Employee Termination Checklist

Many states (CA, NY, MA among them) prohibit deducting the value of unreturned property from a final paycheck without specific written authorization. Document the missing items and consult HR or counsel before adjusting wages — improper deductions are a frequent wage-and-hour complaint source.

In Toast, Square, Aloha, or whichever POS is in use, set the employee to inactive rather than deleting — historical sales, voids, and comps must remain attributable for audit. Disable card swipe, PIN, and manager override before the next shift starts.

Revoke logins for 7shifts, Homebase, HotSchedules, Toast Payroll, Gusto, or whichever scheduling and payroll tools are in use. Verify the employee is removed from all published shift templates so they don't auto-populate next week's schedule.

For managers and chefs only — Sysco, US Foods, PFG, Restaurant Depot, MarginEdge, R365, BlueCart. Anyone with order-placement authority needs portal access revoked the same day to prevent post-separation orders billed to the restaurant.

For performance or misconduct separations, attach prior written warnings, no-call/no-show logs, and any signed acknowledgments. Gaps in the paper trail are the most common reason unemployment claims and wrongful-termination suits go against the operator.

Pull the next two weeks of published shifts in 7shifts or Homebase and reassign each one. For BOH, confirm station coverage (sauté, grill, garde manger, expo) is intact for every service; for FOW, rebalance sections so no server is carrying more than their station max.

Keep the announcement brief and factual — name, last day, who is covering. Do not discuss reasons. Rumors filling the gap are worse for morale than the departure itself.

Final-pay timing varies sharply by state. CA requires immediate payment on involuntary termination; MA requires same-day for involuntary; many states allow next regular payday. Missing the deadline triggers waiting-time penalties — in CA that's up to 30 days of wages.

Several states require a written notice at separation: CA DE 2320 (For Your Benefit), NY LS 740 / IA 12.3 record of employment, NJ BC-10, MA Form 0590-A. Hand the correct form to the employee or include with the final pay envelope.

Federal COBRA applies at 20+ employees; smaller operators fall under state mini-COBRA (varies). The plan administrator must send the election notice within 14 days of the qualifying event. Confirm the carrier or TPA has been notified so the clock starts.

If the departing employee was the certified food protection manager (ServSafe, Learn2Serve) or the allergen-aware manager (PCFP, AllerTrain) on file with the health department, identify the replacement before the next shift. Many jurisdictions cite immediately if no certified manager is present during service.

State workforce agency typically sends the employer notice within 1–2 weeks of the claim filing. Response window is short — often 10 days. Late or missing responses default to the claimant's account; chronic non-response raises the SUTA rate.