When an employee leaves your company, whether on good or bad terms, it can cause a lot of stress. Filling their role and responsibilities, understanding why they left and not taking it personally, making sure operations aren’t disrupted, are all a part of the stress of losing an employee. While these are all important, make sure you are covering your legal bases as well. Here’s how to handle the situation when an employee quits. 

Have a Successful Exit Interview

It’s hard to not take it personally when someone submits their resignation from your company. The best way to handle this is to understand why they have decided to leave. We all have personal lives outside of the workplace, so if your employee is leaving due to a personal reason, it’s best to offer any support you can. If your employee is leaving due to a reason within your company, such as management, pay, or an HR issue, now is the time to take an overall look at your company and management and solve the problem. If there’s a certain dispute then you can offer to investigate and mediate, or if pay is the issue, you can decide if you want to give them a counteroffer. 

If you have offered these solutions and your employee has still decided to leave, have an exit interview so you can take care of last minute legalities. Take the opportunity during the exit interview to also learn all you can about why they are leaving. This information will help you to assess any issues within your company and learn how you can move forward. If there’s one person with an issue that’s enough for them to leave, then chances are other employees may have the same issue. Being able to take charge and solve the problem will help keep things running smoothly and can give your employees the boost they need to feel happier in their role at the company. 

Consider also having the employee make a list of their daily duties, responsibilities, and any other resources that would help their replacement learn the role. This will help with your search for a replacement or if you are divvying up the responsibilities to other employees while you are searching for a replacement.

Take Care of the Legal Stuff…

Aside from understanding why your employee is leaving, there are certain things you need to take care of from a legal standpoint. Of course it’s always best to consult with your HR department and legal team regarding the specific situation, but here are the common things you need to take care of before your employee exits the company:

  • Make sure their final paycheck includes all accrued benefits, commissions, bonuses, vacation time, and any pay they are contracted to receive. 
  • If there was a noncompete agreement, review and discuss the terms. 
  • Give the employee any required legal information like unemployment, benefit continuation, and workers’ compensation. 

Your employees make your company what it is. So losing an employee, for whatever reason, can be a shock. As hard as it can be, use the opportunity to learn how you can make your company better and reassess your goals. 

If you need help with business questions and employment agreements, contact us and see if we can help. We are here for any of your business needs, let us help you get on the right track. 

Sign up for our newsletter to receive business updates and estate planning tips right to your inbox!

Like us on Facebook to keep up with new blog posts and daily tips!

Disclaimer: This article is intended to serve as a general summary of the issues outlined therein. While this article may include general guidance, it is not intended as, nor is a substitute for, qualified legal advice. Your review or receipt of this article by Lexern Law Offices, Ltd. (the “LLG”) or any of its attorneys does not create an attorney-client relationship between you and the LLG. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors of the article and does not reflect the opinion of the LLG.