Voluntary Termination of Employment

Reasons for Voluntary Termination

Continued employment with the Research Foundation (RF) is dependent upon a number of factors, including the wishes of the employee, the needs of the Research Foundation, and satisfactory job performance.

When an employee decides voluntarily to terminate employment with the Foundation, the termination is for one of the following four reasons: retirement, resignation, job abandonment, or failure to return to work upon leave expiration. The following describes each one of the reasons for voluntary severance of employment.

Retirement. Retirement is the relinquishment of a job by an employee after he or she reaches the specific age and attains the service requirements
necessary to collect retirement benefits. Central office must be notified of an employee's retirement.
Resignation. Resignation is the voluntary decision by an employee to terminate employment.
Job Abandonment. Job abandonment occurs when an employee is absent from work for three or more consecutive work days and has failed to call his or
her supervisor or notify the supervisor of the reason for the absence. When this situation occurs, it is treated as a voluntary resignation effective on the last
day the employee worked. Job abandonment cases must be reviewed.
Failure to Return to Work Upon Leave Expiration. When an employee is not paid while on an approved leave of absence, such an absence is considered
an inactive pay status. For such a period of approved absence, a date must be specified for the return of the employee to active pay status. Failure of an
employee to return from an approved leave on the specified date is treated as a voluntary resignation effective on the date scheduled for return.

Change of Assignment Status

In all cases of voluntary termination from employment, the employee must be terminated from all active assignments so that the employee is removed from the Research Foundation payroll. See the work instruction "Terminate a Person" in the Oracle Process Help area of the RF Web site.

Compliance

Notifying Employees of Termination Date and Benefits Eligibility

In accordance with New York State Prompt Notice Law, operating locations must notify in writing those employees who are voluntarily terminating from Research Foundation employment within five working days of the employee's termination date. This written notification specifies the employee's exact date of termination of employment and the exact date of cancellation of group health insurance benefits.

In order to demonstrate Research Foundation compliance with the New York State Prompt Notice Law, an employee must be requested to sign this written notification as documentation that he or she received the notification and must return the signed letter to the location. Otherwise, the letter should be sent to the employee by certified mail.

Providing Unemployment Insurance Information to Employees

As required by New York State Labor Law, the Research Foundation operations manager or designee must provide Unemployment Insurance information to employees who are voluntarily terminating from employment.

Reviewing a Case of Job Abandonment

When it appears that an employee has voluntarily terminated employment through job abandonment, the Research Foundation operations manager or designee must review with the project director or designee the circumstances regarding the job abandonment, process an Oracle Information Change Form, and notify the former employee in writing of this determination. A copy of the written determination that is sent to the employee must be retained in the employee's personnel file.

Notifying Central Office of an Employee's Retirement

When it has been determined that an employee is retiring, an operating location must notify the Central Office of Employee Services of the retirement so that the employee's eligibility for retirement benefits can be determined prior to processing an employee's retirement.

Termination Procedure

When an employee decides voluntarily to terminate employment with the RF, determine the reason for the voluntary termination. Follow all requirements for cases of job abandonment or employee retirement. For involuntary termination, refer to procedure and guidance document Involuntary Termination of Employment.

The following table describes the steps to take when an employee terminates employment with the RF:

Step	Action
1	Complete the Oracle Information Change Form. The RF operations manager or designee must complete the change form for all employees being voluntarily or involuntarily terminated. The form is available in both PDF and Word
2	Approve the Oracle Information Change Form. The project director (or co-project director) and RF operations manager or designee must certify that the requested action to terminate employment is consistent with sponsor regulations and RF policies. This certification is accomplished by signing and dating the form.
3	Within 5 working days after the employee's termination date, provide written notice to the employee of the exact termination date. For more information, refer to the Compliance section in this document or the Compliance section of the "Involuntary Termination of Employment" document.
4	Provide all required information to the employee. Refer to Providing Information to Employees at Termination in the Termination of Employment area within the Personnel Administration section of Sponsored Program Management of the RF Web site.
5	Enter information regarding voluntary or involuntary termination of employment into the computerized business system. The source document is the Oracle Information Change Form. Refer to the work instruction "Terminate a Person" in the Oracle Process Help of the RF Web site.
6	Promptly pay final wages and accrued benefits to the terminated employee. See Prompt Notice of Termination and Prompt Final Payments Policy.
7	Run and review the RF: Termed Employees with Benefit Information Greater than Zero report in Oracle. This report will ensure that a terminated salaried person's "full-time equivalent" (FTE) has been changed to zero as part of the termination process. For more information, refer to the Employee Services reports document HR Standard Operational Oracle Reports in the Human Resources business area of the Reports and Queries resource.
8	Retain the original, completed "Oracle Information Change Form" in the employee's personnel file.

Responsibilities

Operating Locations

The Research Foundation operations manager or designee is responsible for

ensuring that when employees voluntarily terminate employment with the Research Foundation, the termination is in compliance with all policies and
requirements.

Central Office

The director of the Office of Employee Services or designee is responsible for

developing and establishing standards for giving appropriate notice and communicating these standards to Research Foundation operations managers or
designees at operating locations.
entering information regarding an employee's voluntary termination from employment into the computerized business system for those locations that are
not responsible for their own personnel/payroll input.

Form to Use

The Oracle Information Change Form is available in both PDF and Word formats following this path: Sponsored Program Management > Personnel Administration > Forms.

Change History

October 27, 2011 - Updated Providing Unemployment Information to Employees section
August 9, 2001 - Delete reference to "28-day benefit runoff." Add reference to "RF: Termed Employees with Benefit Information
Greater than Zero" report in Oracle.

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