Withdrawing Resignation?

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Has anyone ever done this and how did it go with your colleagues?

Did it cause any long term problems with colleagues/managers? Am I crazy for even considering it?

I am considering asking my current company if I can withdraw my resignation. I only handed in my notice on Monday so haven't left the company yet. I am fairly sure they would take me back but it is quite embarrassing! However having no money due to no job would be a lot worse than some loss of face.

The reason for the back track is child care/hours related. I was offered a new job on a 9-5 basis and handed in my notice. The new employer is now saying I must be able to work till 6 and the initial hours were offered in error.

Currently I have one child in nursery and one in school and I get one and my husband gets the other. It has proved impossible to find child care after 6. Both the nursery and after-school club close at 6 so no way I can get either kid if I take the role.

Trying to find a part time job which fits around my child care has proved to be pretty difficult and I doubt I can find something else suitable in time.

You'll need to eat humble pie, but it is more common than you might think.

Good Luck.

Thanks @Jaxhog,

Good to know its not just me!

Actually I would be going back to the new employer first to withdraw your acceptance. I had to do this recently for similarish reasons and within 24hours they were back on the phone re-offering me the job on more favourable terms.

It costs a lot of time and money to interview people, you might find they decide not to go through it again for the sake of an hour.

They’ll be relieved they don’t have to replace you. Have you already told the new role you can’t do it? Maybe they’d back down if you turned it down.

I had someone try to withdraw their resignation recently but we said no. TBH she wasn't very good at her job so her resigning was a bit of a relief. If you are good at your job and haven't burnt any bridges (eg telling people how happy you are to go, how you hated working with X etc) they are probably likely to say yes.

I know one person who did this (and still got their leaving present 😂). I also know 2 people who left but ended up hating it and returning ... but both lost their long term employee benefits (gutting).

I called the new company this morning and they were going to ring back but never got back to me. I called them but the person dealing had gone home early.

I am going to speak to them again the morning. Hopefully they might change their minds. If not at least it might not be too late to get my old job back. I

ts such a shame. It was a great opportunity and to lose it for the sake of an hour or less is frustrating. The nursery is a 10 minute walk from the office, so even finishing at 5:45 would be doable.

Maybe offer 540 for childcare reasons and take less time over lunch

Tell him that the childcare is the issue as it is, and just say if it can't be agreed that's you may need to regretfully pull out

Surely there are other working mothers there who can't work til 6?

I'd offer to take a shorter lunch break and ask to leave at 545pm for childcare reasons. You could also state that over time you'd aim to make arrangements to be able to work until 6.00pm.

Also mention you've already handed your notice in.

Unless they got a candidate lined up I can't imagine they would withdraw their offer over a 15 min difference, especially as it was their error.

I did try speaking to the new employer again. They made it sound like if I wasnt able to work at least 2 nights till 6 it would be off. They also sprung a last minute request to consider flexible working which certainly wasnt mentioned anywhere in the interview.

The team leader I was discussing hours with said she'd call me back but never did. I rang HR to see if I could speak to anyone else and again no call back.

I think being messed around over the hours and lack of contact has put me off the new company now. I'm also thinking if they are this inflexible at this stage, what would it be like to work there?

I contacted my previous employers and thankfully, they've agreed to withdraw my resignation so I will continue with the same terms. Monday may be tough and its going to be awkward but i'm sure I'll get over it.

I retracted my notice in my last job. I was trying to juggle two jobs and it was too much so I handed my notice in but then regretted it and asked to retract it. They accepted and I stayed there another year or so happily. It was embarrassing yes but the right thing to do.