Retrenchment checklist for employees

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic many businesses are struggling to survive and are retrenching employees. Often employees do not know what they need to do before exiting the organisation. Here is a 17 point checklist to make sure that when you leave the organisation that all goes smoothly, and with minimal stress.

 

Employee checklist for retrenchment (less than 50 employees) YES NO
1.  Have I received my Notice of Termination letter and/or Retrenchment Agreement with my retrenchment calculation?
2.  Have I submitted the signed Retrenchment Agreement to Management?
3.  Do I need to raise any concerns or questions with management?
4.  Have I approached a tax professional for advice on my package?
5.  Have I received the copy of the Tax Directive from payroll?
6.  Have I updated my personal email address with payroll and management for the next IRP5 to be sent to me?
7. Do I need to ask payroll for copies of previous salary slips (often needed by banks or new employers)?
8. Have I received the UI19 UIF form from payroll so that I can claim UIF?
9. Have I received a Certificate of Service (will help future employers to do reference checks on you, confirms employment with previous company)? This is a regulatory requirement and is mandatory.
10. Do I need a letter of recommendation from management (work reference for job hunting)?
11. Do I need the company to sign forms if I decide to use an Independent UIF agent or have I registered on the Dept of Labour website for UIF?    www.labour.gov.za
12. Have I cleaned out my desk and handed in company equipment or access cards?
13. Have I done a thorough handover to management or appointed person?
14. Have I supplied all passwords to management or appointed person?
15. Have I put the “out of office” autoreply and forwarded my phone to someone else?
16. Use family and friends for support as it is a traumatic event in one’s life.
17. You need to find another job as quickly as possible, so remember to leave on a high note even though you are mad with your ex-employer for retrenching you. Remember work references will be taken from your ex-employer by a prospective new employer. Rather focus your energy on finding a new job and taking good care of yourself.