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Policy 1314
Transfer or Separation from Employment

Date of Current Revision:  February, 2013
Responsible Officer: Director of Human Resources
Secondary Officers: Assistant Vice President for Information Technology, Director of Payroll

1. PURPOSE

This policy protects the university's interests by establishing procedures for supervisors, Human Resources, Student Work Experience Center (SWEC), Information Technology, Payroll Services and other departments to use in ensuring that proper security is maintained when an employee transfers or is separated from university employment.

2. AUTHORITY

The JMU Board of Visitors has the authority to enact personnel policies for all university employees. Where the board has not exercised this authority, it is delegated to the president.

3. DEFINITIONS

Employee
Any person employed by JMU in any capacity

Separation
An action that results in the employee ceasing the employee/employer relationship with the university.

Transfer
An action that results in an employee of the university moving from one position to another, either voluntarily or involuntarily.

4. APPLICABILITY

This policy applies to full-time faculty and classified, adjunct faculty, part-time non-teaching and wage employees, student employees and Graduate Assistants.

5. POLICY

When an employee is no longer employed by the university, or moves from one position to another, action by the department from which the employee is transferring/separating must be taken to ensure that the transfer/separation process protects the university's rights, security and property. It is very difficult to retrieve property and information after an employee separates from the university. Therefore, supervisors are responsible for ensuring immediate compliance with this policy before the employee leaves the university.

6. PROCEDURES

6.1 Procedures for Supervisors of separating employees.

Submit a PAR form to Human Resources no later than three business days after the supervisor becomes aware of the employee's transfer/separation. Submit a PAR form to SWEC no later than three business days after the supervisor becomes aware of the student employee’s or GA's transfer/separation.

  • Collect university property including but not limited to electronic equipment, JACard, small purchase and travel card, keys, parking permit which must be returned to Parking Services, uniforms, etc. from the separating employee.
  • Notify the following departments:
  • Ensure that the separating employee's Central Systems access (e.g. Student, HR and/or Finance), network file storage access; Exchange distribution groups, resources, shared departmental mailboxes and calendar access and/or other systems access is terminated as required.
  • Academic unit heads shall obtain grade records for the preceding academic year from separating faculty members in accordance with Faculty Handbook section III.A.2.b.(15).

6.2 Procedures for supervisors in the department from which the transferring employee is leaving.

  • Retrieve university property associated with the transferring employee’s position including but not limited to electronic equipment, small purchase and travel card, keys, uniforms, etc. The transferring employee keeps his or her JACard and parking permit.
  • For classified employees, an Interim Performance Evaluation form should be completed prior to departure if, after six months into the performance cycle, an employee transfers, promotes or demotes into a new position with a different supervisor within an agency or between state agencies. The employee's new supervisor should consider this information in assessing the employee's performance at the end of the performance cycle. Reference JMU policy 1305 Performance Evaluation for Classified Staff, section 6.4.

6.3 Procedures for the supervisor of the department the employee is transferring into.

  • Submit a hiring PAR form to Human Resources when hiring an employee. Submit a hiring PAR form to SWEC when hiring a student employee or GA.
  • Disburse university property for the new position, such as electronic equipment, keys, uniforms, etc.
  • Notify the following departments:
  • Ensure that the transferring employee's Central Systems access (e.g. Student, HR and/or Finance), network file storage access; Exchange distribution groups, resources, shared departmental mailboxes and calendar access and/or other systems access is initiated as required.
  • The employee's new supervisor should consider information provided by the former supervisor on an Interim Performance Evaluation form when assessing the employee's performance at the end of the performance cycle. Reference JMU Policy 1305 Performance Evaluation for Classified Employees, section 6.4.

6.4 Procedures for Human Resources upon receipt of an employee’s separation PAR form.

  • Within three business days, forward the separation PAR form or a copy of it, to the Payroll Services.
  • Within three business days, email notification of the employee's separation to the following offices:
    • Accounting Services
    • Accounts Payable
    • Business Services (Computer Loan Program)
    • Card Services
    • Computing Support
    • Financial Services
    • IIS Security
    • Libraries & Educational Technologies
    • Lockshop
    • Mail Services
    • Parking Services
    • Procurement Services
    • Residence Life
    • Sponsored Programs
    • Technical Services
    • Telecommunications
    • University Advancement
    • University Business Office
  • Conduct the employee exit interview with those separating full-time, classified employees who volunteer to participate.
  • Send a Benefits Information for Exiting Employees memorandum to separating full-time employees. This memo includes information concerning the following:
    • A reminder that all university property shall be returned to the employee's supervisor before leaving the university;
    • Health insurance and COBRA information;
    • Life insurance, long-term disability and tax-deferred annuities.
  • Send the employee's supervisor a link to the Separating Employee Checklist to inform the supervisor of their responsibilities under this policy.

6.5 Procedures for Human Resources upon receipt of an employee’s transfer PAR form.

  • Human Resources will provide notification to the former supervisor and the new supervisor informing them of their responsibilities under this policy concerning transfers.

6.6 Procedures for SWEC upon receipt of a student employee’s or GA’s separation or transfer PAR.

  • Within three business days, forward the separation PAR form or a copy of it, to Payroll Services.

6.7 Procedures for departments receiving notification of separations or transfers

Departments, particularly those specified in 6.4 - 6.6, receiving separation or transfer notification are responsible for taking appropriate actions on or before the employee's separation or transfer date.

7. RESPONSIBILITIES

Supervisors have primary responsibility for adherence to this policy by closely and quickly overseeing the process of employee transfer or separation. Supervisors are responsible for ensuring that Human Resources or SWEC is notified of a separation no later than three business days after they first become aware of an employee transfer/separation. Supervisors are responsible for ensuring that Human Resources or SWEC receives the separation PAR form. Exceptions to this exist when the separation date was submitted at the time of hire, in other words – the employment agreement has a beginning and end date. Supervisors are also responsible for collecting university property from the employee being transferred/separated and performing additional notifications as specified in this policy for transfers.

Human Resources will distribute appropriate information within three business days after becoming aware of an employee transfer or separation; and, ensure the transfer or separation PAR form is expedited to Payroll Services. Human Resources will provide notification to the former supervisor and the new supervisor of a transferring employee to inform the supervisors of their responsibilities under this policy concerning transferring employees. Supervisors of student employees are required to complete the Separating Employee Checklist upon notification of the student’s separation date.

All departments that receive notification of an employee's transfer or separation are responsible for taking necessary actions on or before the employee's transfer or separation date.

Information Technology is responsible for ensuring, once notified, that the separating employee's access to all university technical accounts and data is ended in accordance with this policy.

Human Resources submits transfer/separationPAR forms for all transferring/departing employees to  Payroll Services to facilitate the timely distribution of termination pay.

8. SANCTIONS

Sanctions will be commensurate with the severity and/or frequency of the offense and may include termination of employment.

9. EXCLUSIONS

When there are less than three business days between a notification and the employee's transfer or separation date, or if a transfer or separation has occurred prior to the notification, the actions required in this policy shall be performed on the day notification is received, instead of the three day period normally allowed.

This policy does not apply to those part-time faculty members who are expected to return to the university. (Part-time faculty members are under separate separation procedures because of the unique nature of part-time faculty employment.) For instance, because the majority of part-time faculty members for whom separation PAR forms are submitted to Human Resources have already agreed to return to their part-time assignment the following semester, the system access will not be removed until 120 days following the separation date. This will allow employees in this role to retain email access, course web site, course Blackboard and other relevant systems.

Employees may retain access to some or all services because of their continuing status as a student.

The employee's access to the MyMadison and email systems will usually end 30 days after the date of separation. However, all access to university-wide systems may be terminated immediately when an employee is terminated for cause, or when it is otherwise deemed to be in the best interest of the institution to terminate an employee’s access. In this case, Human Resources or SWEC will contact Information Technology to inform them of the need for immediate termination.

10. INTERPRETATION

Authority to interpret this policy rests with the President but is generally delegated to the Director of Human Resources.

Previous version: July, 2012
Approved by the President: January 2009

Index Terms
Employee separation