Offboarding University Employees

1. Purpose 

Offboarding is the process of separating an employee from the University of Florida (“UF”), whether due to resignation, retirement, or another reason. When an employee’s employment is terminated, either voluntarily or involuntarily, their supervisor, manager or unit administrator must initiate a series of actions to ensure Offboarding is properly managed. This Policy outlines UF’s Offboarding procedures.

2. Applicability  

This Policy applies to all UF employees, including those working for Direct Support Organizations (DSOs) and other affiliated legal entities.

3. Definitions 

Effective Date means the date designated by UF Human Resources (“UFHR”) as the first day following the employee’s Separation Date, as defined below.

Offboarding means the process of effectively transitioning a separating employee from UF.

Separation Date means the date an employee officially separates from UF, either voluntarily or involuntarily, and is determined by employee type as follows:

• Staff (TEAMS and LEO) and faculty: The employee’s last workday with the unit.
• Contractual Workforce (adjunct faculty, graduate assistants, and postdoctoral associates/fellows): The agreed-upon date stated in the offer letter. If this date changes from the original date, the revised date must comply with applicable UF policies, regulations or collective bargaining agreements.
• Temporary Workforce (OPS and student assistants): The date designated by the employee to end their employment, or the date the unit determines that the employee’s services are no longer needed.

4. Policy Statement 

This Policy facilitates an employee’s separation and mitigates risk to UF by ensuring supervisors secure all UF property and information, maintain business continuity, and complete all other necessary separation tasks. In addition, it provides for exit interviews, when possible, to gain information and insights about the UF employment experience.

4.1 Guiding Principles 

Offboarding is a collaborative effort that requires participation from multiple individuals to be completed accurately and in a timely manner. The goal of Offboarding is to ensure a seamless and respectful transition for every employee separating from UF. The following outlines the roles and responsibilities of separating employees, Supervisors, and UFHR staff for Offboarding.

4.1.1 Resignation, Retirement, and Temporary Assignments

When an employee resigns or retires, or when a temporary assignment is ending, certain individuals have the following responsibilities:

4.1.1.a. Employees. An employee must provide adequate written notice to their supervisor. The required notice period depends upon the employee’s classification and whether they are exempt or non-exempt, as set forth in UF guidelines (See Section 5, References and Related Information).

4.1.1.b. Supervisors. Supervisors must accept an employee’s written notice of resignation or retirement and notify UFHR of the separation as soon as possible, but no later than five business days before the proposed Separation Date.

4.1.1.c. UFHR. Departmental HR personnel must coordinate Offboarding activities utilizing the UFHR system no later than three days before the Separation Date and notify affected units and personnel no later than the Separation Date.

4.1.2. Non-Renewal and Termination for Cause

Supervisors must complete the necessary administrative steps to process the separation through UFHR. Accordingly, they must notify UFHR Employee Relations as soon as they become aware of a pending separation to ensure timely completion of the appropriate administrative tasks.

4.1.3 Courtesy Notice for Postdoctoral Associates/Fellows and Time-Limited TEAMS Employees

Due to the temporary nature of these positions, often linked to external or project-specific funding, postdoctoral associates/fellows and time-limited TEAMS employees will receive written notice of separation at least 45 calendar days in advance, except in cases of termination for cause.

4.2 Separation Tasks 

Once an employee or UF has established a pending Separation Date, the employee’s supervisor must contact their unit’s human resources team to begin the separation process. The specifics of this process are provided in the UFHR Offboarding Standard Operating Procedures. Supervisors must complete the Employee Exit Checklist whenever possible before the Separation Date.

The termination Electronic Personnel Action Form (“ePAF”) must be entered into the UFHR system as soon as possible, but no later than three business days before the Effective Date. All pertinent affiliations, security roles, and system access must be removed by the last date of employment.

4.3 University Property and Information 

The employee, their supervisor or manager, and the respective unit’s human resources team must ensure all UF property is returned on or before the Separation Date. Such property includes, but is not limited to, keys, identification, parking permits, access cards, purchasing cards (i.e., P-cards), research materials, computing resources, and office equipment.

Similarly, the employee’s supervisor or manager must work with the respective unit’s human resources team to ensure the separating employee is removed from all UF affiliations, security roles, email accounts, and access to UF systems by close of business on the Separation Date.

4.4 Business Continuity 

When an employee’s separation is foreseeable, the employee, their supervisor, and the respective unit’s human resources team must develop a plan to transition the separating employee’s knowledge and responsibilities to ensure business continuity. While each plan should be tailored to the given circumstances, all plans must include the following elements:

1. Identifying the duties and responsibilities of the respective position to include updating the position description if needed;
2. Identifying any gaps in support or lack of accountability;
3. Developing measurable goals to transition seamlessly to new or interim staff and fill any support or accountability gaps; and
4. Developing a concise but achievable timeline for the transition.

4.5 Exit Interviews 

The final step of Offboarding is to offer separating employees the opportunity to provide feedback concerning their experience working at UF. Separating employees may complete the Employee Exit Survey or request an exit interview with UFHR. This process encourages candid feedback concerning their time at UF and an opportunity to suggest improvements to the employee experience.

5. References and Related Information

• Employee Exit Checklist
• Employee Exit Survey
• TEAMS Employee Handbook (resignation notice period)
• UF Regulation 3.056, Resignation and Non-Reappointment of Technical, Executive, Administrative, and Managerial Support Staff
• UF Regulation 3.046, Discipline, Suspension and Dismissal for Cause of Technical, Executive, Administrative, and Managerial Support Staff
• UF Regulation 1.017, Separations from Employment, Layoff and Furlough (OPS employees)
• UFF-UF CBA Article 13, Resignation and Non-Renewal (in-unit faculty)
• UFF-UF CBA Article 27, Disciplinary Action and Job Abandonment (in-unit faculty)
• UF Regulation 7.013, Non-Renewal of Non-Tenured or Non-Permanent Status Faculty Appointments (out-of-unit faculty)
• UF Regulation 7.048, Suspension, Termination, and Other Disciplinary Action for Faculty (out-of-unit faculty)

History