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• Retirement
• Position Abolishment/Layoff
• Terminating Employee Checklist
• Separation Benefits
• Returning University Property

With any type of appointment, termination may be initiated by:

• The appointee through resignation or retirement with reasonable notice;
• Mutual agreement of the appointee and the appointing authority for promotion, transfer, or voluntary disability leave; or
• The appointing authority.

If a continuing, unclassified, unrepresented employee's appointment is being terminated, they will be notified at least 90 calendar days prior to the termination date established in the notice. The appointing authority of the unclassified employee is the informing agent. In an instance where the appointment was issued for a specified term, no notice is required and the last day of that term will be the termination date of the employee's appointment. (Policy 3342-6-05)

If the employment of a classified, unrepresented person is not being continued, they will receive a letter of termination and will have an opportunity to appeal the decision to the State of Ohio Personnel Board of Review.

Employees who plan to resign or retire should prepare a letter of intent to retire or complete, sign and provide their supervisor with a Notice of Voluntary Resignation form, which may be found in the HR Forms Library (www.kent.edu/hr/forms-library). Upon receipt, the supervisor or designee should initiate the Notification of Voluntary Separation (NOVS) Workflow available in FlashLine under Employee/Workflows/HR & Employee Workflows/Notice of Separation.

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RETIREMENT

Planning for retirement is very important. Current state law, under the State Retirement System, gives a choice of retirement plans to full-time classified and unclassified employees and faculty; Ohio Public Employees Retirement Savings (OPERS), State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio (STRS) and the Alternative Retirement Plan (ARP). Tax deferred annuity accounts, available through payroll deduction, provide employees with the opportunity to set aside income on a pre-tax basis for additional retirement income. More information is online for OPERS at . Visit STRS at . 

Employees who meet the eligibility requirements for age and service retirement under the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS) or State Teachers Retirement System (STRS) should first contact their respective retirement system directly for instructions on the application process. 

Retiring employees should prepare a letter of intent to retire or complete, sign and provide their supervisor with a Notice of Voluntary Resignation form, which may be found in the HR Forms Library (www.kent.edu/hr/forms-library). Upon receipt, the supervisor or designee should initiate the Notification of Voluntary Separation (NOVS) Workflow available by selecting Employee / Workflows / HR & Employee Workflows from the main menu in FlashLine. For more information, contact  at 1-800-222-PERS (7377); For , call (888) 227-7877.

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POSITION ABOLISHMENT AND LAYOFF

A classified civil service employee may be laid off due to a temporary lack of work or lack of funds expected to last less than 12 months, or as a result of the abolishment of a position. A lack of work, for purposes of layoff, means a department has a current or projected temporary decrease in the workload which requires a reduction of current or projected staffing levels. A lack of funds means a department has a current or projected deficiency of funds to maintain current levels, or to sustain projected levels of staffing or operations. Abolishment is defined as the deletion of a position or positions from a department or the university for lack of continued need for the position or positions. An abolishment is expected to last more than 12 months.

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TERMINATING EMPLOYEE CHECKLIST

Upon termination, the supervisor should complete the Terminating Employee Checklist to assure that all university property has been surrendered and security accesses have been deleted. The Checklist can be found in the Resignation and Separation section of the HR Forms Library at www.kent.edu/hr/forms-library.  

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CONSIDERATIONS WHEN SEPARATING EMPLOYMENT 

Compensatory Time

All accrued compensatory time will be paid to an eligible employee upon termination of employment at the employee’s regular rate of pay at termination. (Policy 3342-6-07.9)  

Sick Leave

Resignation
An employee who transfers from one public agency to another, or who is reappointed or reinstated, or who transfers from one state department to another, may transfer the unused balance of accumulated sick leave, provided the time between separation and reappointment does not exceed 10 years.

Retirement
Upon retiring from active service with the university after 10 or more years of service with the state, an employee may elect to be paid for one-fourth of their accrued, but unused, sick leave, not to exceed 30 days. This payment will be based upon the employee's rate of pay at the time of retirement. Upon accepting such payment, all sick leave credit accrued up to that time will be eliminated. Such payment will be made no more than once to any employee. (Policy 3342-6-11.1)

Death of employee
If an employee dies while actively employed by the university, and had 10 or more years of state service, payment for one-fourth of the accrued, but unused, sick leave to the employee’s credit will be made, not to exceed 30 days. This payment will be based on the employee’s rate of pay at the time of death. The cash conversion of unused sick leave credit shall be paid in accordance with section 2113.04 of the ORC (release of decedents' wages without administration), or to the estate of the decedent. (Policy 3342-6-11.1)

Unused Vacation

Resignation, Retirement
Upon termination of employment, the employee will be paid for any earned, but unused, vacation leave to their credit at the time of separation, up to the maximum amount of vacation which may be earned in a three-year period. Such payment for unused vacation leave will be made in a lump sum. The employee will not be carried on the payroll for the purpose of liquidation of the vacation balance. (Policy 3342-6-11.7)

Death of employee
In case of death of an employee, unused earned vacation leave, up to a maximum of that amount of vacation which may be earned in a three-year period, will be paid in accordance with the provisions of section 2113.04 of the ORC. (Policy 3342-6-11.7)

Kent State Email

Upon voluntarily separating from Kent State, you will not retain any access to your kent.edu email unless you hold Emeritus or Alumni affiliation or are an active/current student (as defined by being admitted and eligible to enroll for classes). If you hold Emeritus, Alumni, or current/active student affiliation, you are entitled to retain email access. Otherwise, you will no longer have access to your kent.edu email after your last day of work. Should your department need to retain the mail flow for business continuity where email forwarding is requested, you will be issued a new User ID after your last day of work. Please provide your department with a personal email address for your new username to be communicated to you. If there is an ongoing business need, other access may be requested by your department. An Employee Email Access & Data request should be submitted prior to your last day of work. If you have any questions, please email Security and Access Management at AMGroup_DCO@kent.edu.

Upon involuntarily separating from Kent State, you will be issued a new User ID if you are an Alumni or current/active student (as defined by being admitted and eligible to register for classes), and will have access to a kent.edu email. If you do not hold either affiliation, you will be issued a new User ID to be able to log into FlashLine, but will not have access to email. Please provide a personal email for your new User ID to be communicated to you by HR.

Tax Forms

Your W2 and the 1095C - Employer Provided Health Insurance Tax Form will remain available electronically via FlashLine  after separation.  If you have not done so, you may consent to an electronic copy through FlashLine. Login to flashline.kent.edu and select:

• Employee
• Select “Top Employee Resources” and choose “Tax Forms”
• Choose “Electronic W-2 & 1095-C Consent”
• Check both boxes to elect to receive the W-2 and 1095-C electronically

EMPOYEE BENEFITS UPON SEPARATION/RETIREMENT

Medical, Dental and Vision Insurance

Employees who are not part of the AAUP Bargaining Unit: Healthcare benefits such as medical, dental, vision and prescription, will terminate at the end of the month in which you leave the university.  Your healthcare coverage may be continued in accordance with COBRA, which generally allows for coverage continuation for up to 18 months .

You will receive to your home address on file, information from our COBRA plan administrator, Chard-Snyder. COBRA rates can be viewed at .

AAUP Bargaining Unit members: For members of the AAUP Bargaining Unit who terminate for reasons other than retirement, healthcare benefits will generally terminate August 31 of the academic year in which you are leaving employment.  Medical, prescription, dental and vision coverage may be continued in accordance with COBRA, which generally allows for coverage continuation for up to 18 months.  You will receive to your home address on file, information from our COBRA plan administrator, Chard-Snyder. Cobra rates can be viewed at . Please review the Chard Snyder website at  or contact directly at  (888) 993-4646.

*You may want to also consider comparing your COBRA options with what is available through the government’s Health Insurance Marketplace. For information on the marketplace, visit healthcare.gov or call (800) 318-2596.

Life Insurance

Group Term Life Insurance ends at the end of the month in which you separate from Kent State. You will receive to your home address on file, information on your current life insurance policy(ies) and information on how you may convert to an individual policy through Securian Financial, Minnesota Life. For questions, you may contact Securian directly at (866) 365.2374 or by visiting  for details.

Healthcare and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)

Your account(s) will terminate as of the first of the month following your separation date. Your debit card will deactivate, but you are allotted 30 days following your separation date to incur expenses and submit claims via the web portal for reimbursement from PNC Bank. You may contact PNC at (844) 356-9993 for more information.

Health Savings Account (HSA)

Your HSA account through Kent State will terminate as of the 1^st of the month following your separation date.  At that time, you will have 30 days to convert your HSA into an individually owned account. If you do not convert your HSA to another account of your choosing, the Kent State sponsored account will convert to an individual commercial HSA subject to the commercial rate charged by PNC Bank.  For information on how you may convert your HSA account in an individual account and other options available to you, please contact PNC at (844) 356-9993

Retirement Plans

• Contact STRS directly at (800) 227-7877 or by visiting  regarding your options under separation from employer. 
• Contact OPERS directly at (888) 227-7877 or by visiting regarding your option under separation from employer.
• ARP (Alternative Retirement Plan) – If you contributed to the ARP, contact the vendor if you wish to make any transactions regarding your account.  The vendor contact list can be found in the Benefits Forms Library at /hr/benefits/benefits-forms.
• 403b and/or 457b – If you contributed to the supplemental retirement plans, contact the vendor if you wish to make any transaction regarding your account.  The vendor contact list can be found in the Benefits Forms Library at /hr/benefits/benefits-forms.

Tuition Waiver
Employees who are laid off, terminated or resign from their employment at the university will cease to be eligible for tuition benefits. Employees must have active service of not less than 30 days in the semester of their termination or reduction of hours becomes effective to be eligible for tuition waiver for the complete semester. Any periods of active service less than 30 days will either constitute removal from classes through university exit or payment of the full semester tuition. Persons in temporary layoff or furlough status from a seasonal position will continue to be eligible through their layoff or furlough periods. Refer to (Policy 3342-6-09.1) with regard to tuition benefits upon separating from the university.

Tax-Deferred Annuity (TDA)
Upon termination of employment, a participant may request a distribution of his/her account, which is 100 percent vested, although other options may be available. Please consult your TDA provider for complete guidance in requesting a distribution.

Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

Employees have access to all IMPACT Employee Assistance Program services and resources for up to 90-days after their separation from the university. You may view IMPACT login information at www.kent.edu/hr/wellness/employee-assistance-program-impact-solutions or simply call IMPACT at 1-800-227-6007.

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RETURNING UNIVERSITY PROPERTY

Upon terminating employment with the university, employees shall return all company property (keys, credit cards, books, equipment, passwords, etc.) to their immediate supervisor. Failure to do so may result in withholding of the employee’s earnings, vacation and/or sick leave conversion. The Terminating Employee Checklist (www.kent.edu/hr/forms-library) is available to aid this process.

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