A clean offboarding protects the company, respects the person leaving, and keeps the team running. This checklist splits the work into four phases, each item with an owner and a deadline. Copy it into your tracker for every departure — resignation, termination, or contract end — and adapt the items that do not apply.

How to use this checklist

• Assign one coordinator per departure ({{Offboarding coordinator}}) who owns the checklist end to end.
• Set the anchor date: last day of employment {{Last day}}. Every deadline below counts from it.
• Do not skip steps for friendly departures — the process is the same regardless of the reason.

Phase 1 — as soon as the departure is confirmed

• Confirm the last day, notice arrangement, and any garden-leave terms in writing — owner: {{HR owner}}.
• Agree the internal and external communication plan with the person leaving: what is announced, when, and by whom — owner: {{Manager}}.
• Open the knowledge-transfer document and name a successor or interim owner for each responsibility — owner: {{Manager}}.
• Notify payroll and benefits of the departure date — owner: {{HR owner}}.
• List every system, tool, and vendor account the person can access — owner: {{IT owner}}.

Phase 2 — during the notice period

• Run knowledge-transfer sessions and review the handover doc with the successor — owner: {{Manager}}.
• Reassign in-flight work, on-call rotations, and recurring meetings — owner: {{Manager}}.
• Transfer ownership of shared documents, integrations, scheduled jobs, and customer relationships — owner: {{IT owner}} / {{Manager}}.
• Schedule the exit interview with someone outside the reporting line — owner: {{HR owner}}.
• Send the departing person the equipment-return instructions and deadline — owner: {{IT owner}}.

Phase 3 — on the last day

• Revoke access in order: single sign-on and email first, then code repositories, cloud consoles, payment and banking tools, shared passwords, and third-party vendor seats — owner: {{IT owner}}.
• Collect equipment and sign the equipment-return acknowledgment — owner: {{IT owner}}.
• Hold the exit interview and file the completed form — owner: {{HR owner}}.
• Confirm the personal-contact details and forwarding preferences for payslips and tax documents — owner: {{HR owner}}.
• Deactivate building access and collect badges or keys — owner: {{Office owner}}.

Phase 4 — after the last day

• Issue final pay on the committed date and share the final-pay breakdown — owner: {{Payroll owner}}.
• Send benefits-end notices and any continuation options — owner: {{HR owner}}.
• Verify all access is revoked with a post-departure audit within one week — owner: {{IT owner}}.
• Close or transfer the email account after the agreed forwarding window — owner: {{IT owner}}.
• Decide on backfill and update the hiring plan — owner: {{Manager}}.
• Run a short retrospective: what did this offboarding teach us about the role, the team, or the process? — owner: {{Offboarding coordinator}}.

Communication guidelines

• Announce departures factually and warmly; the person leaving reviews the wording where possible.
• Tell customers and partners before they find out from an unanswered email — include the new point of contact.
• Never discuss the reasons for an involuntary departure beyond those who need to know.