Exit management in event management companies

Fixed-term contracts at season end

Seasonal coordinators on fixed-term contracts leave on their contract's end date, with no resignation needed. Plan it: confirm the date a month ahead, tell them whether you would like them back next season, and run the same clearance and settlement as for any exit. Fixed-term staff get gratuity pro rata without the five-year minimum, so include it in the settlement where the contract and the rules make it due.

Resignations close to live events

Set notice periods that protect the event calendar: thirty days in probation, and thirty to sixty days after confirmation, with longer notice for event managers who own large accounts. When a coordinator resigns, list every live event they are working on, with dates, and decide who takes each one. The last working day may be agreed around a big event, but only with the employee's consent, and the agreement should be in writing.

Handover of events, vendors and clients

An event lives in a coordinator's head and phone. Ask for a written handover for each live event: the client's brief and changes, vendor contacts and payment status, the latest run sheet, and anything promised to the client that is not written down. Introduce the successor to the client on a call before the last day.

• Written handover for every live event
• Vendor contacts, quotes and payment status
• Latest run sheets and client change notes
• Successor introduced to each client
• Laptop, phone, SIM and access cards returned
• Removal from event WhatsApp groups

Comp-off, advances and the settlement

Two items are special in event exits. Unused comp-off: decide in the policy whether it lapses at exit or is paid out through a payroll input, and apply the rule evenly. Unsettled event cash: accounts must close it against bills before the last day, and any unaccounted amount is recovered only within the rules on deductions from wages. Then run the full and final settlement: salary to date, leave encashment as per policy, pending incentives and overtime, less recoveries, paid inside the two working days the wage payment rules allow.

How to set it up in ZeniaHR

1. When someone resigns, record it in their profile so the last working day and on-notice status are set; for fixed-term staff, diarise contract end dates a month ahead.
2. In the Work terms policy, set notice days for probation and for confirmed staff, and lengthen them by grade for event managers.
3. Use the 8-item exit checklist for event handover, vendor contacts, devices and settlement of event cash.
4. Choose the closest structured exit reason, one of 20, and never file a contract end as a resignation.
5. Put pending incentives, overtime, any payable comp-off and recoveries into payroll inputs, and pay the dues in an off-cycle run.
6. Keep a list of seasonal staff to invite back, and file relieving letters in their documents.

Read more about employee records and exits in ZeniaHR.

Roles this applies to

Frequently asked questions