about your willingness to quit and to stay in good terms with your current (and soon former) employer. This is why using a template is the good solution.

resignation letter

When do I need to give my letter of resignation?

Notice period and permanent contract

In most of the cases, if you are in permanent contract, you must give to your employer a letter of resignation one or several weeks before your contract comes to an end. Your notice period terms is usually clearly stated in your contract.

  • If you have been at your job position for less than a month, you are usually not obliged to give any notice period except any requirement written on your contract. In this case you can write a resignation letter without mentioning any notice period.
  • If you have been at your position for more than a month, you must give to your employer your resignation letter at least one week before your departure date. That can be more depending on what is stated in your contract.

Good to know

You can always give more notice period if you think it is more courteous to your employer.

Notice period and fixed-term contract

You are usually not obliged to give neither resignation letter nor notice period if you decide to leave the day your fixed-term contract ends.

If you are willing to quit your job before, you will need to respect any departure terms mentioned in your contract.

Notice period and garden leave

If your employer tells you not to work during your notice period - this is usually called garden leave - you should still be paid as usual until the end of your notice period even if you do not show up at work. You should also still benefit from any advantage you've had so far: mobile phone, company car, pension contributions etc.

You will also still pay your tax.

Good to know

Carefully check your contract terms regarding your notice period. You may not be allowed to start another job even if you are on garden leave.

Resignation letter while on sick leave template

If you are sick and you want to quit your job indefinitely to take care of your health problem, you may want to write to your employer a proper resignation letter due to illness to notify them of the situation.

resignation letter due to illness
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P. Laurore Finance Expert
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Co-founder of HelloSafe and holder of a Master's degree in finance, Pauline has recognised expertise in personal finance, which she uses to help users better understand and optimise their financial choices. At HelloSafe, Pauline plays a key role in designing clear, educational content on savings, investments and personal finance. Passionate about financial education, Pauline strives, with every piece of content she oversees, to provide reliable, transparent and unbiased information for independent and informed financial management. To this end, she has tested over 100 trading platforms to help internet users make the right choices.