The employee had resigned and then said that as she was intending to move up north, and things hadn’t been finalized, could she stay on till the end of term (this was in a preschool). My client agreed (this was before I was advising her, I hasten to add) because she was having trouble finding a replacement.
This continued for the next year. The employee kept saying she was leaving, and even had a leaving party that all the parents came to, but kept delaying because her house wasn’t ready or she didn’t want to move her son before the end of the school year.
Not yet gone employee came back in September (another agreed extension till half term) and my client had found a replacement to take over. The not yet gone employee then goes to the doctor and comes back after 3 days and says “I’m not going anywhere, I’m pregnant, I know my rights, and I am staying!”.
This is when the preschool owner came to me. We refused to accept her withdrawal of resignation and managed her out of the school. She came back with an ET1 form (which we knew she was going to) and the solicitors took over. This case went all the way to the tribunal, where it was thrown out by the judge saying it was obvious that she had resigned and that she was just after extra money!
So if anyone asks if they can stay on a bit longer, to be honest, don’t let them – do you really know what their agenda is?! They might sue for unfair dismissal.
