This article explains how clients who have enabled Deel HR can initiate terminations or resignations for HR direct employees, EOR employees, and independent contractors.
If the clients wish to terminate a Global Payroll employee, please see: How To Begin The Termination Process And Offboard A Global Payroll Direct Employee
The process of termination, commonly referred to as "offboarding", is different depending on the employment type.
Also, the EOR offboarding timeline will differ if it is a voluntary resignation or involuntary termination.
Before Beginning:
Please review our article on Mutual Termination Agreements, which is a common practice that enables an employer to terminate an employee while minimizing the risk of litigation.
If clients are terminating an EOR employee, please see Frequently Asked Questions About Terminating Employees
In This Article:
How to Terminate a Employee Contract
Timeline for Terminating an Employee Contract
How to Terminate an HR Direct Employee
✅ Step 1 – Select the employee to be terminated
Select the People Icon, and from the All People tab click on the employee who you want to terminate.
From that employee's profile overview page, select the three-dot action menu and click Schedule termination.
Clients must choose whether the offboarding is an employee resignation or a termination.
We won’t communicate with the employee until the termination details are finalized.
Please do not notify the employee until we have confirmed the termination request details.
✅ Step 2 – End the worker’s contract or profile in a way that fits your business needs
Select one of the available options:
End Contract Only – Ends the contract but keeps the worker’s profile active. The worker remains visible in the org chart and People list.
Terminate Worker and Contract – Ends both the contract and removes the worker completely from the organization.
Change Worker Type – Transitions the worker to a new worker type (e.g., contractor → employee). Deel will guide you through this process.
✅ Step 3 - Add termination details
Add termination details
Enter the following information:
- Last Day of Work – The final day the employee actively performs duties. Access is removed on this date.
- Time Zone.
- Termination Impact.
- Eligibility for Rehire.
Tip: If unsure about the last day of work, check with Deel Payroll or Legal for compliance requirements.
✅ Step 4 - Transfer responsibilities
After scheduling the termination, review the Responsibility Transfer step.
If the worker manages other employees, reassign their direct reports to ensure workflows continue without disruption.
Choose one of the following options:
Assign a new direct manager.
Assign a transition lead temporarily.
Reassign each direct report individually.
Then click Continue.
⚠️ Note: Reassigning responsibilities immediately prevents issues with time off approvals, expense approvals, and other workflows.
✅ Step 5 - Complete contract ending process
You can now finalize the termination so both the profile and contract are correctly closed.
On the confirmation screen, click Initiate Contract Ending. (This step is mandatory if you chose to terminate both profile and contract.)
Review the Last Day of Work and contract end date.
Contract End Date: The final legal day of employment. The employee will be paid through this date, even if they are no longer working.
Please note that Deel may adjust the requested contract end date after reviewing local labor laws.
You can now complete the contract termination form:
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Enter final payroll details such as
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Time-Off Balance Payout
Deel automatically syncs balances if Deel Time Off is enabled.
Clients can skip at this stage and update balances later during final payroll.
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Additional Offboarding Payments
Cash Value: Enter a custom severance amount, in addition to statutory severance.
Time Value: Add severance based on days, weeks, or months.
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Post-Termination Payouts
Click Add under Post-termination Payout to schedule recurring or one-time payments after the contract ends.
Payments can later be edited or deleted under the worker’s agreement page.
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Termination Letter
Clients may upload a termination letter, if required.
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✅ Step 6 – Review and submit the termination request
Deel will review the request details and the desired contract end date.
We may adjust the requested contract end date after an internal review of local labor laws.
When the termination request is confirmed, the client will see a banner on the employee's contract summary page.
Termination Timeline for Employees
FAQs
[ACCORDION] Can a scheduled termination be cancelled?
Yes, once a termination has been scheduled it will be visible to the organization manager.
The org manager can cancel a termination request
[ACCORDION] How can the client stop the employee's access to the Google Workspace account?
If the organization has the Google Workspace integration enabled, an org manager can select when they want the terminated employee's access to Google Workspace to end
[ACCORDION] The client contacted the EOR employee I plan on terminating before Deel confirmed the request. What do I do?
Due to compliance reasons, please cease any further formal communication with the employee concerning their termination.
Please elaborate on the communication to the employee, and how the employee reacted.
[ACCORDION]How can the client view the Employee Offboarding status?
Clients can view the offboarding status of employees by clicking on the People icon on the homepage, selecting the Tracker tab, and then clicking the Offboarding tab.