UK employer operational guide
Use an ordinary-resignation route to align employment dates, approved final pay, payroll reporting, documents and risk-based offboarding.
This guide is for an ordinary employee resignation.
Use it when: an employee has resigned and you need to organise notice, final inputs, payroll and a controlled handover.
It does not decide: a disputed termination, redundancy, death in service, complex holiday or notice calculation, or historic payroll correction.
Stop and escalate
Get the appropriate HR, legal or payroll route for dismissal, redundancy, death in service, disputed resignation or notice, sickness complications, unagreed PILON or garden leave, disputed deductions, or a leaver already paid or reported incorrectly.
Local-only route guide
Choose the closest facts, then submit the route. This guide does not store, send or place your answers in a link.
No-JavaScript route matrix
Use this static summary if the interactive questions are unavailable. It is an educational map, not a determination of an individual employment or payroll case.
You have described an employee resignation, an agreed ordinary notice arrangement, available final-pay inputs and no earlier final payment or leaver reporting.
Start with
Receive, verify and acknowledge the resignation; confirm the notice and proposed leaving arrangements.
The departure is an employee resignation, but the notice arrangement is varied or not clear enough to treat as an ordinary notice period.
Start with
Record what was received and obtain written confirmation of the agreed notice arrangement where appropriate.
The employee has resigned, but the final-pay record is incomplete or uncertain. Payroll should not guess at hours, holiday, expenses or deductions.
Start with
Name an owner for each missing input and set an approval route before the payroll cut-off.
Employer-led ending of employment and redundancy have their own employment, notice, consultation, payment and reporting considerations.
Start with
Pause this ordinary-resignation checklist and classify the employment event with HR or an appropriate adviser.
A final payment or leaver reporting may already have happened. Do not overwrite the previous payroll record or send an identical report without checking the maintained route.
Start with
Preserve the original payroll, payment and submission evidence.
The circumstances are disputed, unclear or outside an ordinary resignation. A short checklist should not guess at the legal, payroll or reporting route.
Start with
Keep the current records and do not relabel the departure to fit this guide.
Employment event
Record when the resignation was received, how it was given and the employer response. Ask for written confirmation where appropriate; do not imply an employee needs permission to resign.
Payroll event
Payroll needs an approved employment period, final inputs and clear reporting instructions—not only a manager’s verbal last-day message.
This operational guide is for a standard resignation where the employer can establish the employment facts and final-pay instructions. It does not decide legal rights or confirm that any real employment, payment or reporting action is complete.
Start by recording when the employee resigned, how notice was given, the contractual notice period and the employer's response. An employee does not need the employer's approval to resign. It is usually sensible to obtain or confirm the key details in writing, then explain the proposed leaving arrangements. GOV.UK's resignation guidance sets out the practical steps employers should take.
Use the notice period calculator to compare statutory and contractual notice. If notice, garden leave or payment in lieu is disputed or has not been agreed, leave the ordinary route and get the appropriate advice before finalising payroll.
Do not make the last day the employee works do the job of every other date in the case. Confirm what work is expected during notice, whether holiday is planned, and the employment leaving date the payroll record should use. An agreed variation to notice is not necessarily an error, but it should be clear before the final pay is approved. Acas notice-period guidance is the appropriate starting point for the employment-side questions.
Final payroll should be built from approved records, not a rushed list in an email. Check the contractual and maintained payroll record for salary or wages, approved hours and overtime, holiday, expenses, authorised deductions, pension treatment and any benefits that need a separate process.
Treat late items according to what they actually are. An expense reimbursement may have a different route from later taxable pay, a holiday adjustment, commission or an underpayment correction. Where a later payment or reporting change is needed, follow Lesson 11: handle changes, leavers and corrections rather than trying to recreate the advanced route here.
Do not deduct the value of equipment, training costs, overpayments or another debt simply because money is owed. Check the contractual or other lawful authority and the restrictions that apply before making a final-pay deduction. GOV.UK explains the legal bases for deductions from pay; use Acas or professional advice where the position is disputed.
Once final payroll is approved, give the employee a payslip on or before payday, make the approved payment and follow the maintained leaving-reporting route. GOV.UK payslip guidance explains payslip timing and content. GOV.UK employee-leaving guidance covers the payroll record, P45 and reporting route.
Payment after leaving, a leaver crossing into the next tax year, a missed leaving report or a previous incorrect payment are all advanced cases. Keep the original evidence and use the controlled correction route rather than overwriting history.
Keep the resignation and acknowledgement, notice arrangement, approved final-pay inputs, payroll review, payslip, payment, reporting, P45 and handover evidence in your secure HR and payroll systems. Schedule access changes in line with the agreed departure plan: someone working notice, handing over work or retaining legitimate access to personal documents may need a different sequence from an immediate departure.
This guide provides general operational information, not legal, tax or employment advice. Contracts, policies, disputed facts, sick leave, settlement terms and historic payroll records can change the route.
Five-date payroll control
| Date concept | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Last working day | The last day the employee actually performs work. |
| Employment leaving date | The date employment legally ends. |
| Final payment date | The date final pay is made. |
| FPS payment date | The payment date reported in payroll reporting. |
| P45 issue point | When the P45 is produced or given after final payroll information is established. |
Illustration: an employee can stop working on a Friday but remain employed until a later date under an agreed notice arrangement; final pay may then fall on the normal payday. This is only one possible arrangement.
Final-input ownership
| Input | Typical owner | Control |
|---|---|---|
| Leaving and last-working dates | Manager / HR | Match the resignation and agreed notice. |
| Hours and overtime | Manager | Approved source and cut-off. |
| Holiday position | HR / payroll | Use the maintained calculation. |
| Expenses | Employee / manager | Approve or schedule separately. |
| Deductions | HR / payroll | Confirm lawful authority and restrictions. |
| Pension, benefits and assets | Payroll / HR / operations | Record final treatment or closure action. |
Final-pay checkpoint
Deduction warning: unreturned equipment, training costs, overpayments and other debts are not automatically deductible from final pay. Confirm contractual or other lawful authority and applicable restrictions before making a deduction. See GOV.UK deductions guidance ↗.
Coordinate the outputs
Give the payslip on or before payday, make the approved payment, report the employee leaving through the maintained payroll route and issue the P45 when the final payroll information is established. See GOV.UK employee-leaving guidance ↗.
A later expense reimbursement is not automatically the same as later taxable pay, an holiday adjustment, commission or an underpayment correction. Keep the nature of a later item clear and route advanced cases to Lesson 11.
Handover and access closure
Schedule changes according to whether the employee is working notice, handing over duties or on an agreed non-working period. Do not use one universal cut-off moment.
System accounts, payroll and HR self-service access, email and document ownership.
Devices, keys, passes, shared credentials and company records.
Customer or supplier responsibilities, handover notes and case ownership.
Final documents and any appropriate continuing access to personal records.
Local-only preparation aid
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