How to Resign and Prove When Your Notice Was Received

When this is needed

This guide is for em­ploy­ees working under an in­def­i­nite-term em­ploy­ment con­tract who want to end their em­ploy­ment on their own ini­tia­tive. For an em­ploy­ee at a Lviv shop with Sat­ur­day shifts, the prac­ti­cal risk is as­sum­ing Sat­ur­day is a day off and moving the cal­en­dar date without check­ing the sched­ule.

A sep­a­rate pro­vi­sion, Article 39 of the Labour Code, applies to fixed-term con­tracts. If you need to leave earlier because of a valid reason, an em­ploy­er vi­o­la­tion, or danger during martial law, do not choose a date using the or­di­nary two-week cal­en­dar without check­ing the spe­cif­ic legal ground.

Applicable deadline or procedure

Under Article 38 of the Labour Code, an em­ploy­ee with an in­def­i­nite-term con­tract must give the em­ploy­er two weeks’ written notice. For a pre­lim­i­nary cal­cu­la­tion, use the con­firmed date the notice was re­ceived: the period starts the next day, and the or­di­nary two weeks end after 14 cal­en­dar days. Check the cal­cu­la­tion with the notice period cal­cu­la­tor.

For example, an au­tho­rized manager at a Lviv shop ac­cept­ed a notice against a sig­na­ture on Sat­ur­day, 10 October 2026. The count starts on 11 October, and the two-week es­ti­mate falls on Sat­ur­day, 24 October. If Sat­ur­day is a working day at that shop, the date cannot be moved au­to­mat­i­cal­ly. This does not guar­an­tee that the order will use that exact date: check the notice, work sched­ule, and cir­cum­stances between filing and dis­missal.

Article 241-1 of the Labour Code re­quires the nearest working day to be con­sid­ered if the period ends on a non-working day. Sat­ur­day or Sunday is not nec­es­sar­i­ly a non-working day for a par­tic­u­lar em­ploy­er, so au­to­mat­i­cal­ly moving the date to Monday is in­cor­rect.

Steps to take

1. Iden­ti­fy the con­tract type. For a fixed-term con­tract, do not use the or­di­nary Article 38 pro­ce­dure without check­ing Article 39.
2. Prepare a written notice. State the ground, re­quest­ed date, sig­na­ture, and date of writing. If re­quest­ing a dif­fer­ent period because of a valid reason or an em­ploy­er vi­o­la­tion, explain it specif­i­cal­ly.
3. Deliver it to an au­tho­rized person. Ask for an in­com­ing stamp on your copy. If mailing it, keep the notice, in­ven­to­ry of en­closed items, and de­liv­ery con­fir­ma­tion.
4. Record the de­liv­ery date. This is the date needed for the cal­en­dar; the sending date does not prove receipt.
5. Compare the cal­en­dar with the sched­ule. Add 14 days, then check whether the es­ti­mate is a working day for the em­ploy­er.
6. Check the order and pay­ments. Verify the ground and date in the dis­missal order, the final pay state­ment, and com­pen­sa­tion for unused leave.

What to check before filing

If an in­abil­i­ty to con­tin­ue working or an em­ploy­er vi­o­la­tion sup­ports an earlier date, gather ev­i­dence before sub­mit­ting the notice. During martial law, Article 4 of Law No. 2136-IX con­cerns hos­til­i­ties near the work­place and a threat to life or health, but it con­tains ex­cep­tions for em­ploy­ees engaged in so­cial­ly useful work or work at crit­i­cal in­fra­struc­ture fa­cil­i­ties. Assess the spe­cif­ic cir­cum­stances rather than as­sum­ing the two-week period is gen­er­al­ly short­ened.

If you change your mind, notify the em­ploy­er in writing. Article 38 of the Labour Code also ad­dress­es what happens when an em­ploy­ee does not leave after the period ends and no longer re­quires ter­mi­na­tion; a sep­a­rate ex­cep­tion applies to an invited re­place­ment whom the em­ploy­er cannot law­ful­ly refuse to hire.

When to consult a lawyer

A review is useful if the em­ploy­er denies re­ceiv­ing the notice, does not issue an order, sets a dif­fer­ent date based on an unclear sched­ule, or dis­putes the ground for earlier dis­missal. A lawyer in Lviv can compare the signed copy of the notice, the Sat­ur­day shift sched­ule, and HR records, as well as postal records if another de­liv­ery method was used.

If the dis­missal date has passed and final pay is delayed, that is a sep­a­rate route: how to claim average earn­ings for delayed final pay. Keep a dispute over the notice date sep­a­rate from check­ing the amount and timing of payment.