Resignation without notice? You should be aware that failure to give notice has consequences. In a professional environment, notice in the workplace plays a crucial role in managing employee-employer relations. Whether you are an employee or an employer in Romania, it is important to be aware of your rights, duration and regulations regarding notice.
What is notice and how long is it?
Simply put, it is an advance notice that an employee or employer receives when one of the parties wishes to terminate an employment contract. It is a way of giving both parties time to prepare for the changes that will occur following termination. The retainer has several key roles. First, it provides a transition period so that both employer and employee can plan for the future. This could be finding a replacement, financial planning or the employee looking for a new job. Secondly, notice promotes a fair and transparent working environment, where the employee-employer relationship is concluded in a civilized and respectful manner.
The legislation in force establishes the minimum notice period that the employer or the employee must respect in case of termination of the employment contract. Usually, in the case of resignation, i.e. a unilateral decision to terminate the employment contract at the initiative of the employee, the notice period varies according to the type of post occupied, for executive or managerial positions.
In the case of resignation, according to the updated Romanian Labor Code, for management employees, the notice period is 45 working days, and for executive positions, the term is 20 working days. According to the practice and regulations on the matter, the day of submitting the resignation is not taken into account, the term starting from the following day, nor the last day, in order to complete the formalities for the conclusion of the employment contract.
Resignation without notice – employer’s option
The notice is an obligation of the terminating party, and not of the party receiving notice. This means that if an employee resigns, he or she is obliged to give notice to the employer. However, the employer may waive the right to give notice. This is a case of resignation without notice, or with partial notice, decided by the employer. We advise against this because in practice there have been employees who have planned their departure from the company at a certain date. They had calculated the notice period, but the employer immediately or at short notice waived it. This is less well known in practice and for this reason it may happen that between two jobs, an employee who has resigned may have a longer break than he or she wanted. The employer can legitimately waive the notice given by the employee.
Resignation without notice or termination by mutual consent?
Resignation without notice does not become a termination with the agreement of the parties, as this is regulated by another article of the Labor Code. A situation of termination of the employment contract by resignation without notice will be mentioned according to the relevant article regulated by the legislation. To terminate an employment contract with the agreement of the parties, the request must be formulated and submitted by the employee opting for the agreement of the parties, and the employer must approve it. The employer and the employee can explicitly agree in the employment contract on a longer notice period than the minimum required by law. This can be beneficial for both parties, giving them extra time to prepare for the changes.
In the case of resignation, the initiative to terminate the employment relationship is only brought to the employer’s attention and not “negotiated” with him. The resignation does not have to be approved by the employer or motivated by the employee, as it is a unilateral decision.
Resignation without notice – employee’s choice
There is a situation in which an employee may not give his or her employer the legal right to notice. If the employer does not respect his contractual commitments, the employee may resign without notice. This is regulated by Article 81 para. 8 of the Labor Code. However, employees must be very cautious about resigning under this article, because if it is a case of unfulfilled promises on the part of the employer, this reason does not protect them in the event of a lawsuit. The resignation without notice respected by the employee in case of breach of contractual obligations by the employer, can, for example, be perfectly valid and lawful to apply in the objective case where the employer has not paid the employee’s wages.
Consequences of resigning without notice
There are employees who do not respect the notice period, without objective reasons. They decide to resign without notice, abusively choosing not to respect it and leave the workplace. This situation is a disciplinary offense and the days of notice not respected will be weighted as unjustified absences and leaving the workplace without approval.
Without an objective and legal reason not to give notice to the employer, here are the consequences of dismissal without notice:
Loss of entitlement to notice allowance
An employee who does not respect the notice period may lose the right to the notice allowance. This means they will not receive the amount of money due for the period in question.
Damaged reputation
Leaving your job without giving notice can negatively affect your professional reputation. Employers may take this into account when assessing candidates for future positions.
Negative references
Past employers may provide negative references if you have failed to serve notice in the past. This can have a negative impact on your chances of getting a new job.
The risk of a lawsuit and financial damages
If your employer can prove that leaving your job without notice has caused damage to the company or created significant inconvenience, they may decide to take legal action against you and seek compensation through a lawsuit.
Breach of good professional relations
Leaving your job without notice can lead to the interruption of good professional relationships with former colleagues and superiors. This can negatively affect future networking connections and opportunities to obtain positive references.
It is important to keep in mind that the exact consequences of failure to give notice may vary depending on local laws, company policies and the specific circumstances of each case.
Resignation without notice – factors that may influence the length of notice
Probation period
If a person is on probation and one of the parties initiates the termination of the employment contract, this can be done on the basis of a notification. In this case no notice is given. The termination can therefore take place immediately on the date indicated on the notice. However, this is not a resignation. It is a case of termination of employment during the probationary period.
Partial or total waiver of notice by the employer
The notice period in the event of an employee’s resignation is an employer’s right, not an obligation. The employer has the right to waive all or part of the notice period. Article 81 para. 7 of the Labor Code provides for this. This employer’s decision may take employees by surprise. They do some financial planning based on the salary they should have received in notice. At the same time, resigning without notice as a result of the employer’s waiver of notice leads to lack of continuity in the employee’s seniority. Until the start of the new employment, the employee remains “uncovered”.
Disciplinary dismissal
In the case of disciplinary dismissal, depending on the seriousness of the misconduct, the employer may decide to waive the notice. In this case, the employer immediately terminates the employment contract. However, this must be justified in accordance with the law and must be done after a very rigorous procedure. In this case, where the disciplinary dismissal has been properly carried out, the employer does not owe any compensation for giving notice. Failure by the employee to give notice, unless the employer is in breach of its contractual obligations, is a case of disciplinary dismissal. If you are an employer and you want to apply the law correctly to disciplinary dismissals without risking employment litigation, we can help you with our consultancy services (see more here).