I withdrew my intention to resign, but was I fired? Law: “Withdrawal is valid before the company’s approval.”

A nursing care worker who resigned despite immediately reversing his intention after sending a text message expressing his intention to resign won an administrative lawsuit filed against the company.

On the 13th of last month, the 11th Division of the Seoul Administrative Court ruled in favor of the plaintiff in a lawsuit filed by Mr. A, a care worker in his 60s, against the Chairman of the Central Labor Relations Commission to cancel the unfair dismissal sanctions judgment.

Last year, Mr. A sent a text message to the nursing home, saying, "I will only be working until the end of this month, so please process my resignation."

However, after several tens of minutes, he withheld his position, saying, "I will think about it," and later, as time passed, he reversed his stance, saying, "Please withdraw the resignation."

However, the company refused to withdraw his resignation, saying that Mr. A had already announced his intention to resign, and that they had advertised job openings and hired new personnel accordingly.

Accordingly, Mr. A applied for unfair dismissal relief to the Local Labor Relations Commission.

Ginowi ruled in favor of Mr. A, saying that there was no justifiable reason for the company to unilaterally terminate the employment contract even though the notice of intention to resign was legally withdrawn, and that it constituted unfair dismissal in violation of the written notification obligation.

However, in the subsequent retrial by the National Labor Relations Commission, the result was overturned.

The Central Labor Relations Commission interpreted Mr. A's text message as a 'cancellation notice', a unilateral notice, and concluded that it was not an unfair dismissal.

It was decided that once the intention to resign has reached the management, the employee cannot withdraw it arbitrarily.

In the end, Mr. A objected to this decision and filed an administrative lawsuit with the court, and the court ruled in Mr. A's favor.

The court ruled, “According to the in-house employment contract and employment rules of the relevant nursing facility, workers need to request the employer to accept the employee’s resignation in order to avoid liability for damages that would arise in the event of unilateral resignation,” and concluded, “It is reasonable to view the expression requesting that the employee’s resignation be processed as a request for acceptance of the resignation.”

At the same time, he added, "There was no indication of acceptance from the company before Mr. A sent a message saying that he would withdraw his resignation," and added, "The company's posting of a job advertisement was only a measure to prepare for the shortage of manpower, and unless the expression of intent reaches the plaintiff, the termination of the employment contract agreement does not take effect."

Attorney Jeong Chang-min of Daeryun Law Firm, who represented Mr. A, explained, "According to the Supreme Court ruling, an employee can freely withdraw his/her expression of intention to resign until the employer approves the resignation submitted by the employee." He added, "Mr. A did not receive the company's intention to accept his resignation, and was able to win the case by emphasizing that the company's internal action of posting a job advertisement cannot lead to acceptance."

#Accident #Resignation #Reversal #Application for unfair dismissal relief

Shin Min-ji (sourminjee@ikbc.co.kr)

[View full article]
He withdrew his intention to resign, but was he fired?... Law: “Withdrawal is valid before the company’s approval” (Shortcut)