Your employer wants you to resign – what are the rules?

Sometimes an employer suggests that it would be best if you resigned. This may happen after a conflict, during an investigation, or in a situation where the employer actually wants to end the employment. There is a major difference between resigning and being dismissed, both legally and financially.

Resignation or dismissal by the employer

When the employer dismisses you, the dismissal must be based on objective reasons under Section 7 of LAS, and you can challenge it if those reasons are absent. If you resign, there is generally no such protection. You have then ended the employment yourself, and this may also affect benefits from your unemployment insurance fund.

What is an employer-induced resignation?

The Swedish Labour Court has established through case law that a resignation may, in certain cases, be equated with a dismissal by the employer. This is known as an employer-induced resignation. Broadly, it requires the employer to have acted contrary to good labour-market practice or otherwise improperly, and for that conduct to have caused you to resign.

If that is the case, the situation is assessed as if the employer had dismissed you, and questions concerning objective reasons, a declaration of invalidity, or damages may arise.

Pressure or an unpleasant situation is not always enough

Finding your workplace difficult, the existence of a conflict, or criticism from the employer does not in itself turn a resignation into an employer-induced resignation. For example, the employer is allowed to point out shortcomings and raise issues concerning dismissal for personal reasons. What matters is what the employer actually said and did, and whether this can be proved.

Evidence that may be relevant

• Emails and text messages in which the employer raises the issue of you leaving
• Notes from meetings: who attended, what was said, and when
• Witnesses who heard what was said, such as a colleague or union representative
• The timing: what happened immediately before you resigned, and how quickly it happened
• Whether you were given an ultimatum, for example that you would otherwise be summarily dismissed or reported to the police

Write down the sequence of events as soon as possible while you still remember the details.

Be careful before you sign

You are not obliged to resign because the employer wants you to. Consider asking for time to think and for the proposal in writing. If you are offered an agreement to end your employment, read more about severance payments and buyout agreements and have someone review it before you sign. If the union has been unwilling to pursue the matter, a second opinion may be an option.

If you have already resigned

As a general rule, a resignation is binding once the employer has received it. There may be exceptions, for example if you resigned in a state of intense emotional distress and quickly withdrew the resignation, or if it was an employer-induced resignation. In that situation, act quickly: notify the employer in writing that you do not stand by your resignation and explain why.

The time limits are short

If you wish to argue that your resignation was actually a dismissal by the employer, the same short time limits as under LAS generally apply, often two weeks to seek a declaration of invalidity (Section 40 of LAS). The applicable time limit depends on the circumstances and any collective agreement, so do not delay.

Examples from the Swedish Labour Court

What distinguished the cases?

In the first case, the court considered the employer's conduct improper and found that it had caused the employee to leave. In the second case, the court did not consider this proved. The difference therefore lay in what could be proved about the employer's conduct, not in how pressured the employee felt. Previous judgments illustrate how the rules are applied, but they do not predict the outcome of a new case.

If you would like help assessing your situation, you can describe it for a free initial assessment.