[Exits and offboarding](https://www.teampredict.ai/templates#exits) # Employee offboarding checklist A four-stage offboarding checklist with 21 items, from the day notice is given to the week after the last day, to tick off, copy or print. Employee Role Manager Last working day Checklist owner **When notice is given** Confirm the last working day in writing Agree with the leaver who tells the team, and when Tell the team and say who covers the work for now Decide whether the role will be backfilled Book the exit interview and send the exit survey **Handover, in the last two weeks** List every open project and name a new owner for each Write down recurring tasks, with how often each one comes up Record a walkthrough of anything only this person knows Introduce the new owner to key customers and partners Move shared files out of personal folders Agree what will not be finished and tell the people waiting for it **The last day** Collect the laptop, badge, keys and other equipment Close accounts and remove system access at the end of the day Set an email forward and an automatic reply naming the new contact Thank them in front of the team, for specific work Ask whether you may stay in touch, and note a personal email if they agree **The week after** Add the exit to the exit tracker with one primary reason Tag the exit as regretted or not Share the themes from the exit interview with the manager Check that the new owners have what they need Update the org chart and the succession plan Last updated October 14, 2026 ## An offboarding checklist makes every exit orderly, whoever is leaving. Offboarding is everything that happens between a resignation and the week after the last day: telling the team, handing work over, closing access and learning why the person left. Without a list each manager improvises it, and the same things get missed: a handover nobody wrote, an account that stays open, an exit interview nobody booked. This checklist has four stages and 21 items. It covers the handover and the conversation as well as the equipment, because how someone is treated on the way out decides whether they recommend you later, or come back. ## Here is how to use the employee offboarding checklist in five steps. _Figure: How to use the employee offboarding checklist in 5 steps. Step 1: Name one owner. Step 2: Start on the first day of notice. Step 3: Put handover before paperwork. Step 4: Close access on the last day. Step 5: Finish the week after._ 1. **Name one owner.** Give the whole checklist to one person, usually the manager or someone on the people team. Shared ownership is how items get missed. 2. **Start on the first day of notice.** Open the list the day the resignation is confirmed. The handover stage needs the full notice period. 3. **Put handover before paperwork.** Knowledge leaves with the person and equipment does not, so spend the first week on projects, tasks and introductions. 4. **Close access on the last day.** Remove access at the end of the final day, not before, so the person can finish the handover. 5. **Finish the week after.** The last stage is the one teams skip. Log the reason for leaving and check on the people who took over the work. ## Here is a worked example with invented names. Take an invented company, Tindervale Clinics, with 60 staff across four sites. Leila Haddad, who runs scheduling for all four, gives three weeks' notice. Her manager, Owen Pryce, opens the checklist the same day. The handover stage shows that Leila is the only person who knows how the rota software is set up, so she records two walkthroughs and trains a colleague in the first week instead of the third. _Figure: A filled-in example. Tindervale Clinics, an invented company: one offboarding. Leaver: Leila Haddad, scheduling lead, 3 weeks' notice. Checklist owner: Owen Pryce, her manager. Found in the handover stage: Only Leila knew how the rota software was set up. Done in the first week: Two recorded walkthroughs, one colleague trained. The last day: Access closed at 5 pm, thanks given at lunch. The week after: Exit logged as regretted, reason workload, second scheduler added to the succession plan._ On the last day her access is closed at 5 pm and the team thanks her at lunch. The week after, Owen logs the exit as regretted, with workload as the primary reason, and adds a second trained scheduler to the succession plan. ## These mistakes spoil offboarding. - Starting the handover in the final week, when there is no time left for follow-up questions. - Removing access the moment notice is given, which stops the handover and sours the last weeks. - Treating offboarding as an equipment return. The knowledge and the relationships are worth more than the laptop. - Letting the person leave without a thank-you. The team is watching how leavers are treated. - Skipping the items for the week after, so the reason for leaving is never recorded. ## People ask these questions about offboarding. ### What is employee offboarding? Offboarding is the process of closing out someone's employment in an orderly way: announcing the departure, handing over their work, collecting equipment, removing access and learning why they left. It starts when notice is given and ends about a week after the last day. ### Who is responsible for offboarding? The leaver's manager usually owns the handover and the team announcement, the people team owns the exit interview and the records, and IT owns equipment and access. One named person should hold the whole checklist so that nothing falls between the three. ### How long does offboarding take? As long as the notice period, plus a week. Two weeks' notice is enough for a clean handover if the checklist starts on the first day. With a shorter notice period, cut the list down to the handover, the access and the exit interview. ### What is the difference between offboarding and an exit interview? The exit interview is one item inside offboarding. Offboarding is the whole process, including the handover, the equipment and the access. The exit interview is the conversation about why the person is leaving. ### Why does offboarding matter for retention? The people who stay see how a colleague is treated on the way out and draw their own conclusions. A respectful exit also keeps the door open for the person to come back later, or to recommend the company to someone else. ## These glossary terms explain the ideas behind it. - [Separation](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary/separation) A separation is any end of the employment relationship, voluntary or involuntary. It is the numerator in most turnover formulas. - [Exit interview](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary/exit-interview) An exit interview is a structured conversation with a departing employee about why they are leaving and what would have changed their mind. - [Boomerang employee](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary#boomerang-employee) A boomerang employee is a former employee who is rehired by the same company after working somewhere else. - [Succession planning](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary#succession-planning) Succession planning is identifying who could step into critical roles, and closing the gaps before the seat is empty. - [Regretted attrition](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary/regretted-attrition) Regretted attrition is a departure the company did not want: someone whose performance, skills or relationships you would have paid to keep. ## These pages on this site go deeper. - [Rehiring former employees](https://www.teampredict.ai/blog/boomerang-employees) - [Exit interview questions](https://www.teampredict.ai/blog/exit-interview-questions) ## These templates pair well with this one. - [Exit interview form](https://www.teampredict.ai/templates/exit-interview-form) An opening script, eleven questions and one primary reason, for the interviewer. - [Exit survey template](https://www.teampredict.ai/templates/exit-survey) Twelve questions a leaver answers in writing, in about ten minutes. - [Succession plan template](https://www.teampredict.ai/templates/succession-plan) Critical roles, who could step in, emergency cover and development for successors. ## Find out what turnover is costing you. Put a number on it in about two minutes with the free turnover cost calculator, using your own headcount, average salary and turnover rate. [Calculate your turnover cost](https://www.teampredict.ai/tools/employee-turnover-cost-calculator) Free, no signup required. About TeamPredict TeamPredict is retention early-warning software that flags resignation risk from public LinkedIn signals, so you have lead time to keep the people you want to keep. [See how TeamPredict works](https://www.teampredict.ai/retention-software) [Back to the HR templates](https://www.teampredict.ai/templates), where all 22 are listed.