A Step-by-Step Guide to the Termination Process

This checklist provides an overview of the termination process from initial meetings to the final documentation.

1. Review the applicable termination process based on the employee’s personnel program or collective bargaining agreement.
2. Request meeting with ELR Analyst(s) to discuss the reason(s) for the proposed termination.
3. Gather and be ready to provide the documented information about the employee’s performance history including serious performance problems and/or significant misconduct. Extensive, detailed evidence to establish just cause for the termination will be needed. The documentation must be sufficient to sustain a challenge if a grievance/complaint is filed.
4. Ensure that your unit's leadership is informed and supports the termination action.
5. Draft the Notice of Intent to Terminate (NOIT) in consultation with your Labor Relations Analyst. This will include attaching your evidence, as listed in number 3 above. The supervisor is primarily responsible for drafting the initial notice and providing adequate documentation. You can use the applicable template below in the “Templates” section.
6. If the employee is MSP level or for high-risk or highly complex situations, the Labor Relations Analyst will engage Campus Counsel to review the NOIT.
7. Once the NOIT has been finalized, meet with the Labor Relations Analyst to plan how to deliver it. Review the meeting logistics and prepare talking points for yourself (the reason for the decision) and what the Labor Relations Analyst will communicate (employee rights, expectations, and next steps). Consult with your LR Analyst to see if a hard copy of the NOIT is needed for the union representative (when applicable).
8. Hold the meeting with the employee to deliver the NOIT. Use talking points to explain your decision to the employee. After this, allow the Labor Relations Analyst to take over to explain the Skelly process and the employee’s rights and responsibilities. Usually the employee is placed on administrative leave immediately and they are instructed not to perform work of any kind.
9. Inform stakeholders that the employee is on leave until further notice. Remember that the proposed action is confidential and should not be shared. During this period, access to email and campus systems are not normally revoked.
10. Allow time for the Skelly process and await the Skelly decision (approximately two weeks). The Labor Relations Analyst will be the point of contact with the employee.
11. Review the Skelly decision once available and review the next steps with the Labor Relations Analyst.
12. If the Skelly decision recommends moving forward with termination, work with the Labor Relations Analyst to prepare the final notice of termination (NOT).
13. Prepare for offboarding according to your departmental procedures. More information on this process is outlined below. As with all employee separations, the department is responsible for making arrangements to collect all University property.
14. Schedule the meeting to deliver the NOT to the employee in consultation with the Labor Relations Analyst. The employee’s final pay must coincide with the employee’s last day. UCPath typically requires 10 business days to process final pay.