Leaving Employment

Date: September 2019

Policy: The College requests that support staff (hourly paid/non-exempt) give at least two (2) weeks’ notice to their supervisors before leaving employment. Administrative (salaried/exempt) employees are expected to notify supervisors at least four (4) weeks in advance of their last scheduled day of work. All resignations should be given in writing and once received the supervisor should begin the termination process in Workday, with the resignation letter attached. Instructions to complete the termination in Workday are available through Manager Self-Service, under ‘Terminating an Employee.’

The termination date is the last day on which an employee actually works. Therefore, the last day cannot be a vacation day or sick day with the rare exception of an employee who is on a formal leave of absence, in which case the termination date is the date that the leave is exhausted or expires.  

For hourly employees who enter their time in Workday, timesheets should be submitted by the end of their last day.

Vacation that is accrued and unused at the time of termination will be paid with the employee’s final paycheck. To ensure the timely and accurate payment of this, the leave record prior to departure should be up to date, requested and approved, in Workday.

All College property needs to be returned by the employee, or supervisor, to the appropriate department prior to termination including:

  • ID Card - return to the OneCard office
  • Keys - return to the OneCard office
  • Credit Card(s) – shred or return to the Controller’s Office
  • Final Expense Reports – employees or their delegate should submit final expense reports in Workday, before 5:00 p.m. on their last day of employment.  Delegation access ends as of the employee’s termination date.  If final credit card transactions have not imported into Workday prior to your termination date, please email the receipts and coding to Accounts Payable.
  • Laptop computer or handheld mobile device(s) – supervisor collects
    (IT is notified of employee departure via Workday and will reach out to the department to coordinate computer re-imaging or to collect the devices if position is not being replaced)
  • Safety equipment excluding safety shoes, prescription items, etc. – supervisor collects
  • Uniform(s) – supervisor collects
  • Outstanding material from the College Library – return to the Library
  • Family Athletic Facility User ID’s – return to Athletics


The College supports those who use Bowdoin email accounts, however, once an employee leaves the College, their privileges end on the last day of work. Employees retiring with emeritus/a status may retain their Bowdoin email accounts. The IT service desk, upon request, will:

  • assist employees in setting up a new personal email account (e.g., gmail, hotmail, etc), and migrating personal messages to the new account
  • set up a forwarding message for 30 days that tells senders that the employee has left the college and where they can send correspondence, either to them or to someone else in the department
  • provide the supervisor access to the employee’s account

College provided benefits will continue until the last day of the month in which an employee terminates. Continuation of benefits (COBRA) information will be forwarded to the employee’s home address on file at the time of termination and will include the costs associated with continuation of health and dental coverage for up to 18 months if desired.

If the employee were a participant in the College retirement plan, or contributed to their own 403(b) supplemental retirement plan, the following options available upon termination:

  • Employees can leave their money in the Bowdoin College plan and continue to accrue tax-deferred earnings.
  • Employees may elect a tax-deferred rollover to an IRA at another institution.
  • Employees may elect to withdraw part or all of the funds (depending on the investment fund that was elected). There may be tax consequences and penalties associated with this option.

Polar Plus will be turned off a few days in advance of the employee’s termination date. If the employee has an outstanding computer loan, the remaining balance will be deducted from the final paycheck.

Departing employees should review and/or update their home mailing address in Workday. Year-end tax forms will be mailed to the home address, on record in Workday at the time of termination, in January according to IRS schedules. Notify the College’s Human Resources department if the home address changes after departing the College, to ensure timely receipt of tax documents.

If the departing employee has questions about their benefits or would like to schedule an in person, voluntary, departure interview please contact human resources at (207) 725-3837.