How to write a resignation letter

To write a resignation letter, say in the first paragraph that you are resigning from your position, how much notice you are giving and your last day as a calendar date. Offer a specific handover in the second, ask your employer to confirm your final pay date and leave balance in writing in the third, and thank them in one sentence in the fourth. Address it to your manager by name, date it, sign it, and keep a copy.

The resignation and the last day

The first paragraph does the legal work, so it should be exact. The Fair Work Ombudsman says it is best practice to give notice of resignation in writing and to include the last day of employment. It also explains that a resignation notice period starts the day after the employee gives notice and ends on the last day of employment.

The resignation letter example from a fictional garden centre team leader does this in two sentences. She is resigning from her position as Team Leader; in line with her contract she is giving four weeks of notice, and her last day of employment will be Friday 2 October 2026. The letter is dated 7 September 2026.

A date beats a formula. “Four weeks from today” invites an argument about which day counts; “Friday 2 October 2026” does not. Count your notice from the day after you hand the letter over, then name the date. The example repeats the notice given, the notice period and the last day as three labelled rows at the foot of the page, so nobody has to reread the letter to find them.

Deliver it the way your workplace expects: by email with the letter attached as a PDF, or printed and handed to your manager, followed by a copy by email. Keep what you sent.

How much notice you owe

Three documents can set your notice: your award or enterprise agreement, your employment contract, and, if both are silent, what is reasonable.

The Fair Work Ombudsman’s resignation guidance sets out the main rules:

• An award, enterprise agreement or employment contract may set how much notice an employee must give, and award notice is usually based on length of continuous service.
• Casual employees do not have to give notice, although it is best practice to tell the employer your last day.
• Award and agreement free employees do not have to give notice under an award, but their contract may require it, and a contract cannot provide less than the legal minimum set by an applicable award or agreement.
• If the contract says nothing, or there is no written contract, reasonable notice may be needed.

The consequence of short notice is real. Most awards allow an employer to deduct up to one week’s wages if an employee aged 18 or over does not give the required notice and the deduction is not unreasonable, and only from wages owed under the award, not from leave.

The notice an employer must give when it ends your employment is a separate table under the National Employment Standards, based on years of service. The employment contract example shows how a contract sets out both directions.

The handover offer

Offer a handover that is specific and bounded. The example offers to hand over three named things, the roster, the stocktake schedule and the two open supplier issues, to whoever the manager nominates, and to help train that person before finishing.

Naming items reads as professional and makes the offer easy to accept. It also avoids promising unpaid work after your last day or an open ended commitment to be available. If there is something you cannot finish in the notice period, say so plainly rather than promising it.

Think about the practical exit as well, even though it does not need a paragraph of its own. Make a list of the keys, cards, uniforms, devices and accounts you hold, and the files or passwords someone else will need, and bring it to the conversation with your manager. Returning property on or before the last day, with a short email confirming what was handed back, avoids a later dispute about deductions or missing equipment, and it makes the handover offer in the letter believable.

Final pay and leave

Ask for the two answers you will need in writing. The example asks the manager to confirm the final pay date and the accrued annual leave balance in writing, and whether she should take any leave during the notice period. Both answers then exist as documents rather than a conversation at the counter.

The Fair Work Ombudsman’s final pay guidance explains what to expect:

• final pay includes wages owing for hours worked, including penalty rates and allowances
• unused annual leave is paid out, including annual leave loading if it would have been paid during employment
• sick and carer’s leave is not paid out
• most awards require final pay within 7 days after the last day of employment

On leave during notice, the Ombudsman says paid annual leave can be taken during a notice period only if the employer agrees, and that public holidays within notice do not extend it.

Tone and what to leave out

A resignation letter goes on your file and may be read years later. Keep it short, polite and free of grievances. The example is six sentences long and ends with one sentence of thanks for the last three years, the team, the training and the trust.

Leave out:

• reasons, especially criticism of people
• details of your new job or salary
• promises you may not keep, such as being available after your last day
• anything that reads as an ultimatum or a request to be persuaded to stay

If there is a genuine workplace complaint, raise it through the proper process. If you want a reference later, a calm letter makes that conversation easier; the note on a reference letter versus a letter of recommendation explains which to ask for.

The paragraph table

The table at the end of this article lists the nine parts of a resignation letter, from your details and date to the summary rows, with what each says and how the team leader example handles it. The mirror document, when the employer ends the employment, is the termination letter example, and what the business then asks for on the way out is covered in the guide to employee handbook sections.

Common mistakes

No last day, or a formula instead of a date. The one fact that must be exact.

Getting the notice period wrong. Check the award, agreement and contract before choosing the date.

Too much explanation. Every extra sentence is something that can be quoted back.

A verbal resignation with nothing in writing. It leaves the start of notice open to dispute.

Taking leave without agreement. Annual leave in the notice period needs the employer’s agreement.

Build it

A resignation letter is a composed, one page document. Documents here are classified by scale before they are written, composed for one page, flow for two to five, and long for six or more, and a cover page is never added to a letter. Key values come in four layouts, stats, rows, card and cards, which suits the three summary rows at the foot of the example. A letterhead is used only when a document speaks for a sender, so a personal letter can simply open with the sender’s address block.

The AI chat edits text only, so it can soften a sentence or shorten a paragraph without changing the layout. The page on one page documents shows the composed scale, and the tutorial on creating a document with AI covers drafting the letter from a prompt with your position, notice and last day.