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Original poster

help! can I retract my resignation or is it too late?

28 replies

ArtsArea · 06/05/2021 07:18

I handed in my notice a couple of weeks ago and I'll be leaving 2 weeks from tomorrow.
I have been flitting from it was the right decision to make to shit what the fuck have done!
It's been a really really hard decision to have made and now I think I would like to not leave. I feel really stressed about the whole thing and I think I regret it! I've never felt like this before leaving a job so that's a warning sign, right?
Do you think it's too late!

OP posts:
Original poster
ArtsArea · 06/05/2021 07:19

To make matters worse I'm on leave and so is my manager till next week!

OP posts:
daisybrown37 · 06/05/2021 07:21

It depends on whether they have offered someone your role or allocated the work to someone else in your team.

All you can do is ask, they can say no - but equally they may say that you can retract it.

What made you want to leave in the first place? Consider why and if that reason is still there.

Lumene · 06/05/2021 07:22

Only one way to find out!

TheMotherlode · 06/05/2021 07:22

You can ask to retract your resignation but your employer isn’t obliged to accept the retraction.

What’s making you think that it was the wrong decision to leave? You must have had reason to want to resign. Do you have a job to go onto?

SuddenArborealStop · 06/05/2021 07:22

Why did you quit, do you have another job to go to, have they replaced you yet?

LadyFlossieParkingson · 06/05/2021 07:22

Do you have another job to go to?

You can request to retract your resignation but I believe they dont have to accept your request....

PhilCornwall1 · 06/05/2021 07:31

I had one in my team resign as they had another job and then wanted to retract it. I didn't agree to it and off they went. To me it would have been a case of waiting for the next time they did it.

Original poster
ArtsArea · 06/05/2021 07:31

Sorry, yes should have said I don't have another job to go to. I wanted to leave because of my health. I asked to reduce my hours but they refused and said not now possibly at the end of the year. Now I think I should just carry on and do it till then and see if they will let me have the less hours. I'm really worried about the whole not having another job thing. That's what's worrying me so much.

OP posts:
Original poster
ArtsArea · 06/05/2021 07:32

@PhilCornwall1

I had one in my team resign as they had another job and then wanted to retract it. I didn't agree to it and off they went. To me it would have been a case of waiting for the next time they did it.
What reason did you give for not accepting it? We're you glad they were going?
OP posts:
newnortherner111 · 06/05/2021 07:37

Have a conversation with your manager next week. If your manager has been on leave there is the possibility that the recruitment for a replacement may not have begun.

PhilCornwall1 · 06/05/2021 07:38

What reason did you give for not accepting it? We're you glad they were going?

The fact that when they resigned, they said "I have a much better offer with a better company" and were extremely arrogant about it from the minute they quit and became problematic to the rest of the team.

They were extremely capable at their job, but when they started to cause unrest, I wanted them out.

SD1978 · 06/05/2021 07:39

You can only try. Has your performance been affected by your health issues? If you've left due to stress, they may be wary to rescind it as the situation hasn't and won't change. How has your sick leave been?

DeltaFlyer · 06/05/2021 07:40

An ex bf got offered a job at our sister company, they started the process of setting up with payroll etc. They then retracted the offer as the person leaving wanted to stay on. He did get offered a position at another sister company but declined as too far away/being messed about.
The person that stayed left anyway about 6 months later

GintyMcGinty · 06/05/2021 07:41

It won't hurt to ask.

Worst that can happen is they say no thanks.

littlefireseverywhere · 06/05/2021 07:48

Be honest, ask the question. Worth a try, difficult for you though. Hope goes ok.

Original poster
ArtsArea · 06/05/2021 08:01

I've not taken any sick leave at all and I'm just muddling through. I just wished I had another job to go to then wouldn't feel too bad. I'm worried really about myself if I can carry on or not till end of year and the fact it will hit us quite hard financially. I look at the kids and feel like I'm letting them down so much. Ive cried over it a few times already.

OP posts:
LemonRoses · 06/05/2021 08:02

I think you can only ask.
The answer will depend on how far the process to replace you has gone, what your performance is like and what you bring to the table, the role and cost of training/ease of recruiting, whether your manager wants to keep you and how you resigned.
If you were a good member of staff with appropriate qualifications, worked hard and were a good team member who was flexible and willing to go the extra mile but had a ‘bit of a moment, a panic’ or needed minor adaptations to enable you to do the job, I’d try and agree a way forwards.
If I knew it was someone who needed part-time hours when the business requirements needed full time, if there had been high levels of sickness absences, if it were a ‘needy’ member of staff who wanted flexibility but didn’t offer it in return or who didn’t have particularly high performance, then I’d probably not look to reinstate them.

Pumpkyumpkyumpkin · 06/05/2021 08:24

I've been here OP...different reasons but I resigned because I wasn't being at all supported in a new role I'd moved to, I was working til 9 or 10 most nights and in tears with stress most days, and I couldn't take any more. Then a week later I got cold feet for the same reasons as you...went to retract my resignation and was told they'd think about it as I'd shown i wasn't committed to the role and they weren't sure they wanted me on the team any more, and it was clear I only wanted to retract it for my own benefit. They made me wait 2 weeks for a decision, and then I basically had to grovel, prove my commitment etc. It wasn't nice, at all.

I think you can ask, but be prepared for a grilling about why you've changed your mind, and why they should want to keep you given you've now shown you're not fully committed etc. I hope your boss is nicer about it than mine was!!

Original poster
ArtsArea · 06/05/2021 08:30

@Pumpkyumpkyumpkin

I've been here OP...different reasons but I resigned because I wasn't being at all supported in a new role I'd moved to, I was working til 9 or 10 most nights and in tears with stress most days, and I couldn't take any more. Then a week later I got cold feet for the same reasons as you...went to retract my resignation and was told they'd think about it as I'd shown i wasn't committed to the role and they weren't sure they wanted me on the team any more, and it was clear I only wanted to retract it for my own benefit. They made me wait 2 weeks for a decision, and then I basically had to grovel, prove my commitment etc. It wasn't nice, at all.

I think you can ask, but be prepared for a grilling about why you've changed your mind, and why they should want to keep you given you've now shown you're not fully committed etc. I hope your boss is nicer about it than mine was!!

Oh no that sounds awful. Were things ok after you carried on working there or was it a bit awkward. Yes I feel like they might be like we'll why should we keep you and need to prove myself. I don't think they have started the recruitment process yet - I work in the public sector so no fear of that happening anytime soon!
OP posts:
Bluntness100 · 06/05/2021 08:33

No one can answer this for you op, it’s purely the employers decision now.

Factors they will consider.

Are you performing well
do they need you even if you’re not.
Has someone else been offered the role
Do they think you wish to stay for the right reasons. Ie you wish rhe job and not just for money.
Do they think you’ll do it again soon as you get another job.

What reasons did you give when you resigned?

Flowers500 · 06/05/2021 08:38

Oh no it really sounds like you shouldn’t have resigned... how did you do it? Was it friendly, were any bridges burned?

20viona · 06/05/2021 08:43

I rescinded mine until I found something better. Luckily they hadn't even started the process of replacing me. Dream job came up a few months later.

paralysedbyinertia · 06/05/2021 08:51

I have been the second line manager in this situation. I didn't accept the retraction. Tbh, she was a difficult employee and we had already been discussing likely disciplinary action against her because of her behaviour towards other colleagues and her failure to comply with reasonable management instructions. I was glad to get rid as it saved us a lot of time and hassle.

She resigned in a strop with her manager, and then tried to take it back. We declined, which resulted in an even bigger tantrum. This just confirmed to me that we were well shot of her.

If a good employee resigned and then asked to take it back, though, I'd have them back again in a shot if I hadn't already offered the work to someone else. So I think the response will depend a)on what they think of you as an employee, and b)how far they are on in the process of finding a replacement.

Roselilly36 · 06/05/2021 08:54

@PhilCornwall1 totally agree with you there.

CaraherEIL · 06/05/2021 09:05

I think as well you might need to present a possible beneficial option that you might have discovered to treat your health condition otherwise they are unlikely to be convinced you are up to carrying on with the job on the hours you were on.
I would say I have spoken to my GP/ consultant we are going to try this new therapy blah blah blah so I feel that I will be better able to carry on with my job with the existing hours.I love my job so much and feel so delighted I can carry on if you would let me retract my resignation.
If you just try and retract it without any change in your health they will just think you are going to resign again as soon as you have another option. But email your manager now, even if they are on leave, the longer you let the resignation become a fact the more entrenched everyone will become about it.