Employee Termination Checklist Template

Owned by the HR lead. Enter the date of the termination meeting on the first task: every due date counts back from it in working days, and the tasks after the meeting count forward. Say where the employee works and why dismissal is being considered, and the notes and tasks for that country and that reason appear. Starting this run decides nothing: the dismissing manager decides in Phase 5.

• Set up the termination: the employee, the meeting date, the country, the reason and the people — the employee and their job, the employer, the planned date of the termination meeting, the country where the employee works, the reason dismissal is being considered and the people; later tasks are assigned from these fields
• Keep the matter confidential — who knows now (the line manager, the dismissing manager and HR), who else is told and when (payroll, IT, the witness and any adviser), and where the documents are kept, so nobody else hears before the employee does
• Confirm the employment details — the contract and its date, the job title, continuous service from the start date, hours, pay and benefits, any changes since, and whether a collective agreement or a recognised union covers the role

Write down the reason in plain words and gather the evidence behind it. The reason chosen on the first task adds one task for the process that reason needs. Then check the decision against similar cases, screen for protected reasons and periods, consider alternatives, and confirm the employee’s side has been heard before anyone decides.

• Record the reason for the dismissal — the reason in plain words, the facts it rests on and the dates, written so that the letter and any later question can rely on it
• Gather the evidence — the records behind the reason: warnings and their dates, improvement plan notes, attendance or absence records, an investigation report, hearing notes and any statements
• Conduct: check the disciplinary steps were completed — the investigation, the written notice of the case with the evidence, the hearing and any warnings still current, as run in the Disciplinary Procedure Checklist; for gross misconduct too, the Acas Code says a fair disciplinary process should always be followed before dismissing
• Capability: check the improvement process was completed — the standards set, the support and training given, the time allowed to improve, the reviews and any warnings, as run in the improvement plan; gov.uk says an employer should warn that work is not satisfactory and give a chance to improve before taking action
• Ill health: check the medical evidence and the adjustments considered — the medical evidence (gov.uk says a GP report needs the employee’s permission, and they can see it before you do), any occupational health assessment, whether the employee is disabled under the Equality Act 2010 and the reasonable adjustments considered; gov.uk calls dismissal a last resort here
• Legal bar: confirm the restriction and the alternatives — what stops the employee doing the job lawfully (gov.uk’s example is a driver who loses their licence), whether it is permanent or temporary, and whether another role or a short break is possible
• Other substantial reason: record why it justifies dismissal — the reason, why it is substantial and the steps taken; gov.uk’s example is temporary cover that was made clear at the start; Acas says that from March 2027 (planned) dismissing someone and rehiring them on worse terms (fire and rehire) becomes automatically unfair in most cases, so take advice before any dismissal linked to a contract change
• Check the decision against similar cases — how similar cases were handled before and whether this one is treated the same way; gov.uk says an employer must be consistent, and the EEOC says two employees who commit a similar offence may not be disciplined differently because of a protected characteristic
• Screen for protected reasons and periods — pregnancy, maternity or other family leave, a recent complaint, grievance or whistleblowing report, a health condition or disability, a union or representative role, and any protected characteristic; in Great Britain some of these make a dismissal automatically unfair, and in the US the EEOC says retaliation for a discrimination complaint is illegal
• Consider the alternatives to dismissal — another role, a final warning, more support or time, adjustments or a change of hours, and why each was or was not suitable
• Confirm the employee’s side has been heard — the date of the hearing or final review, who heard it, whether the employee was accompanied, what the employee said and how it was considered; in Great Britain the Acas Code says the employee should be told the case in writing, be heard at a meeting and be allowed to be accompanied, and the decision follows the meeting

Check your own policy was followed and read the contract terms that apply at the end. The country chosen on the first task shows its own check: unfair dismissal and service in Great Britain, the local law in Northern Ireland or another country, at-will employment and its limits in the US. Then an employment lawyer or adviser reviews the whole file before the decision.

• Check your own policy was followed — each step your disciplinary, capability or absence policy sets out, done as written, and any step missed with the reason; gov.uk says a tribunal considers whether the employer followed the relevant procedures
• Read the contract terms that apply at the end — the notice clause, any pay in lieu or garden leave clause, bonus, commission and share scheme rules on leaving, restrictive covenants and confidentiality, the return of property, and any collective agreement
• UK (Great Britain): check service against the unfair dismissal rules — the employee’s continuous service on the effective date of termination (the day the notice ends, or the day employment ends without notice); the qualifying period is two years today, and six months where the effective date of termination falls on or after 1 January 2027, even if notice was given before then; use the expected effective date from the meeting date and the notice: Phase 4 confirms it, and if it moves across 1 January 2027 or the six-month or two-year mark, check this task again
• Northern Ireland: check the law that applies there — Northern Ireland has its own employment law, so the Great Britain notes in this template do not apply; gov.uk says its qualifying period for unfair dismissal is still usually one year and that employers follow the Labour Relations Agency’s Code of Practice
• US: check at-will employment and its limits — the Department of Labor says a termination that is not discriminatory or retaliatory is subject only to any private contract or labor contract; check for an employment contract, offer letter or handbook promise, a collective bargaining agreement and the state’s law (in Montana, a discharge after the probationary period without good cause is wrongful)
• Another country: check the local law — what the country’s law requires for the reason, the process, notice, final pay and the documents to give, and any authority or employee body that must be told or consulted, confirmed by a local employment lawyer
• Get an employment law review of the file — an employment lawyer or adviser reads the reason, the evidence, the process and the employee’s response, the protected screen, the contract terms and the service or local law check, and says what to change before the decision

Work out the notice, the leaving date and the final pay before the decision, so the dismissing manager sees the whole cost and the letter can state it. How the notice is handled adds its own task, and so does a settlement or severance agreement. Payroll records the final pay deadline: in the US it depends on the state.

• Work out the notice period and the leaving date — the contractual notice, any legal minimum, which is longer, how the notice period will be handled and the effective date of termination
• Garden leave: set the terms — that the contract allows it, what the employee may and may not do, who they may contact, pay and benefits during it, holiday, and when devices and passes are returned
• Pay in lieu: check the contract and the payment — the contract’s pay in lieu clause, or the employee’s agreement where there is none, what the payment includes and its tax treatment, checked with payroll
• Summary dismissal: confirm the grounds — the finding of gross misconduct and the fair process before it; gov.uk says a summary dismissal may still be ruled procedurally unfair, and that a fair procedure must be followed as for any other disciplinary matter
• Work out the final pay and its deadline — salary to the leaving date, notice pay or pay in lieu, holiday not taken, bonus or commission due under the contract, expenses, any deductions the contract allows, and the date the final pay is due
• List the benefits that end, and when — health and life cover, pension, a company car, share or equity awards and any other benefit, with the date each ends and who tells the provider
• Prepare the settlement or severance agreement — the payment, what the employee gives up, the reference, the deadline to accept and who explains it; in Great Britain a settlement agreement only stops statutory claims if it meets the conditions in section 203(3) of the Employment Rights Act 1996, including advice from a relevant independent adviser who is named in it

The HR lead puts the file together, and the dismissing manager decides. Nothing after the decision can be completed until it is recorded. A decision not to dismiss adds the task that follows it.

• Put the decision pack together — one summary for the dismissing manager: the reason, the process and the employee’s response, the protected screen, the legal advice, the notice and leaving date, the final pay and any agreement
• Decide whether to dismiss — the dismissing manager reads the pack and records the decision and the reasons for it; nothing after this task can be completed until it is done
• Not approved: record the outcome and close the run — the outcome instead of dismissal (for example a warning or more support under the procedure that led here), told to the employee through that procedure; then mark the rest of this checklist not applicable; if the decision was recorded wrongly, un-complete the decision, change it and complete it again

Write the letter the employee receives at the meeting, plan the meeting itself, agree with IT exactly which access ends and when, and brief the witness. Keep the circle small until the meeting.

• Write the dismissal letter — the decision and the reasons, the effective date of termination, the notice and how it is handled, the final pay and when it is paid, benefits, the return of property, and the right of appeal with the deadline and who to write to
• Plan the termination meeting — the time and a private room or video call, who attends (the dismissing manager and the witness), what will be said, how the employee leaves, and whether a companion may come; in Great Britain the statutory right to be accompanied covers disciplinary hearings and appeals, and your procedure may allow one at this meeting too
• Agree the access removal plan with IT — every account, system, building pass and device to remove, who removes each one and the time: during the meeting, with no warning to the employee before it, unless the employee is working their notice, when access is removed on the last working day and this plan passes to Employee Offboarding
• Brief the witness — their role (to observe and take notes, not to join the discussion), confidentiality, the timings and where the notes are kept

Tell the employee the decision clearly and with respect, give them the letter and explain what happens next. The witness takes the notes, and IT removes access while the meeting is under way. When the employee works their notice, a task to plan the rest of the notice and the last working day replaces the two leaving-day tasks.

• Hold the termination meeting — the decision said clearly and briefly, the letter handed over, the notice, final pay, benefits and appeal explained, the employee’s questions answered and their reaction listened to, without reopening the decision
• Take the meeting notes — who attended, the times, what was said on both sides, any questions left open and what the employee was given
• Remove access during the meeting — the accounts, systems and passes in the plan removed at the agreed time, and anything that could not be removed yet listed with a time
• Help the employee leave with dignity — their personal belongings, how they get home, who they can contact with questions, any support you offer (such as an employee assistance programme) and what colleagues will be told
• Worked notice: plan the rest of the notice and the last working day — where the employee works their notice: the work they do until the effective date of termination, who they report to, any limits on systems, clients or sites, and the last working day, when access is removed and Employee Offboarding takes over the leaving day

Make sure the letter has arrived, tell the people who need to know, and book the final pay for its deadline. The country chosen on the first task adds the US COBRA notice or the Great Britain written reasons. The last task starts Employee Offboarding, which runs the rest of the leaving process.

• Confirm the employee has the letter — if it was not handed over at the meeting, sent the same day by email and by post or another tracked method, with the date it was sent
• Tell colleagues and contacts who need to know — the team, and clients or suppliers the employee dealt with, told in the agreed words, with no reasons given and nothing said about the employee beyond the fact they are leaving and when
• Confirm the final pay is booked for its deadline — the final pay worked out in Phase 4 booked with payroll for the deadline recorded there (or paid at the meeting where a US state requires payment at the time of dismissal); Employee Offboarding records the payment
• US: tell the plan administrator about the COBRA qualifying event — where COBRA applies, the employer must notify the plan within 30 days of the termination, and the plan then sends the election notice within 14 days of being notified; this template does it the day after the meeting
• UK (Great Britain): give written reasons if asked — an employee with two years’ service on the effective date of termination can ask for a written statement of the reasons, which is due within 14 days of the request; where the effective date of termination is on or after 1 January 2027, six months’ service is enough
• Start the Employee Offboarding checklist — an Employee Offboarding checklist started for the employee with the leaving date, the notice terms, the final pay date and the access already removed, so it can finish the handover, the return of property, tax forms, benefits and records; the appeal deadline and the appeal manager passed on with it; mark the offboarding checklist’s termination letter, final pay, pay in lieu and COBRA tasks done, with a link to this run, so nothing is done twice