Leaving a job
Resigning, handing over and getting your records. 7 templates, all free to fill in and print.
Resigning well costs you a fortnight and buys you a reference you may need for decades. Put the resignation in writing with an actual last date rather than a notice period, so nobody argues later about which day you meant. Then think about the handover: what you will finish, what you will brief, and who takes each thing. Before your access is switched off, ask for the records you will want afterwards — payslips, a summary for tax, your leave balance — because they are much harder to get once you are no longer on the system. If you want a reference, ask while people still remember your work.
Notice periods feel like a formality and are not. The fortnight you work properly buys a reference you may need for decades, and the paperwork splits into three parts. There is the letter that ends the job, the handover that protects your name after you have gone, and the records you have to collect before your access is switched off. Most people write the letter, improvise the handover and forget the records entirely. The forgotten part costs most. Payslips, a service or relieving letter, tax summaries and written confirmation of your dates and job title are simple to get while you still have a manager answering your emails, and difficult to get two years later from a company that has changed its HR system.
Put the resignation in writing
A resignation letter needs to do one thing precisely: state your actual last working day as a date, not as a notice period. Writing that you are giving one month leaves two people counting differently and an argument at the end about which day you meant. Keep it short: the fact of resigning, the last date, an offer to help with the handover, and a thank-you if you can manage one honestly. Do not use it to settle scores, list grievances or explain where you are going. Anything you write here can be read by people you have not met. Send it to your manager and copy HR or the payroll contact, because those are two different systems and only one of them stops your pay. Keep the sent copy.
Check what your notice period actually says
Two weeks is a convention in some places and a contractual term in almost none. What you owe is whatever your contract states, subject to any statutory minimum in your country or state. Check the contract first and the local minimum second. Look also for what happens to accrued but untaken leave, whether the employer can pay you in lieu of working the notice, whether there is a garden leave clause, and whether any bonus, commission or training cost becomes repayable if you leave before a date. If you want to go sooner than the contract requires, ask rather than announce. A shortened notice agreed in writing is a normal outcome; a walked-out notice is a reference problem.
Hand over so nobody guesses
A handover note is written for the person who has not arrived yet. List the work in progress with its current state and the next action, the recurring tasks with their deadlines, the systems you use and who administers each, and the contacts who will ring your extension and get nothing. Say where things are, not what they are called. Add the small undocumented knowledge that only you hold: the supplier who needs chasing twice, the report that breaks on the last working day of the month, the drawer the spare keys live in. Then walk it through with a colleague rather than emailing it and leaving. It is the most useful thing you can do for the people who stay, and it is what they will remember when someone rings for a reference.
Collect your records before access ends
The day your login stops, so does easy access to your payslips, leave balance and internal profile. Before then, download or print what you will need: payslips for the whole period, year-end tax summaries, your contract and any amendments, pension or provident fund details with the scheme reference, and written confirmation of your start date, end date and job title. A request for employment documents puts that list in one email so nothing is missed. In some countries a formal relieving or experience letter is expected by the next employer and is hard to obtain later, so ask before your last day. An exit interview is optional in most places; treat anything you say in one as something that may be repeated.
The order to do it in
- Read your contract for the notice period, leave payout, garden leave and any repayable bonus or training.
- Write the resignation letter with an actual last date, send it to your manager, copy HR.
- Build the handover note as you work the notice, then walk a colleague through it.
- Ask in writing for payslips, tax summaries, and confirmation of your dates and job title.
- Request references from a named manager before you leave, while they still remember the work.
Common questions
How much notice do I have to give when resigning?
Whatever your contract says, unless a statutory minimum in your country or state sets a longer floor. Check both, because they differ and neither overrides the other automatically. Two weeks is a convention rather than a rule. If you need to leave sooner, ask in writing rather than simply going. Agreed early releases are common; an unauthorised one can affect your final pay and your reference.
Can my employer refuse to give me a reference?
In many places yes, because there is often no general obligation to provide one, though the rules differ by country and by sector. What most employers will confirm is factual: dates of employment and job title. Ask for that in writing before you leave. A named former manager willing to speak informally is worth more than a company policy letter, so ask people, not only HR.
What is a relieving letter and do I need one?
It is a letter confirming that you completed your notice, handed over and were formally released by the employer. It is commonly required by the next employer in India and some other markets, and largely unknown elsewhere. If your country expects one, ask before your last day, because chasing a company months later is slow. Where it is not used, written confirmation of dates and title serves the same purpose.