Offboarding Document Templates for Departing Employees

If you are dealing with a voluntary departure, you need to ask your employee to send a letter of resignation as soon as possible.

Resignation letters mark the beginning of the official notice period. Without this document, the entire offboarding process cannot officially begin. If your employee has not yet sent you their letter, here is a template they can use to get started!

In any case of employment termination, you need to come up with a termination letter outlining the terms and conditions of the termination. This will serve as a legal document detailing, if applicable, severance pay, benefits, non-disclosure agreements, and any other essential employment termination conditions. You should send this agreement to the employee as soon as everyone is notified of the termination and make sure that all parties quickly sign the document.

Here is a template you can use as an example – please note that this is a general template and may need to be customized to comply with specific state or country laws and individual company policies!

Your company can greatly benefit from conducting exit interviews, as they will help gather honest feedback and valuable insights from offboarding employees about their experiences, reasons for leaving, and suggestions for improvement in management practices. They are also a great way to make sure that the exiting employee remains on good terms with your company.

During the interview process, you will be able to go over their responses and ask for more information. Here are tips to set up this crucial step:

It’s always best to personalize your interview template according to the employee’s personal experience with the company in order to obtain valuable feedback.
To obtain spontaneous responses, you need to be flexible during the exit interview and to be prepared to modify and expand your questions as the discussion progresses, just as you would in a job interview. – Dominique Archambault, Director of Recruitment and Associate at Go RH

Feel free to use our free customizable exit interview template to get started!

Remember to communicate final paycheck information to your employee. This document will provide details about the final paycheck, which includes salary, accrued paid but unused paid time off, bonuses, commissions or other compensation owed to the employee at the end of their employment contract.

It is essential that you inform the departing employee about the applicable continuation of their benefits such as health insurance. You can also advise the employee about their options regarding their retirement savings plan, such as the possibility to roll it over to another account if they wish to do so.

Anticipating such questions will help you avoid future administrative burdens down the road, and convey a great last impression of your company’s processes. Here is a template to help you get an idea of the type of document you should use.

Of course, you need to get the employee to return all company equipment and sign an acknowledgement that they did so. This includes company laptops, keys, access cards, uniforms, etc. You also need to make sure that you have revoked the offboarding employee’s access to company accounts. With this document, you will ensure that you effectively manage your inventory and that your business data remains secure after the departure. Use this template to complete this step of the exit process!

If the employee signed any non-compete or non-solicitation agreements during their employment, remind them of the terms and restrictions to avoid potential issues. Most of the time, these agreements are signed on the first day of employment and are quickly forgotten by employees throughout their careers. A quick reminder will save you lots of time and complications down the line!

You also need to remind the employee of their ongoing obligations regarding protecting the company’s confidential information. Sending the initial confidentiality agreement during the offboarding process is important to avoid confidentiality breaches and ensure business data privacy.

Take the time to ask the departing employee to confirm that they received, understood, and complied with the company’s policies and procedures during their tenure. Completing this step during the offboarding process means that you won’t have to contact the employee after they leave. You just need a quick signature, and you will be done!

You can also seek permission from the employee to provide references for future employers. Most of the time, employees will be happy to sign this agreement, especially if you have maintained a good professional relationship with them throughout the course of their career with you. In any case, it will prevent issues and conflicts if you have to provide references in the future.

You can also create a company contacts list that indicates who the departing employee should reach out to for any future inquiries or needs. You can include the following contact information:

• Human Resources department
• Accounting
• Direct supervisor
• Other relevant contacts.

These records summarize any training and development activities the employee participated in during their employment. This document will be crucial for their job searches and to keep track of their certifications.

No matter the context of the employee’s last day, be it a layoff or a voluntary departure, every employee should receive a thank-you letter or a farewell email expressing recognition for their contributions. You can wish them well in their future endeavors, highlight what made them a unique asset for your company, and include kind words from their team members. Departure emails can also give information on the farewell party that you should definitely organize in honor of your outgoing employee!

Remember that just like with employee onboarding documents, a good employee offboarding process requires the right documentation and organizational skills. With our offboarding document templates, you will ensure a smooth transition and a positive experience until the very end of the employee lifecycle!