How to write a resignation letter that leaves on good terms

Resignation letter template

Copy this letter, change the bracketed parts and send it. A few lines is all your employer needs, and a longer letter tends to put more on file than you would want read back to you later.

There's no form to fill in and no email address to hand over. The Word and PDF versions are the same letter, if you'd rather start from a file.

The two lines that matter

The first is the statement that you're resigning, because your employer can't decline it. Fair Work's guidance on resignation is clear that an employer can't choose to accept or reject a resignation. Once you've given it, it's given.

The second is the date. It sets when your notice ends, and with that your final pay and whether you can be asked to stay longer, so it's worth settling before you think about the wording.

The rest of the letter is tone. Thanking your employer is easy to write and helps if you need a reference later, and the offer to help with the handover is the line your manager is most likely to act on. If either would feel dishonest to write, leave it out.

Working out your last day

Your notice period comes from one of three places, and none of them is the National Employment Standards. The NES minimum notice periods apply when an employer ends your employment, not when you end it.

• Your employment contract. Check this first. It's the most common source of a fixed two or four weeks.
• Your award or enterprise agreement. Award notice is based on your continuous service with that employer. The Fair Work Ombudsman's notice and redundancy calculator will tell you what yours requires.
• Nothing at all. Casual employees don't have to give notice. Neither do employees with no award, no agreement and a contract that's silent on it, though you may owe what the law calls reasonable notice, which depends on your role and how long you've been there.

How your last day changes your final pay

Four things move with the date you choose, which is why it's worth ten minutes before you commit to one:

As an example, imagine someone six years and ten months into a job with a Melbourne employer when they start planning their exit. In Victoria, a job that ends before seven years' continuous service comes with no long service payment, while one that ends at seven years or later pays out everything accrued, a little over six weeks. A notice period that runs past the seven-year date only helps if they actually work it out, because an employer who pays in lieu of notice ends the job straight away. Resigning a couple of months later, once the seven years are up, removes that risk.

Once you've settled on a date, the salary calculator will give you the gross and net figures to check that final payslip against.

Five templates for the harder situations

The standard letter above suits a straightforward exit. If you're leaving sooner than your notice allows, keeping your reasons to yourself, or going because of your health, one of these five will be closer to what you need.

What to leave out

This letter goes into a personnel file, and years later someone who wasn't there might read it during a reference check or a dispute. Three things are better left out of it:

• Grievances. However fair the complaint, a resignation letter is the wrong place to make it. An exit interview or a formal complaint will do more good.
• Where you're going. Say so if you want to, but you're not obliged to.
• Vagueness about the date. Leaving yourself room to move in that one line is what turns a clean exit into an argument about when your notice actually started.

Email, printed, or in person?

All three are fine. Fair Work's position on giving notice is that notice can be given verbally or in writing, and that writing is best practice. A letter is worth doing because it fixes the date beyond dispute, not because the law demands one.

Email is normal now and it timestamps itself, though it's worth checking your contract in case it asks for a signed letter to a named person. Our guide to writing a resignation email covers the subject line, who to send it to and timing. If you want to do both, tell your manager face to face and send the email straight afterwards, so the written version confirms something they already know.

What happens after you send it

Your employer can't refuse it. They can ask you to finish earlier than your notice period, which is a different thing and may mean you're paid out for the rest of your notice. You can take annual leave during your notice if they agree, and sick leave if you give notice and evidence.

A counteroffer is a possibility, and whether to take one is a judgement call, covered in more detail in our guide to resigning without burning bridges. It helps to ask whether the offer changes the reason you started looking, because more money can fix being underpaid but rarely fixes a manager or a role you've outgrown.

Let your manager tell the team before you do. From there, work out your date, send the letter, and check the final payslip when it arrives. If anything on it doesn't match what you were expecting, the Fair Work Ombudsman can help you work out what you're owed.

This article is general information, not legal advice. If your situation is complicated, get advice on it before you send anything.