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Administrator Guide
Last Updated: 2026-06-12
FAQ: Terminations

FAQ: Terminations

What is the difference between terminating an employee and ending a contingent worker's contract?
The
Termination
 and
End Contingent Worker Contract
 business processes are similar, except for the steps related to benefits and compensation. The
Termination
 business process can include:
  • Change Benefit Elections
  • Create Change Benefits Event
  • Edit Service Dates
  • Request One-Time Payment
  • Review COBRA Eligibility
The
End Contingent Worker Contract
 business process only allows a
Create Change Order from Contract Contingent Worker
 step. You can customize these 2 business processes to meet the needs of different organizations.
What time of day does a termination take effect?
Terminations are effective at the end of the termination date, based on the time zone of the position location.
How do I handle organization assignments for terminated workers?
You have several options:
  • Keep terminated workers in their current, active organizations.
    • Pros:
       Role assignments and inheritance don't change.
    • Cons:
       Staffing reports include the terminated workers.
  • Move terminated workers into a separate organization specifically for terminated workers.
    • Pros:
       Role assignments require less maintenance and inheritance is available. However, if you inactivate the organization later, role inheritance remains available if you keep the organization in the hierarchy.
    • Cons:
       You can't restrict access to specific terminated workers. Anyone who has permission to access the organization can access all of the terminated workers. Also, the organization is available for selection in prompts even though it's not a valid choice.
  • Inactivate the organizations that terminated workers belong to. Inactive organizations remain in their respective hierarchies and inherited roles remain in the inactive organization. This behavior applies unless you explicitly select the
    Remove from Hierarchy
     option when inactivating an organization. The best way to ensure that you continue to have visibility into inactive organizations and to maintain role inheritance within them is to accept the default behavior (to keep inactive organizations within their associated hierarchies).
How can I prevent a terminated worker from accessing and submitting certain tasks in My Tasks?
For
Action
 and non-
Action
 step types, Workday recommends that you reassign tasks when the worker is no longer in their role. You can reassign their tasks by using the:
  • Auto-Manage Business Processes
     service step.
  • Manage Business Processes for Worker
     task.
For
Action
 steps only, Workday displays
Action no longer available
 when accessing the step in
My Tasks
. The worker might still be able to take action on other step types even though they no longer have the security permissions. Example:
To Do
 steps.
How do I enable terminated workers to access their personal, compensation, and benefits information in Workday?
Assign the terminated workers to the
Terminee as Self
 security group and add this group to the domains that control access to the tasks:
  • Landing Page - Home
  • Self-Service: Contact Information
  • Self-Service: Device Tokens
  • Self-Service: Add Worker Documents
  • Self-Service: Edit and Delete Worker Documents
  • Self-Service: Emergency Contacts
  • Self-Service: Government IDs
  • Self-Service: Home Contact Information
  • Self-Service: ID Information
  • Self-Service: Legal Name
  • Self-Service: Licenses
  • Self-Service: Name
  • Self-Service: Other IDs
  • Self-Service: Passports and Visas
  • Self-Service: Payroll (My Payslips)
  • Self-Service: Payroll (My Tax Documents) - USA
  • Self-Service: Personal Data
  • Self-Service: Personal Information
  • Self-Service: Work Contact Information
The primary domains are:
  • Self-Service: Benefits
     or
    Self Service: Benefits and Pay Hub
     to access benefits information.
  • Self-Service: Compensation
     to access compensation information.
  • Self-Service: Personal Information
     to access personal information.
How do I grant bonuses to terminated employees?
You can select the
Include Employees Terminated During Process Period
 check box on the
Initiate Compensation Review Process
 task. Workday includes terminated employees subject to the rules configured on the bonus plan.
Which domains provide access to terminated workers?
You must be in a security group that has permission on the
Worker Data: Public Worker Reports
 domain, which enables you to search for employees, and have permission on at least one of these additional domains:
  • Person Data: Birth Place
  • Person Data: Emergency Contacts
  • Person Data: Gender
  • Person Data: Home Contact Information
  • Person Data: ID Information
  • Person Data: Military Status
  • Person Data: Personal Information
  • Self-Service: Benefit Elections
  • Self-Service: Business Assets
  • Self-Service: Compensation
  • Self-Service: Credit Card
  • Self-Service: Current Staffing Information
  • Self-Service: Emergency Contacts
  • Self-Service: Home Contact Information
  • Self-Service: ID Information
  • Self-Service: Personal Information
  • Self-Service: Time Off
  • Worker Data: Benefit Elections
  • Worker Data: Business Assets
  • Worker Data: Compensation by Organization
  • Worker Data: Credit Card
  • Worker Data: Current Staffing Information
  • Worker Data: Leave of Absence
  • Worker Data: Time Off (Time Off Balances)
How can I view terminated workers in active organizations?
Inactive organizations automatically remain in any of their respective hierarchies and they maintain any inherited roles in the inactive organization. This behavior applies unless you explicitly select the
Remove from Hierarchy
 option when inactivating an organization. The best way to maintain visibility and role inheritance in inactive organizations is to accept the default behavior, keeping them within their associated hierarchies.
If you select the
Remove from Hierarchy
 option, then you must have a role in the inactive organization. You can assign all inherited roles directly when you inactivate an organization by selecting the
Keep All Role Assignments
 check box. If an organization isn't part of a hierarchy, you can assign a superior to add it back to a hierarchy so that role inheritance is available.
Which data sources return terminated workers?
Some of the most common data sources returning terminated workers include:
  • All Active and Terminated Workers
  • All Contingent Workers
  • All Terminated Employees
  • All Workers
  • Terminations
The
All Active and Terminated Workers
,
All Workers
, and
Terminations
 data sources return both employees and contingent workers.
A key difference between these data sources is how they handle effective-dated information. In reports that don't have an effective date:
  • The
    All Active and Terminated Workers
     data source returns data for terminated workers as of their last day of work. Use this data source to report on effective-dated position and compensation data.
  • The
    All Workers
     and
    All Contingent Workers
     data sources include rows for terminated workers, but return blank fields for effective-dated information. Use these data sources to report on other information that isn't effective-dated, such as personal information.
Refer to the data source descriptions in Workday for additional information. The descriptions specify if the data sources return terminated workers.
Why do reports display different addresses for terminated workers?
The address depends on the report data source that you use:
  • Reports using the
    All Active and Terminated Workers
     data source return the address that was effective as of the worker's termination date.
  • Reports using the
    All Workers
     data source return the terminated worker's address as of the report date.
Which email address does Workday use for terminated workers?
Once the termination process is complete, Workday sends email messages to the worker's primary home email address. If there's no primary home email for the terminated worker, Workday will use these emails for the worker in this order:
  • Work.
  • Home.
  • Business.
What if a performance review is in progress for a terminated worker?
Cancel the performance review:
  1. As a related action on the worker, select
    Talent
    View Employee Reviews
    .
  2. Locate the review in the
    In Progress
     table, then select
    Business Process
    Cancel
     from the related actions menu.
Can terminated employees receive payments through Workday Payroll?
Yes, if you configure the run category associated with the employee's pay group to process terminated employees who either:
  • Are on salary continuance.
  • Have payroll input.
  • Have a one-time payment or a bonus payment from Workday Compensation.
Can a nonpayroll administrator end ongoing payroll inputs for terminated workers?
Yes. Configure the
End Payroll Inputs
 business process on the
Termination
 business process.
Can a nonpayroll administrator terminate a worker and pay them on the day you terminate them or any other day?
Yes. Configure the
On Demand Event
 business process on the
Termination
 business process.
What if the employee has an active collective agreement assigned?
You can configure the
End Collective Agreement Assignment
 step on the
Termination
 business process. Doing so ends any active collective agreement assignments without an end date during the termination.
How can I prevent workers scheduled for involuntary termination from requesting time off or leave beyond their final work date?
You can consider:
  • Proactively preventing requests with an eligibility rule for Absence business processes if this meets your business requirements.
  • Automatically removing invalid requests after termination.
    You can add the
    Remove Invalid Time Off Entries After Termination
     service step to your
    Termination
     business process. This step should be placed after the
    Completion
     step. It will automatically correct or rescind any approved time off entries that are no longer valid due to the termination. You can also configure a condition rule on this service step to have it run only for specific termination types, such as involuntary terminations. See Steps: Remove Invalid Time Off Entries After Termination.