Confirmation of Career Break Letter

Confirmation of Career Break Letter

This Letter of Confirmation of Career Break provides for termination of employment by mutual agreement prior to the career break commencing (by requiring the employee to sign the bottom of the letter to confirm their acceptance of the terms of the career break). In this template, the career break is agreed on the basis that the employer will offer re-employment at the end of the break.

Where the employee is not required to agree to a termination of their employment as a condition of the career break (but, for example, the career break is treated as a period of unpaid leave instead) so that continuity of service is preserved, or where re-employment cannot be guaranteed, the letter should be amended accordingly to make this clear.

Short-term unpaid leave that is approved by the employer is likely to be seen as counting towards continuous employment, either by the continuation of the contract or by arrangement, unless (as in this template letter) it is expressly stated otherwise.

Whether or not continuous service is broken by the career break is ultimately a matter for the tribunal to determine.

Where a contract of employment is terminated by agreement between the employer and employee, usually, the employee has no entitlement to claim unfair dismissal unless they can show, for example, that their employer placed pressure on them to agree to a dismissal or to resign.