Exit management in construction and real estate

Notice periods tied to the project stage

Thirty days in probation and sixty to ninety days after confirmation are common for engineers and project managers, because a replacement takes time to find and needs overlap on site. Sales executives often serve thirty days. When a resignation is recorded, the last working day is set and the employee moves to on notice. If the project manager wants a different release date, agree it with the employee in writing; holding someone beyond the agreed notice without consent only creates a dispute.

Handover at site: records, stores and keys

A departing engineer carries knowledge that exists nowhere else: pending checks, contractor commitments, and where the drawings and measurement records are. Ask for a written handover to the successor or the project manager covering open activities, pending quality checks and contractor bill status. The store keeper clears tools, PPE and any material issued in the engineer's name, and admin collects the site phone and SIM, laptop, ID card and site office keys. Each item is ticked off on the exit checklist.

• Written handover of open activities and checks
• Drawings, measurement records and site registers returned
• Tools, PPE and issued material cleared by stores
• Laptop, phone, SIM, ID card and keys returned
• Incentive and advance position confirmed by accounts

Settling sales incentives and advances

Sales exits need one extra rule: what happens to incentives on bookings that register after the executive leaves. Write it in the incentive policy, for example paying for agreements registered within 60 days of the last working day and nothing after. Recover any outstanding salary advance through the settlement, within the limits on deductions from wages. Then compute the full and final settlement: salary to the last day, leave encashment and any pending incentive, paid within two working days of the exit as the wage payment rules require.

Project-end exits and the next site

When a project hands over and no new site is ready nearby, some engineers leave and some fixed-term contracts end. Treat these differently from resignations. A fixed-term engagement ends on its date, with gratuity paid pro rata. If a permanent employee with at least one year of continuous service is retrenched because no site is available, the rules require one month's written notice with reasons or wages in lieu, and compensation of 15 days' average pay per completed year. Record the exit reason accurately, and keep a rehire list so the next project's first calls go to people who already know your standards.

How to set it up in ZeniaHR

1. Record each resignation in the employee record, which sets the last working day and moves the employee to on notice.
2. Set notice days in probation and after confirmation in the Work terms policy, with per-grade overrides for project managers.
3. Use the 8-item exit checklist for handover, stores, assets and accounts clearance, and choose the matching exit reason from the 20 structured reasons.
4. Add pending incentives, advance recoveries and adjustments as payroll inputs, and run an off-cycle payroll for the full and final settlement.
5. Pay the settlement within two working days of the exit, and file the relieving and experience letters in the employee's documents.
6. Review exits and their reasons each quarter, project by project, to spot sites where engineers leave faster than elsewhere.

Read more about employee records and exits in ZeniaHR.

Roles this applies to

Frequently asked questions