Can I resign with immediate effect due to ill health?

[deepest]

I am on 3 months notice - but want to resign immediately as I have suffered extreme stress due to my role. I have been to my GP 3 times in the past 6 weeks as I have been unable to cope. I have taken 2 weeks off as annual leave as I was so stressed out but did not want to sign off sick. Can I just resign and say I am not coming back because I am too ill to work my notice?

You could hand in your notice and take sick leave for the duration. Why don't you want to sign off sick?

Why did you not want to be signed off sick?

I think your best avenue would be to resign now, and have a sick note to cover the notice period (or as far ahead as your doctor feels able to sign off) and discuss with your workplace your exact exit terms.

If you're not well enough to work during your notice period, your doctor will sign you off sick. Much better than walking out without working your notice.

Just pride and stigma really -- I dont want to be signed off for stress - would be happy to be signed off with a broken leg

I would think there's more of a stigma attached to walking out without working notice tbh, if it's future employers you're thinking of.

Watching with interest. I'm in a similar situation, got 2 months notice today. Was thinking about getting signed off sick for the 2 months but not sure how it all works?

I can go back to my GP and asked to be signed off sick and then resign. I am in no fit state to work.

Update....
I have just resigned today due to extreme work stress and exhaustion which has significantly impacted both my health and day to day work efficiency.

This was due to issues of work overload and harrassment which despite repeated flagging to my line manager were not addressed over many months and still remain unresolved.

I am not interested in persuing a grievance - I dont have the mental or physical capacity to take this on. However after I sent my letter saying I was resigning my boss called me at the end of today (I am off sick today) to say that due to the content of my letter she is referring me to occupational health.

What does this mean? Do I have to go -as I am perfectly happy seeing my own GP? Or is this just a late in the day arse covering exercise to protect herself and demonstrate that she "provided appropriate support" and the company fulfilled "its duty of care" as my stress is now documented in black and white?

It's probably standard (and very sensible) procedure to refer people to occupational health when they are signed off with work related stress, it's just normally that notification of that condition wouldn't come with a resignation letter.

You don't have to speak to an OH person if you don't want to, but as you've got the opportunity, why not? They are very used to dealing with cases of work-related stress and you might find the conversation useful even if you don't intend to go back to work.

Thanks Flowery. I am not signed off sick with stress - I had taken 2 weeks annual leave to "recharge" - and I phoned in "unwell today".

I said in my resignation letter that the workload and harrassment had impacted my health and made the position untenable - hence the referal by my boss to OH. I had already flagged this to her repeatedly in the past and no action was taken. Just curious as to why they would bother now that I am leaving.....and the cynic in me thinks it is for their benefit not mine -- so I wonder if I am obligated to comply.

However - it is a good point that they would be impartial and provide support at this difficult time - so maybe I need to be careful not to cut of my nose to spite my face.

You may not technically be signed off with stress but you are off sick and have told them you are suffering with work-related stress, that's the point.

It may be being offered for their benefit but you don't lose anything by taking advantage of it.

OH have to be involved in most big employers if you send in a note/ give a reason like that. Your employer has a duty if care and you could go for constructive dismissal etc so they are covering their arses. Could the OH person come to you? I had OH session by phone once.

Is it constructive dismissal? I had never thought of that - need to look into it.....I am so exhausted I dont have the energy to fight at the moment - I just need to get my health back on track first.

This is definitely constructive dismissal. I have been through this myself.

I would do everything they ask of you, because if you do decide you want financial recompense at a later date, you will have to show that you complies with their demands.

I also would recommend seeing a lawyer. I know how awful it is when you are so stressed and you just want out, no matter the long term implications. However if you can muster up the strength to get someone on board to help you make sure you are protecting yourself and fighting your corner, that is ideal.

Do you have documentation at all that you have raised an issue about the harassment?

Yes I have loads of emails to and from my boss as well as numerous colleagues who witnessed me in extreme distress after incidents.

Just seen this on GOV.UK

www.gov.uk/dismissal/unfair-and-constructive-dismissal

If you do have a case for constructive dismissal, you should leave your job immediately - your employer may argue that, by staying, you accepted the conduct or treatment.

Which also states that: Constructive dismissal is when youre forced to leave your job against your will because of your employers conduct.

The reasons you leave your job must be serious, for example, they:

dont pay you or suddenly demote you for no reason
force you to accept unreasonable changes to how you work - eg tell you to work night shifts when your contract is only for day work
let other employees harass or bully you

"This is definitely constructive dismissal. I have been through this myself."

That is an unbelievably irresponsible comment. You have absolutely no way of knowing whether the OP has anything like a decent case for constructive dismissal.

Any case she might have had would be very much undermined by her decision not to go through an internal grievance process first anyway. A tribunal would expect any employee to exhaust internal options for resolving their issues first, which the OP has not done, and although she has decided that her health has been affected to the extent she cannot work there, at no point has she been signed off sick.

Leaving under these circumstances is of course a perfectly valid decision, but it has to be said that if the OP had come on and explained her concerns, and been interested in what legal recourse she might have, the advice about how to proceed would have been to raise a grievance and procure medical evidence that she is suffering from stress caused by work by getting a doctors note to that effect, neither of which the OP has done.

I have no idea how old you are or whether you may need to work again in the future but my advice would be don't just throw in the towel. When you're feeling stronger you may well regret that you did so.

Your employers must offer some sort of sickness pay so without being harsh I think you need to get over your reluctance to produce a sick note with work related stress on it (it's one of the most common reasons nowadays for people taking time off work, and it's certainly not a sign of weakness), take advantage of their sick pay provision and go and see Occupational Health. It may or may not be helpful, but if you don't take up the offer you'll never know.

In your shoes I think I'd try and find the energy from somewhere to read the on-line CIPD guidance on Work Related Stress and What the Law says so that you have some idea what work should have done and should now be doing to help you with your problem.

I am not in any way proposing that you should seek legal advice but if you google you will find that there are also several reputable firms of Solicitors who have produced advice that as an employee you might find helpful.

Thanks for your input. I did see my GP for the 4th time yesterday specific to the ongoing impact of work related stress I am under. He is clear that my intenion was to battle through - and presecribed ADs and counselling on the 2nd visit 6 weeks ago.

Yesterday he signed me off for a week for work related stress as my health had deteriorated. So I will submit that today.

Unprompted he also suggested that I approach my HR department to ask for support for a situation that is either a constructive dismissal or harrassment issue - (or both).

I havent gone down the grievance route to date as I had trusted that my LM would deal with the ongoing harrassment. I am also so exhausted and the sitaution is so untenable I just want to leave - what would a grievence achieve?

I would be very wary of any "helpful" employment advice from your GP tbh.

If you have no intention of staying there anyway, the purpose of a grievance would be to demonstrate that you have made every reasonable effort to resolve your issues and would put you in a position where you could contemplate a legal claim if you are so minded.

If you do want to stay, the purpose of a grievance would be to draw your concerns to the attention of the relevant people, higher up than your line manager, with a view to getting things sorted.

Flowery - I also have 3 months of notice to endure when I return next week - so a grievance might make that situation more tolerable if some accomodations came out of it.

I thought you weren't well enough to return? Wasn't that the whole point of the thread?

Hi Flowery - no I am not well enough to return atm - as my GP has confirmed - and signed me off for a week.

I will have to work my 3 month contractually bound notice when I have recovered.

Well as mentioned previously on this thread, if you are unwell to the extent that you need to resign, I would imagine that translates to being unwell enough to be off sick for your notice period. But obviously if your health improves during your notice period and you are well enough to work, fair enough.