What are the employers options when, following a disagreement, an employee provides a written resignation, however changes their mind soon after and asks for their job back?

Once an employee has validly presented their resignation and the employer has accepted it, the employee does not have the right to unilaterally withdraw his or her resignation. However, employers should tread carefully when immediately accepting the resignation where it was either ambiguous, given “in the heat of the moment” following a disagreement, or where special circumstances (such as pressures on the employee) exist that may suggest the employee had no genuine desire to resign.

Case law on this point has indicated that when resignation takes place in the heat of the moment, or if a special circumstance exists, the employer should allow a reasonable period of time (a “cooling-off