Resignation
There are two types of resignations i.e. voluntary resignation and involuntary / forced resignation.
Voluntary resignation means the voluntary termination of the employment contract by the employee. Involuntary / forced resignation means a resignation under compulsion, at the initiative of the employer, or an employer offered the employee the alternatives or “resign or be sacked” and, without anything more, the employee resigned.
Whether Forced Resignation Tantamount to Dismissal?
Case Study (VP Nathan & Partners v. Ilangovan Dorairaj A. Suppiah, Award No: 453 of 2000)
A major client of a legal firm, an insurance company, instructed the firm that it did not want the claimant to handle any of their files and the claimant was to relieved from having access to their files, without any reasons. A partner of the firm conveyed the insurance company’s instruction to the claimant. The claimant agreed to resign and left the company. The claimant then contended that he was asked to resign and because of this he had no alternative but to leave the firm. The claimant added that the firm also informed him that his future increments and the prospect securing a partnership with the company had been considerably affected.Court Award
The conduct of the firm and its representative was material to this issue – the whole chain of events as forming one continuous story. The claimant had been informed that his advancement and his ability to continue in his chosen field as an advocate and solicitor would be affected. The Court held that the claimant had established, on a balance of probabilities, that he was required by the firm to tender his resignation and this was tantamount to a dismissal by the company.
Forced resignation may be tantamount to dismissal of the workman. It is the burden of the workman to prove that he had been dismissed instead of voluntary resigned.
