Onboarding, resignations and exits
Updated 2026-11-07
What it is
Onboarding and exit is the part of PunchMe that walks a person in and out of your company. It covers:
- Checklists: joining and exit tasks for HR, the manager, IT and the employee, each with a due date.
- Pre-boarding: a one-time link that lets a new joiner send their details and documents before day one.
- Resignations: the employee resigns from the app, HR accepts it and fixes the last working day.
- Exit: exit checklist, asset return, relieving letters and full and final settlement in payroll.
Who uses it
| Task | Permission needed |
|---|---|
| See the Onboarding & exits page, tasks and resignations | employees.view |
| Tick tasks, start or recreate checklists, send pre-boarding links, accept or reject resignations | onboarding.manage |
| Edit the joining and exit checklist templates | settings.edit |
| Issue relieving and experience letters | letters.manage |
A manager who also has a dashboard login linked to their own employee record can tick Manager tasks for their direct reports, even without onboarding.manage.
Employees tick their own Employee tasks and submit their resignation in the app.
The HR, Office Manager and Office HR system roles all include onboarding.manage. See Roles and permissions.
Where to find it
- Onboarding & exits in the dashboard menu, with tabs Open tasks, Resignations and Checklists.
- One employee: Employees, open the person, Onboarding tab.
- Manager app: pending resignations show in the approvals queue.
- Employee app: Profile, Help & HR, then My tasks or Resignation.
Checklists
PunchMe ships with two default checklists.
Joining checklist, due dates counted from the joining date:
| Task | Owner | Due |
|---|---|---|
| Send offer and appointment letters | HR | 7 days before |
| Prepare laptop and email account | IT | 1 day before |
| Collect ID, address proof and bank details | HR | Joining day |
| Issue ID card and office access | IT | Joining day |
| Introduce the team and share the first-week plan | Manager | Joining day |
| Complete your profile and face check in the PunchMe app | Employee | 1 day after |
| Read the company policies | Employee | 3 days after |
| Probation review | Manager | 90 days after |
Exit checklist, due dates counted from the last working day:
| Task | Owner | Due |
|---|---|---|
| Hand over work and documents | Manager | 7 days before |
| Exit interview | HR | 2 days before |
| Return company assets | Employee | Last day |
| Revoke email and system access | IT | Last day |
| Process full & final settlement in payroll | HR | Last day |
| Issue relieving and experience letters | HR | Last day |
To change them, open the Checklists tab. Each task has a Task name, an Owner (HR, Manager, IT or Employee) and Due (days), where a negative number means before the anchor date. Click Save checklist. Up to 50 tasks per checklist.
Turning it on or off
There is no on/off setting. Checklists start on their own:
- Joining checklist: when you add an employee whose joining date is blank, in the future, or within the last 30 days. Older joiners get no checklist, because they are already working.
- Exit checklist: when you accept a resignation.
You can also start either checklist by hand from the employee's Onboarding tab with Start checklist.
Employees added by Import CSV follow the same rule as ones added one by one.
Tasks
The Open tasks tab lists every unfinished task for employees in your scope. Filter by checklist (Onboarding or Exit) and owner. Overdue due dates show in red.
Tick a task to mark it done. PunchMe records who did it and when. Untick to undo.
Employees see only tasks owned by Employee, under Profile, Help & HR, My tasks in the app.
Pre-boarding
Pre-boarding lets a new joiner fill in their own details before they start, so HR does not type them in.
- Add the employee with their personal or work email.
- Open their Onboarding tab and click Send link.
- Confirm or change the email, then Send link.
The joiner gets an email with a Fill in my details button. With no login, they can:
- Fill in personal, PAN/UAN and bank details.
- Upload up to 15 documents (ID, address proof, photo and so on).
When they submit, each filled section becomes a pending profile change, and each document a pending document. Approve them in Requests. See Employee profile.
The link works once and expires after 7 days. Sending a new link cancels the old one. Click Cancel link to stop it early.
Resignation flow
The employee resigns
In the app, the employee opens Profile, Help & HR, Resignation. They enter a reason and a requested last day, which cannot be in the past, and tap Submit.
Staff with onboarding.manage for that employee, plus the owner, get an in-app note and an email.
The employee can withdraw the resignation while it is pending. Only one resignation can be in progress at a time.
HR decides
Open Onboarding & exits, Resignations, or the employee's Onboarding tab.
- Reject: add a note. The employee sees it in the app.
- Accept: set the Final last working day (it defaults to the requested day) and an optional note.
When you accept, PunchMe:
- Saves the last working day on the employee record.
- Creates the exit checklist, with due dates counted from that day.
- Adds a Collect … task, owned by IT, for each company asset the employee still holds.
- Tells the employee their last working day by push and in-app note.
Last working day and exit
The Last working day drives payroll. In that month's run, PunchMe prorates salary up to that day and adds the full and final settlement. See Payroll.
After acceptance, the employee's Onboarding tab shows:
- Full & final in payroll (needs
payroll.view): opens payroll for that month. - Issue relieving letter and Issue experience letter (shown only with
letters.manage): generates the letter from your template of that type and emails it. See Letters. - Assets to collect: ticking the matching Collect … task marks the asset returned.
The day after the last working day (company time), PunchMe sets the employee's Status to Inactive, unbinds their phone and signs them out of the app. They still appear in that month's payroll for the full and final settlement. See Employee profile.
Changing it midway
- Editing a checklist template does not change tasks already created. Click Recreate on an employee's checklist to apply the new template. This deletes their open tasks and creates fresh ones. Done tasks are kept and are not added again.
- Changing the last working day on the Details tab updates payroll, but does not move the exit task due dates. Click Recreate on the exit checklist if you need new dates.
- A resignation cannot be undone after acceptance from the app or dashboard. Change the last working day by hand if plans change.
- Unticking a Collect task does not clear the asset's returned date. Edit the asset on the Assets tab.
Limits and edge cases
- Pre-boarding needs an email on the employee record, or one typed when sending.
- Pre-boarding links are rate limited to stop abuse.
- Manager tasks go to the person set as the employee's manager. If no manager is set, HR ticks them.
- The employee must have signed in to the app at least once to get push notifications.
Related
Common questions
Why didn't a new employee get a joining checklist?
Their joining date was more than 30 days ago. Open their Onboarding tab and click Start checklist.
Can an employee withdraw a resignation?
Yes, while it is still pending. Once HR accepts or rejects it, it can no longer be withdrawn.
Does accepting a resignation deactivate the employee?
No. It sets the last working day and starts the exit checklist. Set the employee to Inactive or Archive them after their last day.
How does full and final settlement get calculated?
The payroll run for the month of the last working day prorates salary and adds full and final. See Payroll.
The pre-boarding link expired. What now?
Click Send new link on the employee's Onboarding tab. Each link lasts 7 days and works once.