A worker who resigns must give notice, and you still owe their final pay and any unused leave. A worker who simply stops coming, called abandonment, cannot be treated as resigned straight away. You have to make reasonable attempts to reach them and give them a chance to explain before you end the job, or you risk an unfair-dismissal claim. AskMandla guides both.
When a worker resigns
The worker gives you notice in writing, the same length you would give them: one week if they have worked for you six months or less, four weeks if longer. You still owe their wages up to the last day. If they worked for you longer than four months, you also pay out any unused leave. There is no severance on a resignation. If they leave without working their notice, you cannot take the unworked notice off their final pay. We prepare the UI-19, marked as a resignation. A worker who resigns cannot claim UIF unemployment benefit, but may still claim other UIF benefits, such as maternity, if they qualify.
When a worker just stops coming
It is tempting to treat someone who disappears as having resigned, but the law does not see it that way, and no law sets a number of days after which the job ends by itself. You do not pay for days they are away without permission. Before you end the job, you should:
- Try to contact them through every number you have, and keep a record of your attempts.
- Tell them in writing what you are concerned about, and give them a fair chance to explain, in case there is an emergency or a hospital stay behind it.
- Only then, if there is no reasonable explanation, end the job through a fair process.
How AskMandla helps
We guide the steps, keep the record of your attempts to make contact, write the letters, and work out the final pay, so that ending the job holds up if it is ever questioned.