RedWolf Payroll

Posts Tagged ‘exit interviews’

There are many advantages to conducting exit interviews when an employee is terminated – either voluntarily or involuntarily. The two main reasons people conduct exit interviews is to receive feedback from the departing employee and to notify the employee of administrative procedures from that point forward. Of course, no departing employee is required to grant you an exit interview; however, most of them will.

Exit interviews should be conducted in private – preferably a closed office or conference room. No unnecessary employees should be present or able to listen in to the exit interview.
The best person to conduct exit interviews will vary but should usually be an individual at least a level above this individuals boss (i.e. their bosses’ boss) or someone from Human Resources if you have a dedicated Human Resources department in your company. In the event that a termination is involuntary (i.e. the employee is being fired), it is best to have two individuals present to conduct the exit interview. If possible, you may wish to exclude the terminated employee’s boss from the exit interview. Employees may be more likely to open up about issues that may be occurring within the Company if they feel that they will not have to engage in a confrontation with their former boss.

As mentioned above, there are several key administrative procedures that you will need to cover during the exit interview. You need to may sure that the employee is aware of benefit continuation requirements such as COBRA benefits, retirement plan rights or obligations, and conversion privileges related to health, life, disability, dental or other insurance benefits that are currently maintained by the employer. You should also confirm the employees contact information to ensure that you can contact them via mail for such items as paychecks or W-2’s.
You should also have the employee sign an acknowledgement that these items were discussed with them in the exit interview. In the event that they refuse to sign the acknowledgement, send them a follow up letter restating the items that were discussed in the exit interview – remembering to save a copy for their employee file. The exit interviewer should make notes as to what was discussed during the exit interview, including notes as to why the individual is leaving (if voluntary). These notes should be maintained in the personnel file.

In Exit Interviews Part II, we will review some commons questions that you should ask employees during the exit interview. Then, in Exit Interviews Part III, we will discuss what you, the employer, should do after the exit interview.