Exit management for pharmaceutical companies

Notice periods and key roles

Notice comes from the appointment letter, often one month for operators and MRs and two to three months for managers and heads. For licence-named technical staff and QA leaders, use the full notice for handover and tell regulatory affairs the day the resignation arrives. Buying out the notice of a QC head in the middle of an audit cycle rarely saves anything once the handover gaps surface.

Handover in the plant

Data integrity rules mean a leaver's system access must end on the last working day. An analyst's login left active after exit is an audit finding waiting to happen, and so is a logbook with no named custodian. Work through the plant handover list during the notice period, not in the final afternoon.

• Open deviations, change controls and CAPAs reassigned
• Controlled documents and logbooks handed to a named custodian
• Trainer responsibilities moved to another qualified person
• Lab notebooks closed and instrument access removed
• Controlled area access cards deactivated
• Personal login IDs on lab systems disabled

Clearing an MR's exit

An MR's clearance is mostly physical. Unused samples are counted and returned or reconciled, detailing aids come back, and any tablet or phone is returned with company data cleared. The area manager takes over the doctor list and plans a joint visit with the replacement. Pending claims and incentives are worked out up to the last working day so the final payslip has no surprises.

Settlement, gratuity and rehiring

When an employee leaves for any reason, wages are due within two working days. The settlement covers salary to the last day, leave encashment, pending incentives and approved claims, and gratuity after five years of continuous service at 15 days' wages for each completed year on the last drawn wages. With the common 26-day divisor, a QC analyst with 6 completed years and last drawn wages of ₹39,000 gets ₹39,000 x 15 / 26 x 6, which is ₹1,35,000. Pharma professionals often return after a stint elsewhere, so a clean exit keeps that door open.

How to set it up in ZeniaHR

1. Record the resignation in Employees so the last working day is set and the employee moves to on notice.
2. Start offboarding with the 8-item exit checklist and choose the matching one of the 20 structured exit reasons.
3. For licence-named staff, inform regulatory affairs the day the resignation is recorded and plan document handover across the notice.
4. Add final incentives and approved claims as payroll inputs, with leave encashment as an earning.
5. Pay the leaver through an off-cycle run whose paid days stop at the exit date, released within two working days.
6. Check gratuity in the gratuity and settlement reports, and review exit reasons by department every quarter.

Read more about employee records and exits in ZeniaHR.

Roles this applies to

Frequently asked questions