Dear Atty. Kathy,

I filed my resignation letter with my current employer, Company X, because I got a lucrative job offer from Company Y. Three days after I filed my resignation letter with Company X, I had yet to receive any reply from Company X on my resignation, Company Y told me that they were changing the job offer to a different position, which I did not want. So, I decided to stay with Company X and filed a withdrawal of my resignation letter since there was still 20 days left before my resignation would have taken effect. However, my manager in Company X told me that I am already resigned and they are already looking for my replacement. May I not withdraw my resignation anymore?

Riley

Dear Riley,

Acceptance of a resignation tendered by an employee is necessary to make the resignation effective. In your case, based solely on your narration, it does not appear that Company X accepted your resignation, since you did not receive any reply after you filed your resignation, thus, no such acceptance of your resignation was shown.

Since there was no acceptance of your resignation, your resignation was an ineffectual resignation. You may therefore still validly retract your resignation prior to its effective date and before Company X's acceptance thereof.

(John Roger Niño S. Vergara vs ANZ Global Services and Operations, Manila Inc., G.R. 250205, 17 February 2021)

Atty. Kathy Larios