Resignation by Conduct: What Changes for Companies

In recent months, the topic of resignation by conduct has attracted growing attention from HR professionals and labor consultants. The new regulation introduces a mechanism that is set to have a tangible impact on employment relationships, addressing an issue many organizations are familiar with: prolonged and unjustified employee absence.

For businesses, this is not merely an administrative matter. It also opens a broader discussion about the relationship between individual responsibility and human resources management within organizations.

What is resignation by conduct?

The principle is relatively straightforward: when an employee’s unjustified absence extends beyond the period established by the applicable collective labor agreement—or, where no specific provision exists, beyond the period defined by law—the employment relationship may be considered terminated through the employee’s implied intention to resign.

In other words, the employee’s behavior is interpreted as a clear indication of their intention to end the employment relationship.

The purpose of the regulation is to address situations in which employees effectively abandon their role without formally submitting their resignation, creating operational and administrative challenges for the employer.

Such situations can inevitably generate significant difficulties, affecting workforce planning, employee replacement, administrative processes, and overall team organization.

Beyond regulation: the role of leadership and HR

A sudden and prolonged absence is rarely an isolated event. More often, it may reflect a deterioration in the relationship between the individual and the organization, a lack of engagement, or underlying issues that were not identified in time.

For this reason, the matter cannot be approached solely from a legal or regulatory perspective. Forward-thinking organizations are increasingly investing in leadership quality and in building organizational cultures capable of identifying early signs of disengagement, misalignment, or employee distress.

Today, people management and talent acquisition strategies are no longer focused solely on attracting new employees. They are equally concerned with creating professional environments where people choose to stay, develop, and contribute over the long term.

From this perspective, resignation by conduct also provides an opportunity to reflect on the organizational dynamics that influence motivation, engagement, and employee commitment.

A new perspective for organizations

Today, the real challenge is building organizations capable of preventing these situations through effective leadership, transparent communication, and strategic human resources management.

The success of an organization depends not only on its ability to manage employee departures, but above all on its ability to create the conditions that encourage people to remain, contribute, and grow alongside the company.