Resignation of council staff

Question

Who, would you suggest, acknowledges receipt of a staff member submitting notice to quit - PC Chair or clerk or Chair HR if such exists?

Reference or previous experience of this…?

Answer 1

Round again - the clerk, unless the member of staff quitting is the clerk.

Comments

Mmmmm, I don't disagree.  I can't find anything specific and I am recalling the previous thread about employer status - Clerk maybe the line manager but the corporate PC is the employer.  I could go either way on this one.

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I have read your previous thread.  The council is the employer as noted, as it is a corporate entity.  Hence the council employs staff not the individual councillor (unlike unincorporated charities)  But I do note that from time to time councillors are chased up as not behaving as good employers individually with the code of conduct mentioned.  But its not a COC issue.  Ditto health and safety, as HSWA is aimed primarily at the employer.

Answer 2

From a purely practical point of view my aproach has always been to the allow Parish Clerk who line managers other staff to follow the relevant policies and protocols assossiated with a staff departure (return of phone / keys / devices / leave entitlement / final working day / pension etc etc to handle it all. I am aware a neighouring councils Chair needed observe handover of said things (given nature of departure was sensible for both parties) and had to be much more involved.

Answer 3

Legally, no-one has to acknowledge receipt of it, it's just courteous to do so and gives opportunity to arrange hand over of keys, equipment, etc.
If the staff member tries to retract their resignation and the Council want to accept, this has to be done by resolution at a Council meeting. If the Council doesn't want to accept, it's not obliged to respond in that instance either. A staff member has the right to request a retraction up to the last day of their notice, after which they are out of contract. If the Council want to accept, but can't meet in time, the staff member has to cease work on the last day of their contract and wait until the Council meets. This is because they are technically out of contract and so insurance policies etc won't cover any mishaps. Unauthorised use of computer systems/data protection law also come into play too due to the staff member being out of contract.

If the Council resolve to retract, the staff member is paid basic contracted time for the period spent not working. If the Council fails to resolve to retract, it would be as if the staff member left on the last day of their notice period.

My Council went through this entire process - that's the advice given to us from Citizens Advice, SLCC National Employment Advisor and various articles on legal websites.