Offboarding FAQ
Answers to common setup and operating questions about Offboarding.
For what the app is and how to set it up from scratch, see the
Offboarding Overview.
Setup
Do I need to create templates before I can start an offboarding plan?
No. When you create a plan without selecting a template, the system generates a
default task checklist based on the plan type you choose — voluntary, involuntary,
retirement, end of contract, or layoff. Each type produces different tasks with
appropriate departments and priorities. Templates let you standardize and reuse a
checklist across departures, with role-level variants (entry, mid, senior, executive)
and department-specific tasks, but they are not required.
What are the default configuration settings?
Until you change them in Settings, these defaults apply:
- Default notice period: 14 days
- Resignation approval levels: 2 (Manager then HR)
- Require exit interview to complete a plan: Yes
- Require knowledge transfer to complete a plan: Yes
- Auto-create offboarding plan on resignation approval: Yes
- Auto-revoke access: Yes
- Notifications to manager, HR, and employee: All on
- Ask AI agent: Enabled
Permissions and access
Who can see and manage offboarding plans?
There are two levels of access:
- Full access — admins, super admins, Offboarding app admins, and anyone with
an HR designation. They see every plan in the business. - Manager access — managers see only plans for employees they manage (direct
reports and anyone within their reporting-structure reach). They cannot see plans
for employees outside their chain.
Group Terminations, Separation Agreements, and WARN Notices are restricted further:
only admins, super admins, and users with an HR designation can access those tabs.
I can’t find the Offboarding app in my app directory — is it missing?
It is hidden on purpose. The app only appears for people who manage offboarding
(admins, managers, HR, app admins) or for employees who have an active offboarding
plan or a resignation request in progress. If you have no departure in flight, the
tile will not show in your directory.
Resignations
How does the resignation approval flow work?
An employee submits a resignation through self-service. The request routes through
1, 2, or 3 approval levels depending on your configuration:
- 1 level: Manager only — manager approval finalizes.
- 2 levels (default): Manager then HR.
- 3 levels: Manager, then Department Head, then HR.
At each level, admins and super admins can always approve. If the direct manager is
on leave, the skip-level manager (manager’s manager) can approve in their place.
Once the final level approves, the system auto-creates an offboarding plan (if that
setting is on) and notifies the employee.
Can an employee withdraw a resignation?
Yes, as long as the request is still pending — it has not yet been approved or
rejected. Once approved, the resignation cannot be withdrawn. The employee’s manager
receives a notification when a withdrawal happens.
I submitted my resignation but it says I need more notice — what happened?
The system calculates a minimum notice period based on your country, region, and
employee type. Notice-period policies are matched in priority order: an exact
country + region + employee-type match wins, then progressively broader matches,
down to a business-wide default of 14 days. If your intended last day is before
the calculated date, the system requires you to flag that you are requesting a
shorter notice period. Your approvers then see the difference and decide whether to
accept it.
Plans and tasks
Can an employee have more than one active offboarding plan?
No. Each employee can have at most one plan in Draft or Active status. You
must complete or cancel the existing plan before creating another. The same
restriction applies to resignation requests — an employee cannot submit a new one
while a pending or approved request exists.
What happens when a plan is completed?
Completing a plan triggers several actions in sequence:
- The employee’s account is deactivated (marked inactive with termination date).
- If Benefits Management is enabled, benefit enrollments are terminated and COBRA
eligibility is opened. - Banked-time payout is triggered if the business has an auto-payout-on-termination
policy. - If the employee has a personal email on file, Former Employee Portal access is
granted and a portal-access email is sent.
If the Former Employee Portal requires a verified personal email, the plan cannot
be completed until HR verifies the email.
How is the completion percentage calculated?
The percentage counts all required items: required tasks, required documents, plus
the exit interview and knowledge transfer if those are marked as required on the
plan. A required task must be completed, a required document must be verified (an
uploaded document counts as 75%), and the exit interview and knowledge transfer
each count as one item. The plan reaches 100% only when every required item is
done.
Exit interviews and knowledge transfer
What question types are available in exit-interview templates?
Seven types: text, textarea (free-form), rating (1–5 scale by default),
NPS (0–10 scale), select (single choice), multiselect, and
boolean (yes/no). Rating and NPS questions auto-set a scale if you do not
specify one. Select and multiselect require at least one option.
My exit interview was submitted — why doesn’t the successor see it?
The successor is notified when knowledge transfer is submitted, not when the exit
interview is submitted. The exit interview is an HR-facing instrument — its NPS
score and summary are stored on the plan for HR to review. Knowledge transfer is
the employee-to-successor handover: the successor receives an email and an in-app
notification once the departing employee submits it.
What are the default knowledge-transfer sections?
Eight sections ship by default: Key Responsibilities, Critical Processes,
Systems & Tools, Key Contacts, Ongoing Projects, Tribal Knowledge,
Documentation & Files, and Recommendations. The first five plus
Documentation & Files are required; Tribal Knowledge and Recommendations are
optional. You can create custom templates with different sections.
Access revocation and deprovisioning
What does the termination SLA track?
Every plan that has a termination effective date gets two SLA targets:
- Primary SLA — end of business day on the termination date. This is the
deadline for identity-provider deprovisioning (Okta, Azure AD, Google Workspace).
If the termination is logged after end of business day, a 4-hour grace period
applies. - Secondary SLA — end of business day one business day later. This is the
deadline for all remaining required tasks.
Both deadlines use holiday-aware business-day math. Progress and breaches are
recorded in an append-only audit log on the plan.
What happens when the SLA is breached?
A daily escalation sweep runs at 9 AM and notifies in tiers:
- 24 hours past secondary SLA: the plan’s manager is notified.
- 48 hours: manager and HR are notified.
- 72 hours: manager, HR, and super admins (executives) are notified.
Each tier transition is recorded in the plan’s audit log. Escalation stops
30 days after the secondary SLA to avoid indefinite daily emails on abandoned plans.
Compliance and legal
How does COBRA tracking work?
When a plan is marked as COBRA-eligible, a COBRA record is created with the
qualifying event date and type. Coverage duration is set automatically:
18 months for termination or reduction in hours, 36 months for events
like divorce, death of the covered employee, or loss of dependent status.
The election deadline is 60 days from the notice mailing date.
An administrative fee of up to 2% (the federal cap) can be applied.
What ADEA/OWBPA rules apply to separation agreements?
When the departing employee is 40 or older, the system automatically adjusts the
separation agreement:
- Individual termination: 21-day consideration period, 7-day revocation period.
- Group termination: 45-day consideration period, 7-day revocation period.
For employees under 40, the consideration period defaults to 21 days with no
mandatory revocation period. State-specific rules are also applied — for example,
California prohibits non-compete clauses, and Illinois requires the employee earn
above $75,000/year for a non-compete to be enforceable.
What WARN notice types are supported?
Three types: plant closing, mass layoff, and relocation. The federal
threshold is 50 employees for a plant closing and 500 for a mass layoff (or 50–499
if that is 33% or more of the workforce). The federal minimum notice is 60 days.
State-level WARN rules are also tracked. For example, California and Maryland
require 60 days at 50 employees; New York and New Jersey require 90 days (at 50
and 100 employees respectively).
Licensing and limits
Does Offboarding require a licence?
Yes. Offboarding requires a licence and is disabled by default. An administrator
enables it from the Apps Marketplace. It is not auto-enabled for any tenant.
Are there limits I should know about?
- Bulk CSV import: maximum file size is 5 MB. Files over 100 rows are
processed as a background job. Required columns: employee email, plan type, and
last working day. - Offboarding template duration: 1–365 days.
- Notice-period policies: each policy must target at least one criterion
(country, region, or employee type). Notice period range: 1–365 days. - Approval levels: 1–3 (manager only, manager + HR, or manager + department
head + HR). - Plans per employee: one active or draft plan at a time.
More help
- Offboarding Overview
- Ask AI — the assistant answers Offboarding questions from these articles.