Onboarding and playbooks
Leaving playbook
A playbook for someone leaving: handover and announcement for their manager, knowledge capture, equipment and access for HR, and an anonymous exit check-in.
New playbook. Opens a new playbook with these steps and timings. Each person’s steps wait for your approval before they send.
How someone leaves shapes what they say about you afterwards, and what the team keeps of their work. A planned leaving protects both.
This playbook counts from their last day in People. Their manager plans the handover and how the team hears, they write down what only they know, HR collects equipment and closes accounts, an anonymous exit check-in asks what to change, and a month later the manager checks the handover held.
Shuffl · HR by the numbers
How someone leaves is remembered
How someone leaves is remembered. 45% of departing US employees were satisfied with how their exit was handled (Gallup, 2018) (Gallup, 2018). 2.9x more likely to recommend the organization after a positive exit (Gallup, 2018) (Gallup, 2018). 28% of former employees discussed leaving with their manager before they left (Gallup, 2018) (Gallup, 2018).
Plan person leaving’s handover
To their manager, 14 days before their last day.
**Plan {{hire}}’s handover**
Two weeks out is the time to decide who picks up what, so nothing is dropped on the last day.
- [ ] List what {{hire}} owns and who takes each piece
- [ ] Agree a handover date for each one
- [ ] Move their reports and approvals to someone new
- [ ] Tell the people taking things overGet ready for person leaving’s last day
To HR, 14 days before their last day.
**Get ready for {{hire}}’s last day**
- [ ] Confirm final pay and benefits dates
- [ ] Arrange how their laptop and badge come back
- [ ] Plan when each account is closedAgree how the team hears about person leaving
To their manager, 12 days before their last day.
**Agree how the team hears about {{hire}}**
Agree with {{hire}} when and how the news is shared. Their own steps wait until HR marks the leaving announced in People.
- [ ] Agree the timing and message with {{hire}}
- [ ] Tell the team
- [ ] Ask HR to mark the leaving announcedBefore you go, person leaving
To the person leaving, 10 days before their last day.
**Before you go, {{hire}}**
The most useful thing you can leave behind is what only you know. A page of notes saves the next person weeks.
- [ ] Write handover notes for each project
- [ ] Move your files to shared folders
- [ ] Hand over the channels and meetings you run
- [ ] Note who to ask about whatYour exit check-in
To the person leaving, 5 days before their last day.
**Your exit check-in** Answered anonymously: - I would recommend working here to a friend. - My manager supported me well. - I had what I needed to do my job well. - What is one thing we should change? - What should we keep doing?
Say goodbye to person leaving
To their manager, 1 day before their last day.
**Say goodbye to {{hire}}**
- [ ] Plan a goodbye with the team
- [ ] Thank them in the team channel on their last dayYour last day, person leaving
To the person leaving, on their last day.
**Your last day, {{hire}}**
Thank you for everything you did here. A few things to finish before you sign off for the last time.
- [ ] Return your laptop and badge
- [ ] Say goodbye to your team
- [ ] Leave a personal email if you’d like to stay in touchEquipment and access for person leaving
To HR, on their last day.
**Equipment and access for {{hire}}**
- [ ] Collect their laptop, badge and other equipment
- [ ] Pass their inbox and shared files to their manager
- [ ] Close their accounts at the end of the dayClose out person leaving’s leaving
To HR, 1 day after their last day.
**Close out {{hire}}’s leaving**
- [ ] Check every piece of equipment is back
- [ ] Check every account is closed
- [ ] Mark their employment as ended in PeopleCheck person leaving’s handover held
To their manager, 30 days after their last day.
**Check {{hire}}’s handover held**
A month on, the gaps in a handover show. Writing them down now saves the next person the same hunt.
- [ ] Note anything that was missed
- [ ] Add what the team keeps asking to KnowledgeHow to adapt it
- Shuffl fills in {{hire}} and {{manager}} for each person. Replace them by hand if you send the message yourself.
- Until a leaving is announced, only their manager and HR hear from the playbook. Tick “announced” on their People record when everyone can know.
- Never record why someone is leaving here. If the last day moves, change it in People and the playbook moves with it.
- Add an automation for Someone gets a last day and it starts by itself whenever People or your HR system sets one.
What the research says
Most exits leave room to do better. In Gallup research, fewer than half of departing employees (45%) were satisfied with how their organization handled their exit, and only 24% were extremely satisfied. People who had a positive exit were 2.9 times more likely to recommend the organization to others.1
Managers often hear last. 43% of former employees spoke with a coworker about leaving before they went, but only 28% discussed it with their manager. 51% said no manager or leader talked with them about their satisfaction or future in the three months before they left.1
Exit feedback only helps when someone uses it. Gallup notes many leaders treat exits as a box to tick, and exit survey data is often ignored when response rates are low and questions poorly written.1 Acas suggests exit interviews to learn why people leave, whether they felt excluded or held back, and to deal with outstanding matters like handovers.2
What the law requires
In the US, final pay is set by state law. Federal law doesn’t require employers to give a final paycheck immediately, but some states may.3 In the UK, a worker should get their final pay on the date they are normally paid.4
In the UK, an employer can only deduct from wages, final pay included, when the contract specifically allows it or the worker agreed in writing beforehand.5 Plan equipment returns separately from pay.
Access is a security task as much as an HR one. The UK National Cyber Security Centre advises a joiners, movers and leavers process so access can be revoked when it’s no longer needed,6 and removing or suspending accounts when someone leaves.7
Common mistakes
- Leaving the handover to the last day. Start it when notice is given, so questions can still be asked.
- Treating knowledge capture as optional. Write down recurring tasks, who owns each login and key contacts before the person goes.
- Holding back final pay until a laptop comes back. In the UK, deductions need the contract or a written agreement.5
- Closing some accounts and forgetting shared or third party ones. Keep one list of every system the person used.6
- Announcing an involuntary exit before it’s confirmed. Keep it private to the people who need to know until it’s announced.
Common questions
- What should an offboarding checklist include?
- Cover the work, the knowledge, the kit and the goodbye. Hand over open work and contacts, write down what only the leaver knows, get equipment back and close their accounts, confirm final pay and benefits, offer an exit conversation or survey, and agree how and when the team is told.
- Are exit interviews worth doing?
- Yes, if you act on what you hear. Acas says an exit interview helps you understand why someone is leaving and what you could change. Gallup found that exit data is often ignored when response rates are low and questions are poorly written, so keep it short, let people answer anonymously and read the results together.
- When must a final paycheck be paid?
- In the US, federal law doesn’t require an immediate final paycheck, but some states do, so check the rule where the person works. In the UK, final pay is normally due on the usual payday.
Sources
Read on . Laws change, so check the source before you act. This page is general information, not legal advice.
- Gallup, Exit Programs That Retain Stars and Build Brand Ambassadors, 2018. Gallup perspective paper (PDF, copyright 2018), drawing on Gallup surveys of U.S. employees who left their jobs.
- Acas, Responding to an employee’s resignation – Resignation, Last updated 30 June 2026.
- U.S. Department of Labor, Last Paycheck, No date stated; read October 2026.
- Acas, Why final pay is different – Final pay when someone leaves a job, Last updated 19 May 2026.
- Acas, Making and checking deductions – Deductions from pay and wages, Last updated 1 October 2026.
- National Cyber Security Centre, 10 Steps to Cyber Security: Identity and access management, 11 May 2021.
- National Cyber Security Centre, Phishing attacks: defending your organisation, 5 February 2018 (reviewed 13 February 2024).