Recently, there have been some employee separations that have resulted in overpayment of the employee because the timesheet was not accurately monitored, and neither the Office of Human Resources or the Payroll Office was aware of the separation.
Since the amount of overpayment is charged back to the responsible department, it is strongly recommended that all supervisors and department heads familiarize their department with the following guidelines for separations. Awareness of the guidelines can avoid future chargebacks to your department. These guidelines for processing employee separations can be found on the OHR’s Web site (http://www.towson.edu/hr}, under Employee/Employer Relations.
Employee separations must be made in accordance with the following University System of Maryland (USM) Board of Regents Policies:
– Policy on Separation for Regular Exempt Employees VII 1.22
– Policy on Layoff for Unclassified (Exempt) and Classified (Non-Exempt) Personnel VII 1.30
– Policy on Layoff and Recall of Regular Exempt Employees – VII 1.32
The timely separation of an employee from your department is critical for many reasons:
* Preventing overpayment against your department budget
* Keeping the university in compliance with federal timelines for required notification of continuation of benefits (COBRA)
* Maintaining accurate Human Resources data used for University, State and Federal reporting
Departments must file an “Employment Separation Form” with the Office of Human Resources for ALL regular and contingent employees who are separating employment. The form must be completed and returned to the OHR at least two weeks before the employee’s last day of work. Non-exempt employees should give at least two weeks written notice. Exempt employees should give at least 30 calendar days written notice.
Helpful Checkllist for supervisors:
Supervisor Responsibilities
Upon receipt of written notification of an employee’s termination of employment/intent to leave, complete an Employee Separation Form and forward it to the Office of Human Resources with the original copy of the employee’s resignation letter. In the event that the separation is a result of the employee’s death (whether while actively employed or on leave of absence), the supervisor is to contact the Office of Human Resources as soon as he/she is notified.
Collect University/Departmental property from departing employee, as applicable:
Keys – building, classrooms, office, elevator, storeroom, desk, file cabinets, storage cabinets, lockers, equipment keys, vehicles; university or departmental identification Cards (Departments should destroy the Onecard by cutting the card in half across the magnetic strip on the back.); tools; uniforms; ProCard; telephone calling cards; office equipment (e.g., computers, laptop computers, calculators, etc.); office supplies; manuals and books; university books, supplies, and materials on loan; pagers, telephones, walkie-talkies, cellular phones; name badges; parking permit and gate card (The employee should contact Parking Services to ask if they are entitled to a refund.)
Review departing employee’s work assignments and collect any applicable confidential and work-related information or materials.
Approve the departing employee’s FINAL TIME SHEET. VERIFY accuracy of the total number of hours actually worked during the employee’s final pay period. The employee must work on the last day of employment. Leave cannot be used for the last day of employment.
If applicable, delete any signature templates from computer systems; destroy signature stamps related to the departing employee; and notify appropriate departments of employee’s termination of signatory authority (Finance, Human Resources, Payroll, etc.)
Cancel employee access to financial, academic, administrative, payroll, etc. accounts (for assistance, contact the administrator of the system directly; examples of systems include FRS, Purchasing, and SIS accounts.
Reset telephone voice mail messages and passwords. (For assistance, contact the OTS Help Center at x4-5151 or {helpcenter@towson.edu})
Disable e-mail accounts and have messages forwarded to an active account within the department. (For assistance, contact the OTS Help Center at x4-5151 or {helpcenter@towson.edu})
Notify the separating employee’s regular contacts of the staffing change and provide the new and/or interim contact’s information.
Contact the Office of Human Resources to discuss staffing strategies and needs, if applicable.
