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Resignation, exit interviews and clearance

An employee resigns, or HR records a termination, retirement or other separation. The notice comes from your policy, the manager and HR approve, every department clears the leaver, and the exit interview is on record.
PLANSFrom Growth
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The problem it solves

  • A resignation arrives by email and nobody is sure when the notice ends or who agreed to an early release.
  • The laptop, ID card and library books are still out when the person has already gone.
  • Finance hears about a leaver after the last salary has been paid, so advances and dues are never recovered.
  • Why people leave is never asked, or the answers sit in one HR person's notebook.

How it works

  1. The employee opens Exit > My Resignation, or the app, and submits a reason and the last day they ask for. The form shows the notice required by your Probation and Notice rule and when it ends.
  2. The resignation goes to the reporting manager, then to HR, or to the levels of your Resignation approval chain. HR records a termination, retirement, absconding, death or end of contract itself, and it is approved at once.
  3. On approval the employee is Serving Notice. HR sets the last working day, and whether a notice shortfall is recovered (buyout) or waived (early release).
  4. Each clearance department gets its task with a checklist and a due date: the manager's handover, IT, Admin, Library and Finance to start with. Owners mark it Cleared, Cleared with Dues (amount and what for) or Not Needed.
  5. Exit interviews are made from your forms: one filled by HR or the manager, one the leaver fills from a link without signing in.
  6. The day after the last working day the employee is relieved by a daily job, or HR clicks Relieve. HR then clicks Release Letters, and the relieving letter and experience certificate go to the leaver by email.

Everything it does

Separations

  • Six types: Resignation, Termination, Retirement, Absconding, Death and End of Contract
  • An employee can resign only for themselves; only HR starts the other types
  • One open separation per person at a time
  • Statuses: Draft, Waiting Approval, Serving Notice, Relieved, Rejected and Withdrawn
  • Numbered EXIT/2026/0001 and so on; the full history of changes is kept on the record
  • HR marks Rehire: Eligible, Not eligible or Review first
  • From an improvement plan closed with separation (Scale), Start Separation opens a termination filled in with the employee and the reason

Notice and last working day

  • Notice days come from the service policy (one figure in probation, one after confirmation), else the staff category or employment type
  • Notice applies to resignation, termination and end of contract; retirement, absconding and death have none
  • The last working day is the day asked for, else the end of the notice; it cannot be before the notice date
  • The approver of the waiting step may change the last day. HR may change the notice days and the last day until the person is relieved
  • Notice Treatment: Recover the shortfall (buyout), the default, or Waive the shortfall (early release); the full and final applies it

Approval

  • A resignation goes to the reporting manager, then HR; to HR alone when there is no manager
  • Approve or Reject; nobody decides their own resignation
  • The employee can Withdraw before approval; after approval only HR can, and the dates, stage and pending tasks are undone
  • Back to Draft reopens a rejected or withdrawn separation

Clearance per department

  • Five departments come ready: Handover (manager), due 3 days before the last day; IT; Admin; Library; Finance
  • Each has owners (empty: HR; the handover goes to the leaver's manager) and a checklist. It also has days before the last day it is due, and Mandatory (on to start with)
  • A department set to List the Assets Held shows on its task the returnable assets the leaver still has
  • Acknowledge, then Cleared, Cleared with Dues or Not Needed; Reopen brings a task back
  • Dues need an amount; they become deductions in the full and final, and lock once it is approved
  • Overdue tasks are reminded every day until cleared
  • The leaver follows their own clearance under My Exit Clearance

Exit interviews

  • Forms per Entity or for all, filled by the interviewer (the manager, HR or named people) or by the employee from a link
  • Answer types: Text, Rating 1-5, Choice and Yes / No; any question can be required
  • Two forms come ready: an HR exit interview with the main reason for leaving, and an exit survey the employee fills
  • Done, Declined / Skipped, Reopen; HR can send the link again with Send Link to the Employee
  • No interview is made for death or absconding

Relieving and letters

  • Relieved the day after the last working day: the separation date is set and the stage becomes separated
  • Release Letters makes the relieving letter and the experience certificate from your letter templates and keeps them on the employee
  • No relieving letter for absconding
  • Letters Only After the Full and Final: the letters wait until the settlement is paid

Reports

  • Exit dashboard: resignations, to approve, leaving in 30 days, clearances pending, separations by type and by department
  • The joiners and leavers report gives the reason of each separation
  • The employee's 360 view shows the last day and the clearance by department

Who uses it

EmployeeResigns with a reason and the day asked for, follows the clearance, fills the exit survey, and can withdraw before approval.
Reporting managerApproves or rejects the team's resignations and clears the handover task.
Department ownerIT, Admin, Library or Finance staff clear their task, with dues where something is owed.
HR User or HR ManagerRecords other separations, approves at the HR step, sets notice treatment and rehire, relieves and releases the letters.

Where you use it

  • Web: Exit > My Resignation, My Exit Clearance, My Exit Interviews, Clearance Tasks for Me, Separations, Exit Interviews; set-up under Exit > Configuration
  • The SmartMy HRMS app: resign and withdraw, approve, clear tasks, fill exit interviews, and HR's separations list. (Built and in testing, not in the app stores yet)
  • Web link: the leaver's exit survey opens without signing in
  • Not in the app: set-up and the PDF letters, which are on the web

What you control

Settings

  • Exit Interviews: on to start with, per Entity
  • Letters Only After the Full and Final: on to start with
  • Notice days: Exit > Configuration > Probation & Notice Periods, during probation and after confirmation
  • Exit Clearance Departments: five ready, each with owners, checklist, days before the last day and Mandatory
  • Exit Interview Forms: two ready, with questions you can change
  • Notice Treatment per separation: Recover the shortfall to start with

Approvals

  • Resignation: the reporting manager, then HR, to start with; Use the recommended levels sets reporting manager, then department head. Only resignations use the chain; HR's own separations are approved at once.

Notifications

  • Resignation to Approve: to the approver of the waiting step, in the app, by email and by push in the phone app
  • Resignation Decision: to the employee when it is approved or rejected, in the app, by email and by push
  • Exit Clearance Task: to each department's owners when the exit starts and every day it is overdue, in the app, by email and by push
  • Exit Survey: to the leaver with the link to their form, at once, by email, push and in the app
  • Relieving Letter: to the leaver with both letters attached, by email, push and in the app
  • These go out at once and cannot be switched off; a person can switch off a channel, such as email, and in-app notices always arrive

Questions

Can an employee take back a resignation?

Yes. They click Withdraw while it waits for approval. Once it is approved, only HR can withdraw it; the notice dates and pending clearance tasks are then removed.

How is the notice period worked out?

From your Probation and Notice rule: one number of days during probation and one after confirmation. HR can change it for one separation, and the notice end moves with it.

What if the employee wants to leave before the notice ends?

HR chooses Recover the shortfall (buyout) or Waive the shortfall (early release). With recover, the missing days are deducted in the full and final at a day's pay.

Can we stop the full and final until IT has the laptop back?

Yes. A mandatory clearance department must be cleared before HR can start the full and final. Admin's task lists the assets the person still holds.

Does the leaver need a login for the exit survey?

No. The form filled by the employee opens from a link sent by email and in the app, without signing in.

Is exit in the Starter plan?

No. Resignation, clearance, exit interviews and the full and final start in Growth.

Related features

EXITFull and final settlementOne settlement brings together what you owe the leaver and what they owe you. It covers held salary, leave encashment, notice pay or recovery, gratuity, loans, clearance dues and the final TDS. HR approves, then accounts, then payroll marks it paid.LETTERS, CARDS, DOCUMENTS, ASSETSAssets issued to employeesLaptops, phones, SIM cards, keys and uniforms go out on a request that is approved, handed over and acknowledged by the employee. When they come back damaged or not at all, the charge is recovered from salary, at once or in monthly instalments.ACROSS SMARTMY HRMSApproval chains and one approvals inboxEvery HR request, from a day's leave to the full and final, goes through its approval chain and waits in one Approvals inbox. Levels, approvers, reminders, escalation and stand-ins are settings you control, per Entity and kind of request.ACROSS SMARTMY HRMSNotificationsSmartMy HRMS tells each person what needs them: a request to approve, a decision, a payslip, a holiday declared today, an exit task, an interview. More than 200 events, each with its own recipients and channels, by email and in the app inbox, with a log of every message.LETTERS, CARDS, DOCUMENTS, ASSETSEmployee documents, letters and ID cardsKeep each employee's documents with scans and a reminder 30 days before one expires, and track the original certificates you hold and lend back. Issue letters from templates with a QR code anyone can check, and print ID cards with a re-issue charge taken through payroll.SELF-SERVICE AND APPPhone app for employees, managers and HROne SmartMy HRMS app for everyone: employees check in, apply for leave and see payslips. Managers approve and see their team, and HR and payroll do their daily work. The server decides what each person sees, by the same access as the web.

See your own month run in it.

Tell us how many people you have, how you take attendance and how your salary is structured. We will show you SmartMy HRMS set up that way.
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