Employee resignation and offboarding checklist for restaurants

A barista tells you after close that Friday will be their last day. You say thanks, wish them well, and then the questions start. Who's covering their Saturday opens? When is their last paycheck due? Do they get their vacation hours? Who has their key? Three weeks later, they still have the alarm code, and their name is still on next month's schedule.

Most resignations in a café are friendly. The trouble is the dozen small jobs that follow, which nobody owns. This post turns them into a checklist: the day of the notice, the last shift, and the weeks after, with a short acceptance letter and the pay rules behind each step.

General information, not legal advice. Final pay, vacation payout and benefits rules depend on your state and your own policies; check your state labor agency.

If you're the one ending the job, that's a different process. See our post on letting an employee go (coming Nov 10).

The day they give notice

Thank them, and ask for the last day in writing. A text or email is enough. It protects both of you if dates get mixed up later.
Confirm it back with the acceptance letter below.
Decide whether they work the notice period. Usually yes. If you'd rather they didn't, decide how you'll handle pay for the scheduled shifts, and check your state's final pay rules first (below), because the end date can change when final pay is due.
Look at the schedule for every shift between now and their last day, and every shift after it.
Tell the team once the person has had a chance to tell their friends first. Keep it short and positive.

The acceptance letter

Hi [Name], Thank you for letting us know. This confirms that your last day at [café name] will be [date]. Your final paycheck will include all hours through your last shift[, your tips through that date][, and your unused vacation hours, per our policy]. It will be paid [on (date) / by (method)]. Before you go, please return [your key / fob, apron, uniform shirts] to [manager] by your last shift. We'll send your W-2 to the address we have on file: [address]. Please let us know if that changes. Thank you for everything you've done here. [A specific, honest line.] You're welcome to list us as a reference [if true]. [Your name]

Cover the gap before it's a crisis

Find cover for the remaining shifts now, not the week of. Look at who else is trained on their stations; our cross-training matrix shows it at a glance.
Remove them from shifts after their last day. Leaving them on a future week is how a schedule ends up with a no-show.
Hand over what only they know: the vendor contact they always called, the order guide they kept, the closing trick for the old grinder. Ask them to write it down in their last week. If it should be an SOP, our SOP template (coming Jan 2) helps.
Start hiring if you need to. The job application template and the interview scorecard get you going.

Final pay, tips and PTO

When the last paycheck is due

There's no single national rule. The U.S. Department of Labor says "Employers are not required by federal law to give former employees their final paycheck immediately. Some states, however, may require immediate payment" (DOL, last paycheck).

States differ, and many treat quitting differently from being let go. California, for example: an employee without a fixed-term contract who "gives at least 72 hours prior notice of his or her intention to quit, and quits on the day given in the notice, must be paid all of his or her wages, including accrued vacation, at the time of quitting," and one who "quits without giving 72 hours prior notice must be paid all of his or her wages, including accrued vacation, within 72 hours of quitting" (California DLSE, paydays FAQ). Other states allow the next regular payday. Our letting someone go post (coming Nov 10) has a table of state examples for terminations; look up the resignation rule for your state the same way.

What goes in it

Every hour worked through the last shift, including overtime. Close out any missed punches first.
Tips through the last day, including their share of any tip pool for the final period. Our tip-out sheet helps you work it out.
Unused vacation or PTO, if your state or your policy requires it. In California, "upon termination of employment all earned and unused vacation must be paid to the employee at his or her final rate of pay" (California DLSE, vacation FAQ). Other states let your written policy decide. Whatever yours is, follow your handbook and apply it the same way to everyone.
No surprise deductions. Under federal rules, wages count only if they are "paid finally and unconditionally" (29 CFR 531.35), so a deduction for an unreturned uniform or a register shortage can't take someone below minimum wage or cut into overtime, and many states are stricter. Ask your state labor agency or your accountant before you take anything out of a final check.

Access and property

Do this on the last shift, not the week after. Our key, alarm code and safe access log and the staff accounts and passwords post (coming Nov 15) cover the details.

[ ] Keys and fobs returned and logged; if a key isn't returned, decide whether to rekey
[ ] Alarm code removed or changed
[ ] Safe code changed if they knew it
[ ] POS login and any shared logins removed or changed (supplier portals, social accounts, delivery app tablets)
[ ] Removed from your scheduling and team app
[ ] Removed from group chats
[ ] Uniforms and aprons returned, if you issue them

The exit conversation

Ten minutes in their last week, away from the floor. People who are leaving often tell you what current staff won't. Ask, listen, don't argue:

What made you decide to leave?
What did you like most about working here?
What's one thing we should change?
Did you have what you needed to do the job well (training, tools, people on shift)?
How was the schedule for you?
Would you recommend working here to a friend? Why or why not?
Would you come back, for a season or a shift?

Write down the answers and look for patterns every few months. Our staff turnover post covers what to do with them.

Benefits, tax forms and records

Health insurance. If you offer a group health plan, tell your insurer or benefits provider about the end date. Under federal COBRA, which generally covers "group health plans sponsored by employers with 20 or more employees in the prior year," departing workers can choose to continue group coverage (DOL, COBRA). Your state may have its own continuation rules. Ask your provider who sends the notices.
W-2. You can give it at the normal time. The IRS instructions say that "If employment ends before December 31," you may give copies at any time after employment ends but no later than the normal due date, and "If an employee asks for Form W-2, give them the completed copies within 30 days of the request or within 30 days of the final wage payment, whichever is later" (IRS, Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3). Confirm their mailing address.
Unemployment. Some states require you to give departing employees a notice about unemployment benefits; our letting someone go post (coming Nov 10) has examples. Check your state's unemployment agency.
Keep the records. Federal wage-and-hour rules require payroll records to be kept "for at least 3 years" (29 CFR 516.5) and time cards "for a period of at least 2 years" (29 CFR 516.6). The EEOC says its regulations "require that employers keep all personnel or employment records for one year" (EEOC, recordkeeping). Don't delete anything when someone leaves.

The offboarding checklist

Day of notice

[ ] Resignation and last day confirmed in writing
[ ] Acceptance letter sent
[ ] Shifts through the last day covered or confirmed
[ ] Shifts after the last day removed from the schedule
[ ] Final pay deadline for your state looked up and noted
[ ] Team told

Last week

[ ] Handover notes written (vendors, orders, station quirks)
[ ] Exit conversation held and notes saved
[ ] PTO balance checked; payout decided per state law and policy
[ ] Tip pool share for the final period worked out

Last shift

[ ] Keys, fobs and uniforms returned and logged
[ ] Alarm, safe and shared logins changed
[ ] Missed punches fixed; hours through the last shift approved
[ ] Removed from the team app and group chats
[ ] Thank you, in person

After

[ ] Final paycheck paid by the deadline
[ ] Benefits provider told; continuation notices handled
[ ] Mailing address confirmed for the W-2
[ ] Any required unemployment notice given
[ ] Records kept, not deleted

Where Mays fits

The checklist on demand. Make this an offboarding template with the Custom frequency, which never runs on a schedule, and start it for the location the day someone gives notice, from Tasks → Tasks → Create Task → From Template, assigned to the manager. See Scheduling and assigning checklists.
Their future shifts. Move or delete the shifts after their last day and click Publish; the person who lost a shift gets Shift removed, and anyone given one gets New shift assigned. See Publishing the schedule.
Hours for the final check. Fix and approve their punches in the pay period, then download it as a Standard CSV or a Gusto timesheet for payroll. See Exporting payroll.
PTO balance. Admins see each person's balance under Employee balances, with History, before deciding a payout. See PTO policies and balances.
Access, on the last day. Deactivate them under Locations & Users → Users → ⋮ → Deactivate. They're signed out everywhere, their kiosk PIN stops working, recurring checklists stop giving them tasks, and their phones stop getting your notifications. Their punches, timesheets and history stay. See Deactivating team members.

What Mays doesn't do: deactivating someone doesn't remove them from shifts already assigned to them (they show with an Inactive badge, so reassign them) or from group chats (a group admin removes them). There's no final-pay deadline reminder, and payout of PTO is done in your payroll.

A good goodbye

Confirm the date in writing, cover the shifts, pay on time, and close every door the person had a key to. Thank them properly. In a small team, the way someone leaves is something everyone who stays notices.

Start your free trial: 30 days, every module, no card needed. Or book a walkthrough and we'll set up your onboarding and offboarding checklists with you.