I am Bobby Ahmed, Managing Director at Neathouse Partners and an employment lawyer. I regularly advise employers where an employee has suddenly walked out of work.
If an employee walks out of work halfway through a shift, meeting or argument, it can be tempting to react immediately. That is usually when employers get themselves into difficulty.
The first step should not be to assume the employee has resigned or to dismiss them on the spot. You need to establish what happened, why they left and whether they intend to return.
These situations can become more difficult than they need to be because of a rushed decision, an angry email or an assumption about what the employee intended.
The sensible approach is to protect the business, establish the facts and keep your options open until you understand the position.
Not necessarily. An employee walking out of work does not automatically mean they have resigned.
Depending on the circumstances, you may be dealing with unauthorised absence, misconduct, a heat-of-the-moment reaction, sickness, a mental health issue, a grievance or an actual resignation. The employee’s words, actions and the surrounding circumstances all matter.
If an employee simply gets up and leaves after an argument, I would not advise an employer to immediately record them as having resigned. If they clearly say, “I resign”, the position may be different, but even then the context can matter if the statement was made in anger or obvious distress.
Where there is any doubt, clarify the employee’s intention before treating the employment relationship as having ended.
There are a few immediate steps I would normally advise an employer to take. The aim is not to start disciplinary action straight away. It is to understand what has happened and make sure the business is protected while you do that.
1. Check the Employee Is Safe After Walking Out
If the employee appeared distressed, unwell or extremely upset before leaving, make a reasonable welfare check. Keep the contact calm and straightforward rather than turning it into a disciplinary conversation.
You might say:
“You left work at approximately [time] today. We wanted to check that you are OK. Please contact [name] as soon as you can to let us know that you are safe and whether you intend to return to work.”
If there is no obvious welfare concern, you should still contact the employee promptly to establish their position.
2. Record What Happened When the Employee Walked Out
Ask the manager involved to make a factual note while the events are still fresh. Record when the employee left, exactly what was said, what happened immediately beforehand, who witnessed the incident and whether any company property was taken.
You should also note any immediate security or operational concern and any relevant background involving health, stress, grievances or workplace conflict.
Stick to facts. Writing, “John left the premises at approximately 2.15pm following an argument with his manager” is useful. Writing, “John abandoned his employment” is a conclusion that may create difficulties later.
Record what happened first. Decide what it means once you have heard the employee’s explanation.
3. Protect the Business After an Employee Walks Out
Depending on the employee’s role, you may need to take immediate practical steps. This could include arranging cover, securing equipment, preserving CCTV or emails, protecting confidential information or temporarily restricting access to systems.
That does not mean every employee who walks out should immediately have every account disabled. Consider the actual risk and respond proportionately.
If you do restrict access, record why. It should be treated as a precautionary step rather than evidence that you have already decided the employee has committed misconduct.
4. Ask Whether the Employee Intends to Return to Work
If there has been no clear resignation, contact the employee and ask them to confirm their position.
You need to understand why they left, whether they intend to return, whether they are saying they are unwell, whether they are raising a complaint and whether they intended to resign.
Give them a reasonable deadline to respond, but do not put words into their mouth. If they have not resigned, do not send a letter asking them to “confirm their resignation”. Ask them to explain their position instead.
5. Decide How to Deal With the Employee Walking Out
Once you have more information, decide which process actually applies. You may be dealing with sickness absence, unauthorised absence, misconduct, a grievance, a confirmed resignation or a workplace relationship issue that needs resolving.
For example, if the employee says they left because they suffered a panic attack, treating the matter immediately as misconduct may be inappropriate. If they say they became angry and left despite being clearly instructed to remain at work, a misconduct investigation may be appropriate.
The facts should determine the process.
The biggest mistake is acting before you know what happened. Employers often create unnecessary legal risk by treating a walkout as a resignation or gross misconduct before giving the employee any chance to explain.
If the employee has not clearly resigned, do not put words into their mouth.
If you write, “We accept your resignation”, when the employee never actually resigned, you may create a dispute about who ended the employment. A walkout and a resignation are not necessarily the same thing.
Avoid statements such as “You have abandoned your job”, “Do not bother coming back” or “You are dismissed”.
Those messages are difficult to undo. Even if the employee’s behaviour was unacceptable, keep correspondence factual and professional. You can deal with misconduct later if the evidence supports it.
The employee may have behaved badly, but that does not mean you should ignore what happened immediately before they left.
They may say they walked out because of bullying, an argument with their manager, a panic attack, a health condition, an unsafe situation, discrimination or a complaint that has not been dealt with properly.
You do not have to accept the employee’s explanation simply because they have given one. You do need to consider it and investigate where necessary.
Walking out can amount to misconduct and, in serious cases, potentially gross misconduct. But dismissal should not be automatic.
Investigate what happened, give the employee an opportunity to explain themselves and then decide whether disciplinary action is justified.
Walking out of work can amount to gross misconduct, but it will not automatically do so.
The seriousness of the conduct depends on the employee’s role, why they left, what they were told before leaving and the consequences for the business.
For example, leaving a safety-critical position without cover is much more serious than an office employee leaving after an argument with their manager.
Walking out is more likely to justify serious disciplinary action where the employee’s departure put another person at risk, left a vulnerable service user unsupported, created a serious operational problem, exposed confidential information or left colleagues in an unsafe position.
Before deciding that the conduct amounts to gross misconduct, consider what the employee actually did, why they left, whether they were instructed to remain at work, what harm resulted and whether there is any relevant health, disability, grievance or previous conduct issue.
You should also check the disciplinary policy and consider whether a warning or another sanction would be more appropriate.
Potentially, yes. An employee who walks out without permission may have committed misconduct, and in a sufficiently serious case dismissal may be an option.
However, the employer should not start with the decision to dismiss and work backwards.
You should first investigate what happened, why the employee left, what instruction they ignored, the effect their departure had on the business and whether there were any mitigating circumstances.
If there is a disciplinary case to answer, invite the employee to a disciplinary hearing and give them a proper opportunity to respond before making a decision.
Whether dismissal is reasonable will depend on the facts of the case.
If the employee clearly says they are resigning, ask them to confirm it in writing.
Once the position is clear, confirm the resignation date, notice period, whether notice will be worked, final salary, accrued holiday, return of company property and any continuing confidentiality or post-termination obligations.
Be more careful where the resignation was made during an argument or while the employee was obviously distressed. Someone shouting “I quit” and storming out of a meeting is not necessarily in the same position as an employee who sends a considered resignation email and gives contractual notice.
Where there is genuine doubt, clarify the employee’s intention before treating the employment as over.
Do not leave the position unresolved.
Contact the employee and ask them to explain why they are absent and whether they intend to return to work. If they do not respond, write again and explain that they are currently absent without authorisation unless they provide another explanation.
Give them a clear date by which they need to make contact and keep a record of telephone calls, emails, letters and other reasonable attempts to contact them.
If the employee continues to ignore those attempts, you can consider moving to a formal absence or disciplinary process.
Do not simply remove them from payroll and assume the employment relationship has ended.
The main thing is not to make a rushed decision.
If an employee has walked out of work, check whether there is an immediate welfare concern, record what happened, protect the business where necessary and contact the employee to establish their position.
Once you know why they left and whether they intend to return, you can decide whether you are dealing with absence, misconduct, sickness, a grievance or resignation.
An employee walking out can be serious, but it does not automatically mean they have resigned and it does not automatically justify dismissal.
Neathouse Partners advises employers on urgent employee issues, including employees walking out of work, unauthorised absence, resignations, disciplinary investigations and workplace disputes.
Speak to our employment law team before taking formal action.