Companies may need to offboard an Oyster Team Member for any number of reasons. In this article, you'll find what you need to know about managing the end of an engagement with an Oyster team member.
Please note that due to country-specific laws regarding the end of working relationships, you are required to contact Oyster Support when considering terminating an engagement or when an Oyster team member notifies you that they are planning to resign. You may initiate an offboarding process on the Oyster Platform.
Notice Period
When a customer engagement ends, Oyster will usually need to terminate the employment of the team member who was providing services to that customer. A notice period is the amount of time an employee or employer has to give before the termination of an employment contract. The notice period is determined by the local law, any applicable collective bargaining agreement, and the employment contract.
When does Oyster need to be informed?
When submitting an offboarding request, we require at least 48 hours notice to verify and confirm the compliant process with our local in-country experts. This allows us to review each case with them and flag any issues.
Once we have done this, we will work with you to begin the process. An end-to-end onboarding process can vary timeline-wise, but we will work with you throughout the process so it is clear what the next steps will be and an approximate timeline. Please note that timelines can often change if there are additional requirements, risks or considerations. We will be transparent with you during the process should these issues arise.
When requesting an offboarding, please be mindful of the payroll cut-off date for the specific country your team member is based in. In case the cut-off date has already passed, it’s unlikely we will be able to accommodate your requested offboarding date in the requested month. You can read more about cut-off dates in this article. The Oyster Support team will be able to provide you with additional assistance.
Please also be reminded that, as per our Service Agreement and Terms and Conditions, 30 days' notice is required to terminate an Oyster engagement. Hence, please note that Oyster may not be able to commit to the requested timeline. Please also wait for Oyster's guidance before communicating with the team member directly about your plans to offboard.
How much notice is needed?
It’s best to check the employment contract to find out how much notice is needed. If you are unsure about the notice period, please contact Oyster Support so the team can confirm the details.
Who delivers the notice?
Please know that the legal employer (Oyster or its designated employer of record) will always need to receive or deliver the notice when an employee is offboarded. Countries may also have certain rules on how the notice of termination needs to be communicated (e.g. through a signed letter). That is why informing Oyster when you wish to start an offboarding process is important.
Please remember that if your company is considering terminating a contract with a team member, please wait for Oyster's guidance on the correct offboarding process before speaking with the team member directly.
Probationary Period
A probationary period can be broadly defined as a trial period for newly engaged workers. It is usually a fixed period of time at the beginning of the working relationship, during which time the new employee may not be eligible for some benefits of employment, such as annual leave. The length or requirements of a probationary period may be limited or prescribed by local law or collective bargaining agreements.
Most significantly, employees on probation may have a shorter notice period during the probationary period.
Why is it important?
Probation periods are important as they help you, the Team Member and Oyster evaluate if all parties feel there is a good fit. Oftentimes, during probation, the parties can act more quickly if the engagement is not working out.
The Oyster Platform provides automated notifications to remind you about the end of each team member’s probationary period.
Resignations
A team member may inform you about their wish to leave their job. In case this happens, it's important that they provide notice to the legal employer in their country (employer listed in the employment contract). In resignation situations, the Notice Period in the employment contract applies.
Termination by the employer
In many countries, employers must provide significant notice or pay in lieu of notice when involuntarily terminating employment. Severance pay, the payment of accrued but unused annual leave, or other forms of financial remuneration may also be owed. In most countries, it is only in extremely rare cases, for the most serious kinds of misconduct, when an employer may involuntarily terminate employment without notice and without severance.
If you would like to terminate an engagement with an Oyster team member due to poor performance, misconduct, or simply business need, it is important that you contact Oyster as soon as possible so that we may discuss how to appropriately end the engagement and, potentially, Oyster’s employment of the team member in a way that is compliant with the employment agreement and applicable law.
Moving a Team Member to another entity
To terminate a Team Member’s employment with Oyster in order to move them to another entity, we will require a notice of resignation letter from the team member. The letter should:
- Addressed to Oyster or their local employer of record
- Dated with the date it was submitted to Oyster
- Clearly state the team member’s final date of employment with Oyster, as per the notice period outlined in their employment agreement.
Please note that we must receive the resignation letters in time, and there may be local requirements (like wet ink signatures), so please ensure timely submission to Oyster following the above guidelines.
Without the resignation letter, we are unable to start the offboarding process.
At the moment, resignation is the only way to move a team member to another entity. We won’t be able to offboard Team Members via a transfer process, commonly known as a Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) or “TUPE”.
With respect to holidays (e.g., PTO, vacation days, etc.), please note that when a Team Member resigns, we are generally required by country regulations to pay out all accrued but unused holidays. We will base the computation on platform time-off entries. If you have any additional data about PTO taken, please let us know when submitting the offboarding request.
