Resignation Letter: Template, Examples, and Notice Rules

Tell your manager first

Say it in a conversation, then send the letter the same day so the date is on record. Being told by email that someone is leaving, when a meeting would have been possible, is the part managers remember. If you work remotely, a call followed by email is the equivalent of walking into the office and handing it over; the old advice to deliver it by hand and never email it belongs to a world where everyone was in the building.

Send it to your manager and copy HR, or follow whatever route your handbook sets. Keep a copy with the date you sent it.

How much notice do you actually owe?

"Give two weeks" is repeated everywhere as if it were a rule. It is a US custom, and even there your contract can say otherwise.

• United States. No law requires two weeks. Employment is at-will in every state except Montana, so either side can end it without notice, and two weeks is a professional courtesy that protects your reference. If you signed a contract or an offer letter with a notice term, that term still binds you, so read it before you commit to a date.
• United Kingdom. The statutory minimum from an employee is one week once you have a month's service, and there is no statutory notice at all in your first month. Your contract usually asks for more, often a month or three for senior roles, and a contract can require more than the statutory floor but never less. Whichever is longer applies.
• India, and commonly Nigeria, Kenya and Pakistan. Notice is whatever the contract says, commonly one to three months, and many contracts add a buyout clause letting you pay in lieu of serving it. Check whether your employer must agree to the buyout or whether it is yours to invoke.
• Australia. Do not read the contract alone, and do not borrow the figure employers use. The National Employment Standards notice scale binds the employer when it dismisses you and says nothing about what you owe when you quit. Your notice comes from the modern award or enterprise agreement covering your role, or from your contract, so check the award first: it is the layer people miss.

Leaving without serving your notice is a breach of contract rather than a crime, but it has consequences worth pricing in: a withheld reference, a "not eligible for rehire" flag, and in a buyout jurisdiction an invoice for the unserved period. Where you need to go sooner, ask for a shorter notice to be agreed in writing rather than stopping without agreement.

What to put in it

• A clear statement that you are resigning and your position.
• Your last working day, stated as a date and calculated from your notice period, not a vague "in two weeks."
• A line of thanks. One sentence, specific if you can manage it.
• An offer to help with the handover. Name what you will do: documentation, training a replacement, closing out a project.
• Your signature and the date.

That is the whole letter. Three short paragraphs on one page.

What to leave out

Your reasons are not required, and neither is a critique. Whatever the job was like, the letter is a document your employer keeps, and it is read again when someone calls for a reference or when you apply back in five years. Grievances belong in an exit interview or a separate process; a new job you are moving to belongs in the conversation, not the file. Keep out salary comparisons, complaints about people, and anything you would not want read aloud.

The standard letter

The template

Put your own details in, and set the last working day in the first line so nobody has to work it out. The .docx holds this template together with the short-notice and probation variants below.

When you cannot give full notice

Sometimes the date is not yours to choose: a family situation, a health problem, a new employer who cannot wait. Ask rather than announce, keep it brief, and do not explain more than you want on the record.

If the employer agrees, get the agreed date in writing. That one line prevents a later argument about whether you left early without consent.

Resigning during probation

Notice in a probation period is usually shorter, sometimes a few days, and it is set by your contract. In the UK there is no statutory notice at all in your first month of service. The letter is the same shape and even shorter; you owe no explanation for deciding a role is not the right fit.

Before your last day: pay and leave

This is the part of resigning where money goes missing, and it is worth an email to HR while you still have their attention.

• Final pay. In the US there is no federal deadline; timing runs by state. Most states say the next regular payday, and some are faster, with California requiring final wages within 72 hours when you resign without notice. Ask when yours will land and how it will be paid.
• Accrued leave. Whether unused vacation is paid out depends on the state and your employer's written policy. Roughly half of US states require a payout, several treat accrued vacation as earned wages that cannot be forfeited, and elsewhere it comes down to what the handbook promised. Ask for the number of accrued days and what will be paid.
• Benefits and equity. Get the end date for health cover, the deadline to exercise any vested options, and what happens to a pension or provident fund contribution.
• Expenses and property. Submit outstanding expenses before your last day, and get a receipt for the laptop, badge, and phone you return.
• References. Ask your manager while the goodwill is fresh, and note who is authorized to give one, since many employers restrict it to HR confirming dates and title.

Related documents

Accepting the new offer in writing comes first: see the job acceptance letter. If you need the layout rules for a formal letter, the formal letter formats guide covers spacing and blocks, and the thank-you letter is the one to send your team afterwards.

Sources

• UK statutory minimum notice from an employee: one week after one month's service, no statutory notice in the first month, and a contract may require more but not less.
• US: at-will employment in every state except Montana; no law requires two weeks' notice.
• US final pay and accrued leave: no federal deadline, state law governs timing (next regular payday in most states, 72 hours in California when an employee resigns without notice); vacation payout required in roughly half the states or where a written policy creates the entitlement.

This page is general information about resigning, not legal or employment advice. For advice on your contract, consult a qualified professional.