Extract from Barry Schwartz’s “Exiting Employee Checklist: Legal Hold Edition.”
Many savvy employers (and their HR or IT departments) already wield an exiting employee checklist of sorts when preparing for an employee’s departure and handling sensitive company data in that employee’s hands. With the recent eruption of remote work, massive layoffs, and crippling unemployment induced by COVID-19, a comprehensive exiting employee checklist is a must for businesses, particularly if the employees resigning or being terminated happen to be on legal hold.
Nearly 60 million Americans have filed for unemployment in the past six months. Even before COVID, organizations saw an average turnover rate of 18% (source: Society for Human Resource Management) and the average employee tenure at most organizations is around 4 years, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. This degree of turnover underlines the need for organizations to be proactive about meeting legal obligations and protecting their sensitive data when team members leave the company. Compiling a comprehensive exiting employee checklist is the most reliable way to prepare for a wide range of possible scenarios.
