When an employee resigns, you must ensure you get written confirmation of the resignation and date. Make sure you get a Resignation letter from your employee. This will help you avoid disputes over the exact date of the resignation and the start of any notice period.
If your employee was dismissed, you should use the following dismissal letters as written confirmation of the employee leaving the business, which includes the date of dismissal and any notice periods:
You will also need to decide whether the employee should work their full notice period. It may be appropriate to pay the employee in lieu of all or part of their notice period. Payments in lieu of notice (PILONs) are generally used if you are dismissing an employee and do not want them to attend work during their notice period. This can be because of concerns about ongoing access to confidential information or business contacts or fears about disruptive behaviour. However a PILON can only be used if the contract of employment states that a PILON can be made. For further information read Payments in lieu of notice.
If you want the employee to work their full notice period you should ensure that you confirm the right notice period. The contract of employment will usually state what the notice period is. If the contract doesn't say anything about notice periods, the statutory notice period will usually apply. For further information read Notice periods.
When an employee leaves you must give them:
If the worker leaves before or during their statutory maternity or adoption pay period, you must also start paying (or continue to pay) them statutory maternity or adoption pay.
You need to tell HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) when one of your employees leaves or retires, and deduct and pay the right tax and National Insurance.
You should put the employee’s leaving date on their payroll record and make deductions as normal when you send your next Full Payment Submission (FPS), unless you’re paying them a company pension.
You must also give the employee a P45. If your payroll software doesn’t automatically produce P45s you can order copies from HMRC.
If you use HMRC's Basic PAYE Tools (BPT) read Update Basic PAYE Tools when an employee leaves.
When employees leave, it's a good idea to arrange an exit interview. You can then use their response to determine whether there are any underlying issues that need to be addressed.
Some questions you could ask include:
Ideally, someone other than the departing employee's line manager should conduct this interview. This may be done by an HR manager or the managing director of the business.
You should also look out for reasons that might lead to employees claiming constructive dismissal or discrimination. If there is a risk that discrimination or an unfair dismissal has occurred, you should try and resolve these issues before the employee leaves. For further information read Unfair dismissal.
The law doesn't generally require you to give a departing employee a reference unless stated otherwise in their contract, but it is good practice to ask whether they want one. You can use a Reference letter for this purpose. You should make sure that any reference given is true, accurate and a fair representation of the person. If the reference is misleading or unfair, an ex-employee could bring an action against you for libel, discrimination or defamation of character. For further information read Defamation.
The leaving employee may be able to gain access to a reference if they make a subject access request to their new employer. This is because employees are entitled to make a subject access request to view personal data that their employer holds about them. This may also include a reference given by past employers. Therefore when providing references employers should also be cautious about providing or processing information which is unnecessary or discriminatory such as sexual orientation, religion or age. For further information read Employee reference letters.
If you issued any company property to employees at the start of their employment, you should ask for these to be returned. This includes retrieving security passes, uniforms, laptops or company mobile phones. You may also want to consider changing computer codes and passwords.