Separation of Employment

SEPARATION OF EMPLOYMENT

• Retirement
• Position Abolishment/Layoff
• Terminating Employee Checklist
• Separation Benefits
• Returning University Property
  

With any type of appointment, termination may be initiated by:

• The appointee through resignation or retirement with reasonable notice;
• Mutual agreement of the appointee and the appointing authority for promotion, transfer, or voluntary disability leave; or
• The appointing authority.

If a continuing, unclassified, unrepresented employee's appointment is being terminated, they will be notified at least 90 calendar days prior to the termination date established in the notice. The appointing authority of the unclassified employee is the informing agent. In an instance where the appointment was issued for a specified term, no notice is required and the last day of that term will be the termination date of the employee's appointment. (Policy 3342-6-05)

If the employment of a classified, unrepresented person is not being continued, they will receive a letter of termination and will have an opportunity to appeal the decision to the State of Ohio Personnel Board of Review.

Employees who plan to resign or retire should prepare a letter of intent to retire or complete, sign and provide their supervisor with a Notice of Voluntary Resignation form, which may be found in the HR Forms Library (www.kent.edu/hr/forms). Upon receipt, the supervisor or designee should initiate the Notification of Voluntary Separation (NOVS) Workflow available in the MyAction Items tab in FlashLine.

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RETIREMENT


FOR MORE
INFORMATION

OPERS
1-800-222-PERS (7377)
STRS
1-888-227-7877

Employees who meet the eligibility requirements for age and service retirement under the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS) or State Teachers Retirement System (STRS) should first contact their respective retirement system directly for instructions on the application process and then the Benefits office for retiree discount programs. 

Retiring employees should prepare a letter of intent to retire or complete, sign and provide their supervisor with a Notice of Voluntary Resignation form, which may be found in the HR Forms Library (www.kent.edu/hr/forms). Upon receipt, the supervisor or designee should initiate the Notification of Voluntary Separation (NOVS) Workflow, available in the MyAction Items tab in FlashLine.

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POSITION ABOLISHMENT AND LAYOFF

A classified civil service employee may be laid off due to a temporary lack of work or lack of funds expected to last less than 12 months, or as a result of the abolishment of a position. A lack of work, for purposes of layoff, means a department has a current or projected temporary decrease in the workload which requires a reduction of current or projected staffing levels. A lack of funds means a department has a current or projected deficiency of funds to maintain current levels, or to sustain projected levels of staffing or operations. Abolishment is defined as the deletion of a position or positions from a department or the university for lack of continued need for the position or positions. An abolishment is expected to last more than 12 months.

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TERMINATING EMPLOYEE CHECKLIST

Upon termination, the supervisor should complete the Terminating Employee Checklist to assure that all university property has been surrendered and security accesses have been deleted.  The Checklist can be found in the Resignation and Separation section of the HR Forms Library at www.kent.edu/hr/forms.  

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IMPACT OF SEPARATION OF EMPLOYMENT ON BENEFITS 

Compensatory Time
All accrued compensatory time will be paid to an eligible employee upon termination of employment at the employee’s regular rate of pay at termination. (Policy 3342-6-07.9)  

Sick Leave

Resignation
An employee who transfers from one public agency to another, or who is reappointed or reinstated, or who transfers from one state department to another, may transfer the unused balance of accumulated sick leave, provided the time between separation and reappointment does not exceed 10 years.

Retirement
Upon retiring from active service with the university after 10 or more years of service with the state, an employee may elect to be paid for one-fourth of their accrued, but unused, sick leave, not to exceed 30 days. This payment will be based upon the employee's rate of pay at the time of retirement. Upon accepting such payment, all sick leave credit accrued up to that time will be eliminated. Such payment will be made no more than once to any employee. (Policy 3342-6-11.1)

Death
If an employee dies while actively employed by the university, and had 10 or more years of state service, payment for one-fourth of the accrued, but unused, sick leave to the employee’s credit will be made, not to exceed 30 days. This payment will be based on the employee’s rate of pay at the time of death. The cash conversion of unused sick leave credit shall be paid in accordance with section 2113.04 of the ORC (release of decedents' wages without administration), or to the estate of the decedent. (Policy 3342-6-11.1)

Medical, Dental and Vision Insurance
All medical, dental and vision benefits will terminate at the end of the month in which employment ends. COBRA is a federal law that enables eligible individuals to continue the current medical, dental and vision coverage that was available from the employer after eligibility for the employer-sponsored plan has ended. Contact the Benefits Office (330-672-2901) prior to your last day at work. (Refer to the Benefits Chapter, Leave of Information Section for additional information on COBRA.)

Individuals who elect this continued coverage are required to pay the entire premium for coverage up to 102 percent of the plan cost (established by the insurance company) directly to the insurance company.

This coverage may continue for up to 18 months for employees or up to 36 months for dependents and is available for terminating employees, divorcing spouses, or children who reach age 25 while still covered. Information about how to purchase COBRA benefits will be sent to an employee when there is a termination of employment.

Life Insurance
Individuals may convert their employer and employee paid life insurance to a personal whole life policy. For more information, see the Booklet for Standard Life Insurance available under Life Insurance in the Benefits Forms and Information Section of the HR Forms Library.

Retirement Plans

FOR MORE
INFORMATION

OPERS
1-800-222-PERS (7377)
STRS
1-888-227-7877

Employees who are members of OPERS or STRS may request a withdrawal of their contributions 90 days after all public employment ends.

An ARP (Alternative Retirement Plan) participant may request a rollover of their account, or the provider may distribute the entire vested account to the participant (an ARP participant’s entire account balance is 100 percent vested). Please contact your ARP provider for complete guidance in requesting a distribution or rollover.

Vacation

Resignation, Retirement
Upon termination of employment, the employee will be paid for any earned, but unused, vacation leave to their credit at the time of separation, up to the maximum amount of vacation which may be earned in a three-year period. Such payment for unused vacation leave will be made in a lump sum. The employee will not be carried on the payroll for the purpose of liquidation of the vacation balance. (Policy 3342-6-11.7)

Death
In case of death of an employee, unused earned vacation leave, up to a maximum of that amount of vacation which may be earned in a three-year period, will be paid in accordance with the provisions of section 2113.04 of the ORC. (Policy 3342-6-11.7)

Tuition Waiver
Employees who are laid off, terminated or resign from their employment at the university will cease to be eligible for tuition benefits. Employees must have active service of not less than 30 days in the semester of their termination or reduction of hours becomes effective to be eligible for tuition waiver for the complete semester. Any periods of active service less than 30 days will either constitute removal from classes through university exit or payment of the full semester tuition. Persons in temporary layoff or furlough status from a seasonal position will continue to be eligible through their layoff or furlough periods.

Tuition benefits will be continued for spouses or children of employees who die while actively employed full-time at the university as long as the employee has at least 18 months of continuous service and was eligible for a survival benefit, or an employee who is retired on disability from OPERS or STRS. (Policy 3342-6-09.1)

Tax-Deferred Annuity (TDA)
Upon termination of employment, a participant may request a distribution of his/her account, which is 100 percent vested, although other options may be available. Please consult your TDA provider for complete guidance in requesting a distribution.

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RETURNING UNIVERSITY PROPERTY

Upon terminating employment with the university, employees shall return all company property (keys, credit cards, books, equipment, passwords, etc.) to their immediate supervisor. Failure to do so may result in withholding of the employee’s earnings, vacation and/or sick leave conversion. The Terminating Employee Checklist (www.kent.edu/hr/forms) is available to aid this process.

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