Resignation and exit policy: notice, handover, clearance and settlement

A developer hands in her resignation on a Friday evening, by message, to a manager who is travelling. The manager replies with a thumbs-up. Nobody tells HR, nobody asks about the release she owns, and her laptop stays enrolled for three weeks after she leaves. Each step of that story is a hole in the exit policy, and none of it is anyone's personal fault.

Owners and HR heads who want tidy separations will find the choices laid out here. Think of the policy as a signposted road from resignation letter to closed personnel file. It sits beside the full set of policies a growing company needs, and the process behind it is covered in exit and offboarding.

Start with scope. State whether it covers every employee, including those on probation, consultants on retainer and interns, or only confirmed staff. Then define the terms people argue about later: resignation, notice period, last working day, relieving date, handover, clearance and full-and-final settlement.

The last working day and the relieving date are often different. Leave balances, public holidays and any waived days can move one away from the other. Say which date drives settlement and which drives the relieving letter.

• How a resignation is submitted: a signed letter, a form in the HR system, or an email to a named address. A message to a manager alone should not count.
• The notice period for each grade, and whether probation carries a shorter one. Print the figures in the appointment letter and get them reviewed first.
• Whether notice can be waived, shortened or bought out, who may approve it, and what recovery applies if the employee leaves early.
• Whether leave can be taken during notice, and whether notice is extended by unplanned absence.
• Who can withdraw a resignation, and until when, and whether the company can decline a withdrawal.
• How involuntary separation differs, and which steps still apply to it.

Pick a policy on garden leave too: some companies keep a departing salesperson away from the customer portal for the final notice days. Pay continues. It protects the pipeline but needs a clause in the contract. Also decide how to treat absconding, meaning no contact and no notice, and who sends the registered reminder before the file is closed.

Each choice has a cost. A long notice period protects projects but makes people resent the company on the way out. A flexible waiver rule is kind but invites unequal treatment unless one named person approves every case. Write the reasoning down so the next HR head does not have to guess.

1. 1

   Employee submits

   The resignation goes through the agreed route. HR sends a written acknowledgement with the last working day proposed under the contract.

2. 2

   Manager meets the employee

   A short conversation within a set number of working days. The goal is to learn why she is going and list what must change hands, not to bargain.

3. 3

   HR confirms the date

   HR records any waiver or reduction approved by the named authority and issues the confirmed last working day in writing.

4. 4

   Handover plan

   The employee and manager complete the handover checklist: open tasks, documents, customer contacts, passwords held, and the person who takes over each item.

5. 5

   Departmental clearance

   IT, finance, admin and the manager each sign the clearance form once their part is closed. Nobody signs on someone else's behalf.

6. 6

   Exit interview and settlement

   HR holds the exit interview, finance prepares the full-and-final statement, and the relieving and experience letters go out after clearance.

Handover carries the real business risk: sprint tickets half done, a vendor renewal only she remembers, a cron job nobody documented. A good policy asks for a written handover note per project, a walkthrough with the successor, and an introduction to each customer or vendor contact. For engineering roles it should also name repositories, deployment access, scheduled jobs and anything the employee alone understands.

Decide whether the successor must confirm in writing that the handover is complete. One counter-signature converts a promise into evidence. See also the asset and laptop policy for the return of equipment, and the onboarding guide for the matching entry process.

Clearance works like a baton relay of department sign-offs, ending in a no-dues certificate. IT disables email, single sign-on, the code repository, VPN profile, deployment keys and shared drive on the last working day. It also rotates any shared service account the leaver knew. The time goes on the access revocation sheet. Admin collects the access card and any desk items. Finance checks salary advances, unsettled expense claims and the corporate card. The manager confirms work is transferred.

The policy should remind the employee that confidentiality obligations continue after employment, and point to the confidentiality and non-disclosure policy. Ask the leaver to confirm in writing that no company data remains on personal devices or accounts.

Full-and-final settlement covers salary up to the last day. It may add leave encashment, if the company allows it, and variable pay due under its own plan. Recoveries cover notice shortfall, advances or unreturned equipment. The exact components, timing and deductions are for the company to configure and for a qualified professional to check, including legally required contributions and deductions.

The relieving letter confirms the person has left in good standing and the experience letter states role and dates. Decide whether either can be held back until clearance is signed, and who may authorise any exception.

Involuntary separation follows the separate disciplinary route described in the full policy list and the contract, with due process and written reasons. The clearance, access removal and settlement steps above still apply. Exit documents for these cases need restricted access.

• Resignation letter or form, with the date received.
• Acknowledgement and confirmed last working day.
• Notice waiver approval, if any.
• Handover checklist and successor confirmation.
• Clearance form with each sign-off.
• Exit interview notes and the full-and-final statement.
• Relieving and experience letter copies.

On joining, each person signs a one-line receipt that records the policy version and the date they accepted it. Re-issue it whenever the notice terms change. Reread it every twelve months, and sooner if the payroll vendor or offer-letter template changes.

Title and ID: Resignation and Exit Policy, HR-POL-009.
Purpose: orderly, fair and documented separations.
Scope: [all employees / grades covered].
Definitions: resignation, notice period, last working day, clearance, settlement.
Policy statements: 'Resignation is submitted through [route]. Notice is [number] days unless the contract says otherwise.'.
Procedures: acknowledgement, handover, clearance, exit interview, settlement.
Roles: resigning employee, reporting manager, HR partner, IT administrator, accounts, facilities.
Approval authority: [role] approves notice waivers.
Exceptions: written approval from [role], recorded on the notice register.
Violations: absconding or unreturned assets handled under [policy].
Legal references: [to be confirmed by a qualified professional].
Forms: resignation form, notice register, handover checklist, no-dues certificate, settlement statement.
Effective date and version: [date], v[number].
Review: every [number] months by HR.
Acknowledgement: name, signature, date, version.

GullyHR drafts and reviews documents like this one. Send us the shape of your company through the requirements form and we will fit the outline to it.