Termination of the employment contract requires a proper procedure that ensures legal protection and timely information about the rights and obligations of both the employee and the employer.
When the employee submits a clear and unambiguous statement to the authorized person of the employer that he is canceling the employment contract, the termination of the employment relationship occurs exclusively and only on the basis of the employee’s expressed will. The employer’s consent is not required, nor does the employee need to have a special reason for termination. It is sufficient for him to make a decision to terminate the employment relationship and formulate that decision in a written statement.
Therefore, the employee has the right to cancel the employment contract with the employer at any time without giving reasons. It is about the termination of the employment relationship, which is based solely on the precisely expressed will of the employee to terminate his employment relationship. However, the law provides certain rules according to which an employee resigns. One of the most frequently mentioned is the notice period rule.
Importance of written form and notice period
When terminating an employment contract by an employee, the key thing employees should know is that the termination must be in writing. Also, the employee is obliged to respect the notice period, which is usually prescribed in the employment contract or the general act of the company. The notice period is stipulated by law to be a minimum of 15 days, but in some cases, the period can be extended up to a maximum of 30 days.
Details of the notice period in contracts and general acts
It is very important that the employee, before resigning, reacquaint himself with the content of the employment contract or the general act of the company. These documents often contain special provisions on notice periods that must be observed. Also, in some cases, the employment contract may prescribe additional obligations for the employee who wants to resign.
How to resign without a notice period?
How to resign without a notice period is a question that employees often ask. The Labor Law defines the obligation that the notice period can be respected, but of course there is an exception to this rule, so the employer and employee can mutually agree on the terms of termination of the employment relationship.
Consequences of non-compliance with the notice period
Naturally, non-compliance with the notice period does not mean that the employment relationship has not ended, that is, it cannot affect the basic legal consequence produced by the employee’s statement about the termination of the employment contract. In the event that the employee does not comply with the notice period, i.e. stops coming to work after submitting the notice of termination to the employer, and the notice period has not yet expired, or does not perform his work tasks during the notice period, and as a result of his actions, certain damage occurs to employer, there would be a legal basis for compensation for that damage from the employee who caused damage to the employer through his hidden behavior. Therefore, the only consequence that could occur for the employee if he does not comply with the notice period when terminating the employment contract is compensation for the actual damage he caused to the employer. This means that in court proceedings against the employee, the employer would have to prove that the employee did not comply with the notice period, and that his actions directly caused certain material damage to the employer. In that case, the employee would have to compensate the employer for the damage done.
The employer does not have the right to collect any penalty from the employee who resigned due to non-compliance with the notice period. Such a fine cannot be stipulated by the employment contract, the general act of the employer, or any special contract. It would practically be a lump-sum payment of damages, which is not legally founded. In court proceedings, the employer must prove that the damage actually occurred, prove its amount, as well as the fact that it was caused precisely by non-compliance with the notice period by the employee who resigned from the employment contract.
Conclusion
The right to cancel the employment contract is a legally established and guaranteed right, so employees have complete autonomy to decide whether they want to continue the employment relationship or terminate it. It is only important that they comply with the laws and provisions made in the employment contract or the general act of the company where they are employed.
It is important for employers to adequately identify the reason for termination before starting the termination process. If there is a mistake in identifying the reason for termination, the employee has a good chance of succeeding in the civil proceedings for illegal termination.
It is important to point out that in case of dismissal by the employee, he does not have the right to:
1. Cash compensation in case of unemployment (Article 67, paragraph 2 of the Law on Employment and Unemployment Insurance “Official Gazette of RS”, No. 36/2009, 88/2010, 38/2015, 113/2017, 113/2017 – etc. Law and 49/2021);
2. Health, pension and disability insurance (Article 78, paragraph 1 of the Law on Employment and Unemployment Insurance, Article 111, paragraph 3 a in connection with Article 17 of the Law on Health Insurance “Official Gazette of RS”, No. 25/2019).
Text regarding the right to personal dignity you can read here.