SESAY / People, payroll & governance
Termination approvals: who checks what before final pay?
Build an exit workflow that separates employment decisions, payroll calculations and payment approval.
Published by SESAY · Updated 3 October 2026
Resources for HR leadersHR owns the authorised exit instruction
Record the termination date, reason, employment instrument, recognised service and approved entitlements. Payroll should not infer these from an informal message. Resolve legal or industrial-relations questions with the appropriate specialist before treating the calculation as final.
Payroll prepares a component workpaper
Separate outstanding wages, annual leave and relevant loading, long service leave, notice, redundancy or severance, and other amounts. Attach the rule or approved decision supporting each component. Check withholding, super and reporting treatment separately from gross arithmetic.
The reviewer challenges the assumptions
Compare balances to the ledger, rates to approved terms and weeks to the confirmed entitlement. Look for duplicate components, unapproved deductions, scheme benefits counted twice and incorrect effective dates. Reconcile the reviewed workpaper back to the actual payroll output.
Fictional escalation: two severance lines
A draft exit contains an industry fund benefit and an employer redundancy amount. The reviewer does not automatically add or offset them. HR or the authorised adviser confirms the governing instrument, who pays each component and any permitted offset. Payroll then revises the workpaper and obtains approval.
Approval is not the last control
The authorised approver signs off the final version before release. Record the payment deadline, release evidence, payslip and employee communication. Remove system access through the agreed offboarding process while preserving required records. SESAY can prepare workpapers and support review and escalation; final client approval remains with the authorised person.
Sources and practical tools
Fictional examples and general process guidance. Confirm applicable employment rules, facts and current official guidance before acting.
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