What should an employer do in circumstances where, following a disagreement, the employee provides a written resignation, however changes his / her mind a couple of days later and asks for their job back?

This situation is not prescribed by law and there is no specific statutory guidance or obligation on an employer in such situations. While it is not a good idea for an employee to resign unless they really mean it, the general approach of Tribunals in Courts in Ireland is to consider whether an employer has acted reasonably in its response to an employee request to withdraw a resignation. We have seen a number of client cases where this has arisen and there is some useful Irish and UK case law.

The general test applied is that the employer must reasonably and fairly consider any request for withdrawal of the resignation and may be obliged to accept withdrawal if there are special