Hi, I'm Candice and I am human resources, strategist. Today we're going to be talking about what to do when your employee gives notice. When employees give notice, sometimes this is a really sad thing and you're really going to miss the employee and want to thank them for the time that they've spent with you and recognize them and maybe have a gathering in their honor. Some departments and managers like to give gifts when people have had a long time of service in the company and recognize them to show the other employees how much you value the work that everyone does for you. Other times you'll have an employee where you're like, "Yes, they quit." [chuckles] In those instances, it's just really important to treat them the same as you would treat any of your other employees so that you're not making their departure noticeably different than anyone else's if it's not your choice to move forward with ending the relationship.

Things to think about are what is their final day going to be? Have them submit a letter of resignation to you. That way if for some reason they decided to apply for unemployment insurance, you could send that to the EDD to prove that the person had left of their own will rather than you ending the employment relationship. That's the main reason, one of the main reasons for collecting a resignation notice. In that resignation notice, you want to make sure that their name is there, that their final date is included. Then you want [00:02:00] to consider how far ahead is that. Typically people will give between two weeks and a month or two is one of the longest I've heard of when they're planning on leaving a position.

You look at the amount of time that you have left with the employee and then think about the most important things for that employee to do before they leave. It could be wrapping up some projects. It could be documenting processes so that the next person who moves into the position can be well-trained. If you have another person in a similar position, it could be having them be trained on that, some processes or information, so that that person can pick up the work when your employee is gone.

On their leading up to their final day, just making sure that you understand how to end medical benefits if they have medical benefits and how long those will continue for. Typically they will continue until the last day of the month in which they're leaving. If they leave on October 16th, then the last day of their benefits coverage would be October 31st. If you're offering medical insurance, then just having an understanding of your company's way of managing Cobra benefits. Those are the continued coverage benefits that are required to be offered. If you're working with a benefits broker or a system like Zenefits or Gusto, they will typically handle that administration for you, but just double check on that.

For the last day, you want to make sure that they receive their paycheck on their last day. This ensures that [00:04:00] they are paid for everything that they're owed and you are not liable for any additional wages. The way that the law is written in California is that if an employee gives more than 72 hours of notice for their last day of work, then you have to pay them on their last day of work. If they give less than 72 hours of notice, then you have 72 hours from the time that you find out until you are required to pay them.

It's a little bit complicated. If someone gives you 2 weeks' notice or a month's notice, then you have to give them their paycheck on their last day. Someone, no call, no shows to a shift, or says, "Hey, I'm not coming in tomorrow and I'm not working for you anymore." You have a little bit more time to get them their paycheck. If you are terminating someone which I'll cover in another section, you are required to pay them their wages at the time of the termination. What are they owed? They're owed all of the wages for the time that they have worked since the end of the last pay period. They're owed all of their paid time off if they're accruing paid time off. The way that California sick leave works is that you do not pay out sick leave at the end of employment.

You do not owe them any sick leave. If you have any other financial benefits like 401k, or some people have bonus arrangements, you just want to make sure that you have fulfilled all of those obligations in that final paycheck. Then when you give them their final paycheck, you thank them for the time that [00:06:00] you have worked together. If you want to be appreciative, you can do a lunch or a virtual lunch, depending on what's comfortable for your staff and how everyone's set up. Then in a private meeting, you give them their final paycheck. You make sure that they feel that they have been paid everything that they are owed. The reason that you do this is because you do not want to be in a situation where you have to appear before the labor board defending your final paycheck for your employee because they say that you've missed wages with them.

You want to just resolve any issues around wages in that final paycheck and as soon as possible. Then you want to have a final paycheck receipt. On the final paycheck receipt, you list the amounts paid separated by line item. You add any information about medical benefits and Cobra continuation coverage so that they have that. Then you have them sign it and you keep a copy and they keep a copy. Then everyone goes in their separate directions. I really like to maintain relationships with employees that I have worked with that have been wonderful. You never know when it might be the right time for a change in their life or when they have learned things through other positions and then will want to come back and work for you. Then to maintain if you have a mentor relationship with them to keep that going, I think is really wonderful thing to do. I hope that helps you when an employee decides to give notice through the steps of thinking about preparing for them to leave and then their last day. Thank you. [00:08:00]