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The weeks between handing in your notice and your last day tend to fill up with handover meetings and goodbyes, and the paperwork that follows you to the next job gets left to the final afternoon. That is when it goes wrong: a P45 that never arrives, a handover that exists only in your head, a box of personal belongings packed in ten minutes. This checklist spreads the tasks across the notice period. Use the notice period calculator first to find your last day, so you know how many weeks you have.
Start with the dates
Notice usually runs from the start of the day after you hand it in, and you must give at least a week's notice if you have been in the job for more than a month. Your contract may require longer. GOV.UK suggests giving notice in writing if you may need to rely on it later, for example at an employment tribunal. A dated letter or email, kept with your own records, settles any later disagreement about when your notice began and when it ends.
If your employer puts you on garden leave, you remain employed and must be paid as usual, and you will not have a normal last day in the office. That makes it more important to do the tasks below early, while you still have access to colleagues and systems. Our article on garden leave explains the arrangement.
Week one: ask the questions that take time
Some answers depend on other people, so ask for them first.
- When will you get your P45? GOV.UK says to ask your employer about this when you hand in your notice. It shows your leaving date, your pay and tax from 6 April to that date, and your tax code.
- What happens to your holiday? Check how much you have accrued and whether you will be asked to take it during notice. Our holiday during notice guide covers how it works.
- What will your final pay include? Ask when your last payslip is due and what it will cover, so you can compare it with your own working.
- Who needs to sign off your handover? Agree what is expected and by when.
Weeks two and three: write the handover
A handover note is the most useful thing you can leave, and also the one most likely to be skipped. Write it as you go rather than in your last hour.
- Regular tasks. What you do daily, weekly and monthly, with deadlines and who depends on the output.
- Live work. Each open job or project, where it stands, the next step and the people involved.
- Where things are. Shared folders, logins that should be handed to your manager, supplier details and contact names.
- Quirks. The things you know that are not written anywhere, such as which client prefers a call to an email.
Keep it plain and specific. A colleague who has never done your job should be able to use it on their first morning.
Hand over passwords and access through your employer's normal route. Do not take copies of client data, internal documents or contact lists with you. Those belong to your employer, and your contract will say what you may keep.
Collecting your own records
Some paperwork is yours and worth having before your access ends. If your employer has an online payroll or HR system, download your payslips and your contract or written statement while you can still log in, and note any pension or benefit scheme details and member numbers you may need later.
HMRC holds a record too. You can view and download your pay and tax details for the last five tax years through your personal tax account or the HMRC app, which is a useful cross-check against your P45.
Your last day
Do these on or just before the day itself.
- Collect your P45 if it is ready. If it is on paper, you give Parts 2 and 3 to your new employer and keep Part 1a. If you are not working straight away and claim taxable benefits, it goes to Jobcentre Plus instead.
- Return company property. Laptop, phone, badge, keys, uniform and anything else issued to you, and ask for a note that you handed it back.
- Check your final pay date against what you were told in week one.
- Say goodbye in writing to the colleagues and clients you will want to stay in touch with, using your personal contact details rather than a work email you are about to lose.
If you do not get a P45, ask your employer for it. GOV.UK says that if you lose it, or you say it never arrived, you cannot get a replacement. Your new employer will use a starter checklist instead, which gives them what they need to set your tax code.
Practical kit
None of this needs much equipment, but a few cheap things keep a tidy handover and a calm last day.
Ad A hardback A5 notebook is a good place to keep the handover list as it grows, and it stays with you after you leave. Printing your records and filing them keeps them safe if an online account closes, and Ad a lever arch file with dividers keeps payslips, your contract and your leaving letter together. For the loose papers that arrive at the end, such as the P45, a final payslip and pension letters, Ad a zip document wallet stops them being lost in a bag.
Clearing a desk takes less time if the belongings are sorted as you go. Ad A collapsible storage box with a lid holds a mug, a plant and a few books, and folds flat afterwards. Ad A set of self-adhesive labels helps you mark what belongs to you, in a shared office where similar items collect. If you are leaving a role with a lot of physical files, Ad a pack of A4 archive boxes lets you pass them over in order.
If there is a gap before the next job
Your P45 goes to Jobcentre Plus if you are not working and claim taxable benefits, and to your new employer when you start. Keep the final payslip and any letter about notice pay or holiday pay with it, so you can answer a question about your leaving date or final pay without chasing your old employer.
Check the figures on the final payslip against what you expected. If the notice or holiday pay looks short, our guide to payment in lieu of notice explains what you are owed and how it is taxed.