Should I specify the last date in resignation letter

Question

I am about to resign at my current company. I am confused and I doubt whether should I be mentioning the last working day at my current company in resignation letter or not.

Actually my notice period is 2 months. If I were to mention the last working day I am thinking to put it as 1 month notice. I have a few concerns like what if, the date specified was too early and my current employer extends that date.

The reason why I want to put it at 1 a month is new employer needs me as early as possible. I set expectations that it would mostly take 2 months, but though this is my attempt.

Or Simply can I say please accept my resignation ASAP.

This is my first resignation ever, so looking for guidance.

Answer 1

You are contractually obligated to 2 months. So I would put that date in my resignation letter. If I was hoping they could release me earlier, I would say something like:

According to my contract my notice period is two months, so my last day would be November 10, 2013. I will, of course, work until that date if you want me to. However, I would like to discuss if it would be possible for me to leave on Oct 10 instead.

Then go on and detail the actions you would take to allow you to have everything ready for turnover to someone else by the earlier date.

This shows you honor your obligations, you are prepared to do what needs to be done to transfer your responsibilites to someone else and asks but doesn't demand that they release you earlier. If you say Oct 10 will be my last day, you are likely to make them angry that you are not planning to honor your contractual obligations and make them less likely to grant you an early release.

Answer 2

Executive Summary

Tread carefully. You don't want to submit a resignation letter unless you are positive that you have a job waiting for you.

1. Make sure the new employer is okay with waiting 2 months
2. Make sure you have the new offer in writing
3. If not, check with an employment lawyer before submitting your resignation letter

Will the new job wait 2 months?

The worst case scenario is that you submit your resignation, serve your notice period, and discover that your new employer couldn't wait that long and no longer has a position for you. You say:

The reason why I want to put it at 1 a month is new employer needs me as early as possible. I set expectations that it would mostly take 2 months, but though this is my attempt.

This suggests that you may not have had this discussion with the new company, and they may not know when you can join. This could be a serious issue, so you should confirm with the new company that they are willing to let you start working in two months rather than after just one.

Get it in Writing

Even if they tell you, "No problem!", make sure you get a signed employment contract that clearly states the offer is available for you starting in two months. You don't want to get just a verbal commitment, and then find out after you've resigned that they couldn't wait and ended up hiring someone else instead.

(You may want to check the new employment contract to see what the notice period is for the new job as well, just in case you run in to the same situation when you move on to your next job).

Check with an Employment Lawyer

In some jurisdictions even with a contract stating your notice period is 2 months, there are laws that limit that further. If your new company is unwilling to offer you the job if you have to serve that notice period, it may be worthwhile to discuss with an attorney to make sure you understand what the law says about your current employment contract.

Here is an example from Japanese law:

If an employee on a labor contract with no set term of agreement wishes to resign (i.e., the employee wishes to terminate the labor contract by notifying the employer of his/her intention to do so), the employee can do so by providing two weeks' notice. Furthermore, although there is no firm legal precedent, the prevalent doctrine is that even if a company work rules stipulates that employees must give more than two weeks' notice, it is without effect in cases where the rule sets an unreasonable period.

Answer 3

You're going to want to mention the date in the letter here.

If it was a contractual obligation and you're supposed to give two months, then you really should give two months. Additionally you'll want to look into compensation packages and what could happen if you leave early. If you took relocation assistance or a sign-on bonus it's very likely that if you leave before a certain date you'll have to pay it back.