Resignation letter in your first six months: template

The job turns out not to be what you expected, or a better offer comes along quickly. In your first months you also resign with written notice, but the term differs from later in your career. This model takes that into account.

When do you use this model?

Use this model when you have less than six months of seniority and end your own open-ended contract. Which term applies also depends on the date your contract started: the page on resigning explains the rule and the calculator works it out.

Form requirements

• For employees with less than six months of seniority, the law sets a separate, short notice period. Which term applies to you also depends on your start date; the model leaves it open so you can fill in the calculator's result.
• Notice is given in writing and states the start and the length of the notice period. If either is missing, the notice is void. According to the FPS Employment, the termination still stands, the contract ends at once and the party giving notice owes compensation in lieu of notice.
• If you give notice, you have three ways: you hand the letter to your employer, you send it by registered post or you have a bailiff serve it. If your employer signs the duplicate, that signature only counts as an acknowledgement of receipt.
• The notice period starts running on the Monday after the week in which notice was given.

The model

Fill in the fields in square brackets and delete what does not apply. You fill in the term yourself: calculate it first with the calculator. Calculate your notice period→

[First name and surname]
[Street and number]
[Postcode and town]

[Employer's name]
For the attention of [name of the manager or HR department]
[Street and number]
[Postcode and town]

[Place], [date]

Subject: notice of termination of my employment contract

Dear Sir or Madam,

I hereby give notice to end my open-ended employment contract, which started on [start date], with a notice period.

The notice period is [number] week or weeks. It starts on Monday [date of the Monday after the week of notification] and ends on [end date].

I thank the team for the opportunities of the past months and will gladly help with a good handover.

Kind regards,

[Signature]
[First name and surname]

Received by the employer (on the duplicate):
Name: [name]
Date: [date]
Signature: [signature]

Tips

• Check the exact start date in your contract. It determines your seniority and therefore which rule applies.
• A short term means little time for the handover. Say in the letter that you will cooperate, so you leave on good terms.

Which language is required?

Which language is mandatory depends on where the operating site you work at is located. In the Dutch language area it is Dutch (Flemish language decree of 19 July 1973), in the French language area it is French (decree of the French Community of 30 June 1982). Both govern the language of social relations between employer and employee.

In Brussels-Capital and in the Flemish municipalities with language facilities, the federal law on the use of languages in administrative matters applies. In Brussels, documents for staff are drawn up in Dutch or in French depending on the employee's language; in the municipalities with facilities, in Dutch.

Both decrees provide that documents contrary to the language rules are void and that the court establishes that nullity of its own motion. The Flemish decree adds that the annulment may not harm the employee. In Brussels, documents in the wrong language must be replaced.

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This is a model, not legal advice. Adapt it to your own situation; your contract, your collective agreement and your payroll provider, union or lawyer remain decisive.