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Employee Offboarding

Offboarding for employees occurs when an employee has formally signaled their intent to transition employment from Pepperdine University, whether due to resignation, retirement, or other reasons. While we’re certainly sad to see you go, our goal is to make this transition as seamless and simple as possible for you. 

This page outlines the necessary offboarding steps all employees should follow. For further clarity, specific instructions for faculty and staff are broken out below.

  Faculty
  1. Return of Pepperdine Property
    • Return any department and Pepperdine property on or before your last day. Items may include a University ID card or credit card, computer and technology equipment, office and department suite keys, etc.

      • Note: If you currently work remotely but are located within commutable distance of campus, you should coordinate the in-person return of your University property with your supervisor or another appointed member of your team. If you are unable to return University property in person, please inform your supervisor as soon as possible.

    • Before your last day, ensure all business correspondence and department-related documents have been fully transferred over to your supervisor. This list includes, but may not be limited to: Google Drives, Google Drive folders, Google Docs, and Google Sheets.
  2. Benefits
    • Understand the status of your benefits and how/when they will be discontinued, including health insurance and retirement plans, by reviewing the Benefits FAQs below.
  3. Payroll
    • Understand the status of your final pay, pay stubs, and tax forms by reviewing the Payroll considerations below before your last day.
  4. Other Considerations
    • If you are a current or previous Pepperdine student, please ensure all personal (non-business and department-related) data is transferred to an external storage device, as any data connected to your Pepperdine account may be moved or destroyed upon conclusion or your last day of work.
    • If you have a University credit card, please contact a credit card analyst to inquire about any outstanding reallocations or substantiation.
    • To initiate a refund of money deposited on your staff/faculty ID card, please complete a Waves Cash Reimbursement Request on IT’s Card Services site. Once you have submitted this request, you may then email cardservices2@pepperdine.edu or christine.hannick@pepperdine.edu for further assistance.
      • Note: Refunds may take up to three weeks to process and should be initiated as soon as possible. For amounts less than $20, IT kindly suggests you consider using these funds on campus prior to your last day.
  Staff
  1. Formal Intention
    • Within 30 days of your last day, submit a formal notice of resignation in writing to your supervisor. In the notice, your last day of employment should be clearly noted and must be a regularly scheduled work day. Your supervisor will then forward the notice to Human Resources.
  2. Knowledge Transfer
    • Provide detailed documentation to your supervisor of ongoing projects, key contacts, and job responsibilities.
    • Facilitate the transition of tasks by training or mentoring a colleague or successor.
  3. Return of Pepperdine Property
    • Return all company-owned devices (laptop, ID card, credit card, keys, etc.).
    • Ensure that any access to Pepperdine software, accounts, and systems is appropriately distributed to your supervisor or successor.
  4. Exit Interview
    • Participate in an exit interview with your supervisor and/or Human Resources to discuss your experiences and provide feedback.
  5. Final Pay and Benefits
    • Understand the status of your benefits and how/when they will be discontinued, including health insurance and retirement plans by reviewing the Benefits FAQs below.
  6. Employee Mailing Address Update

 

Benefits

As you prepare for your last day of employment with the University, Human Resources is glad to provide you with additional information regarding your current benefits and how they will be impacted as your employment with the University comes to an end. Below are answers to the most frequently asked questions, and we remain happy to assist you.

  Insurance
  • What happens to my insurance benefits after separation?
    • Medical, dental, vision, and voluntary insurance benefits remain in effect through the last day of the month in which you separate.
    • For example, if your last day of employment with Pepperdine is April 1, insurance benefits remain in effect through April 30. If your last day of employment with Pepperdine is July 31, insurance benefits are in effect through the end of the day on July 31.
  • What if I need an “End of Coverage” letter reflecting the day my Pepperdine benefits end?
    • Please email your request for an “End of Coverage” letter to benefits@pepperdine.edu. The request should include your full name on file with Pepperdine and the date of separation from Pepperdine.
  • What is COBRA and am I eligible to participate?
    • COBRA is a federally-protected benefit program that allows you to elect specific insurance coverage continuation for a finite period of time. If elected, you are responsible for paying the full monthly premium for each elected insurance plus a 2% administration fee. You will receive your COBRA Election Notice from Voya, Pepperdine’s COBRA administrator, in the USPS mail within three weeks of your separation date, and you will have 60 days from the date on the letter to elect COBRA coverage. Once elected and applicable premiums are paid, coverage retroactively begins on the first day you lost coverage through Pepperdine. The COBRA Election Notice will contain available coverage options, monthly premium amounts, instructions for enrolling, and information on setting up direct bill payment with Pepperdine’s administrator.
    • You may remain on COBRA continuation of benefits for 18 months or upon reaching age 65 (Medicare eligible age), whichever occurs first.
    • For assistance with COBRA enrollment or the content of your COBRA Election Notice, please contact Voya directly at (833) 232-4673.
  • I have a Health Savings Account (HSA). What happens to the funds in this account?
    • If you elected Pepperdine’s high deductible health plan and contributed to the HSA prior to separation, the funds are accessible to you indefinitely. Chard Snyder, Pepperdine’s HSA administrator, will send you an email, if a personal email address is on file, or a letter via USPS mail around the 15th of the month in which the HSA account will be transitioned from an employer-sponsored account to an individually held HSA. This correspondence will include important information including the issuance of a new Chard Snyder HSA debit card, monthly service fee for HSA account maintenance, and login details for online account access.
    • For questions on accessing your online account, account balance, debit card inquiries, and associated account fees, please contact Chard Snyder directly at (800) 982-7715 or AskPenny@wex.com.
  • I have a Health, Limited Purpose, and/or Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account (FSA). What happens to the funds in these accounts?
    • You have 90 days from your last day of employment to submit receipts of eligible expenses incurred in the current calendar year, up to your last day of employment, for reimbursement from these FSAs. Items purchased and services performed after your last day of employment are not eligible for reimbursement from these accounts. Any unused funds remaining in these accounts after 90 days will be forfeited.
    • Please note, IRS rules require unused and forfeited dependent care FSA funds to become taxable to you and will be reflected on your annual W2.
    • For questions on accessing your online account, account balance, debit card inquiries, and reimbursement status, please contact Chard Snyder directly at (800) 982-7715 or AskPenny@wex.com.
  • What happens to my life insurance policy?
    • Upon separation of employment, you may consider converting or porting the term life insurance plan offered by Pepperdine. Review UNUM’s brochure on these options and contact benefits@pepperdine.edu with your request for the employer form. Employees have 31 days from their separation date to submit the completed form to UNUM.
  Retirement
  • What happens to my Transamerica 403(b) retirement savings account and funds?
    • If your 403(b) retirement account has…
      • Less than $1,000 in contributions, you will be required to rollover funds into a personal IRA or other employer-sponsored retirement savings account within 90 days from your separation date. If no action is taken, Transamerica will issue a physical check for the account total and mail the check to the address on file.
      • Between $1,001 - $7,000 in contributions, you will be required to roll over funds into a personal IRA or other employer-sponsored retirement savings account within 90 days from your separation date. If no action is taken, Transamerica will convert your account from an employer-sponsored account to an Individual IRA.
      • $7,001 or more in contributions, you are not required to move the funds. However, you may choose to move funds by requesting a rollover after fully separating employment from the University.
    • A “rollover” is a transaction that moves all available funds to a personal IRA or other employer retirement savings account. You can complete this as early as two weeks after your separation date. Rollover forms are available in the Transamerica online portal, and representatives are available to assist you at (800) 755-5801.
  • What happens to my Transamerica 457(b) retirement savings account and funds?
    • Employees with funds in their 457(b) retirement account are required to submit their Future Distribution Election Form to Transamerica by April 1 of the year following their separation date. You can access this form through your Transamerica online portal. Representatives are available to assist you at (800) 755-5801.
  • I have a Retiree Health Account. What are my options for accessing funds?
    • If you have met the vesting schedule (see below) at the time of your separation, you will gain access to available funds in the BPAS Retiree Health Account after your separation date. Funds are available for eligible healthcare expenses, including Medicare premiums, through a reimbursement process or purchase using a BPAS Benefit Card. Funds cannot be transferred, rolled into an external account, or reinvested by an employee.
    • For questions on fund availability, Benefit Card use, online account inquiries, and reimbursement status, please contact BPAS Participant Services directly at (866) 401-5272.
    • Funds are vested once an employee reaches both age 55 and 10 years of continuous service or age 65 and 5 years of continuous service. Continuous service must be in an eligible position working at least 30 hours per week (0.75 FTE). If you have not met the vesting schedule criteria, University-contributed funds are forfeited at the time of separation.
  Tuition Remission
  • I am utilizing Pepperdine’s tuition remission benefit towards an undergraduate degree (for either myself or a dependent). What happens to this benefit once I separate from the University?
    • If you or your dependent are actively attending class(es) toward an undergraduate Pepperdine degree on the date of your separation and the add/drop deadline for the term has passed, the tuition remission benefit will remain in effect for the duration of the current term. This benefit is not available for future terms once you are no longer employed.
  • I am currently utilizing Pepperdine’s tuition remission benefit toward a graduate degree (for either myself or a dependent). What happens to this benefit once I separate from the University?
    • If you or your dependent are actively attending class(es) toward a graduate Pepperdine degree on the date of your separation and the add/drop deadline for the term has passed, the tuition remission benefit will remain in effect for the duration of the current term. This benefit is not available for future terms once you are no longer employed. All applicable taxes for this benefit will be assessed on the employee’s final check.
  Paid Leave
  • What happens to my vacation, sick, and floating holiday accruals when I separate from Pepperdine?
    • Accrued and unused vacation and floating holidays will be paid to you on your final paycheck. Accrued and unused sick leave is forfeited at the time of separation.

 

Payroll

  Paystubs
  • If you would like to access your past paystubs, please log into WaveNet’s “Employee Self Service” on or before your final day.
  Tax Forms