What a resignation letter with notice period must say
- That you are resigning, in the first sentence, with your job title.
- Your notice period and last working day. Use the number of days your appointment letter gives, and count them the way that letter or your HR policy says: calendar or working days, starting on the day you send the letter or the day HR accepts it.
- A handover offer. One sentence will do. It tells HR you plan to finish properly before the relieving letter is written.
- A request for your documents: relieving letter, experience letter and full-and-final settlement.
Working out the last working day
Two things move the date: where the count starts and what counts as a day. Say you email the letter on a Friday and HR accepts it the next Tuesday. If your policy starts the notice on acceptance, every date in your letter shifts by four days. If it counts working days, weekends and holidays push the end further still.
Write the date you worked out, then ask HR to reply with the date they have on record. If the two differ, settle it now by email. A wrong last day in your letter can end up in your relieving letter and delay the joining date you give a new employer.
Sending it and keeping proof
Email it to your reporting manager and copy HR, or submit it through your company's HR portal if there is one. Save the sent email or a screenshot of the portal entry with its date and time. Your appointment letter decides whether the notice runs from the day you send it or the day it is accepted, and that saved copy is your proof of either date.
Leave, buyout and probation: check these first
- The notice period in your appointment letter or the current policy. It can change after probation or a promotion, so read the latest version, not the one from your first week.
- Your leave balance. Ask HR whether it can be set against the notice period, or whether it is paid out in the final settlement instead. The answer changes your last working day.
- Any clause about notice buyout, if a new employer needs you sooner. The early release letter shows how to ask.
Your final pay after the notice period
The Code on Wages, 2019 came into force on 21 November 2025. Section 17(2) says the wages payable to an employee who has resigned are to be paid within two working days of the resignation. The government can set a different time limit, and time limits in other laws still apply, so ask HR in writing which date they will pay by.
Ask for a full-and-final statement that lists each item: salary up to your last day, leave encashment if your policy pays it, any bonus or reimbursement due, and every deduction. Check it against your last payslip before you sign anything.
If you are on a fixed-term contract, look at your service dates before you fix the last day. The government's note on the new Labour Codes says fixed-term employees now become eligible for gratuity after one year of continuous service, instead of five.
Papers to collect before you go
- A relieving letter, which confirms you were released from your duties on your last day.
- An experience letter with your role and dates. Read both for spelling and dates before you leave the building.
- The full-and-final statement, and a note from HR on how your provident fund will be transferred.
Sources
Checked on 4 October 2026. Laws change, and your appointment letter or company policy can give you more than the minimum, so check it too. This page is general information, not legal advice.