Why Having a Clear Offboarding Process Matters

When an employee leaves, it’s more than just saying goodbye. If not handled correctly, it can lead to lost company property or security issues. Whether the employee leaves on their own or is let go, a structured offboarding process helps the business stay organized—tracking equipment, access, documents, and responsibilities. Without this process, you risk:

• Losing company assets
• Security threats from unused system access
• Violations of data privacy laws like GDPR
• Legal problems

So, when an employee departs, the company needs to make sure to:

1. Collect all company equipment (laptop, phone, keys)
2. Revoke access to systems and accounts
3. Properly store and archive important documents and data
4. Follow all legal requirements (records, signatures)

The Offboarding Plan and Process Follow your Company Policies and Procedures

The offboarding process for an employee leaving should be clearly detailed in your HR policies and employee handbook, and should include at least the following:

1. When offboarding begins and who is responsible – immediately after resignation?
2. Who is accountable for each step – HR, manager, IT, front desk?
3. What company property or access needs to be returned?
4. Which forms or documents need to be signed or completed?
5. When and how the exit interview will be conducted?
6. How all steps will be documented (paper forms, digital records, checklist templates)?

Step by Step: What to Do When an Employee Leaves

Step 1: Review the Employee Offboarding Checklist

• Open the employee’s file where the offboarding checklist is stored.
• Plan each offboarding task and assign who is responsible (e.g., HR, IT, manager)

Step 2: Review Employee Associations

• In the employee records, open the personal file of the departing employee and run the “Employee Departure” online report
• On the “Connections” and "Issued" tabs, you’ll find everything linked to the employee:
• Assigned equipment (laptop, keys, access cards, etc.)
• Responsibilities (projects, documents, tasks)
• Access permissions

Step 3: Complete Handover and Equipment Return

• Using the list from the report of issued or assigned equipment, coordinate the return of items (phones, laptops, keys, access cards, etc.)
• Document what was returned, its condition, and who received it (a handover form can be signed)

Step 4: Transfer responsibilities to a successor or other team members

• Before the employee leaves, reassign their open tasks and responsibilities to a successor or other team members
• Update project or document ownership and close any ongoing activities
• Complete these actions directly from the employee’s profile

Step 5: Revoke system access

• Deactivate email, VPN, accounting software, HR systems, and all other access permissions
• This will remove all their system privileges
• In Aptien, go to “Administration → Users” and delete the user account

Step 6: Remove the employee from active records

• Mark the employee as inactive in your records
• Archive their personnel file for future reference
• Add a note explaining the reason for termination, if appropriate
• This keeps your system organized while preserving necessary data

Step 7: Save documents and complete offboarding

• Attach and archive the termination letter or separation agreement
• Conduct an exit interview
• Process and hand over final payroll details or benefits summaries