When to Rekey Your Business After an Employee Leaves

Most business owners think about rekeying after a break-in. Far fewer think about it after an employee leaves — even though a departing staff member with an unreturned key is a much more common exposure than a burglary.

Why an employee departure is different from a tenant turnover

With a residential tenant turnover, you know exactly who had the keys and when they moved out. An employee departure is murkier: staff copy keys for coworkers, keep a spare in a car or at home, or simply never return the one they were issued. If the exit wasn’t friendly, that ambiguity matters more, not less.

Situations that call for a rekey, not just a new key

• A manager, keyholder, or anyone with alarm-disarm responsibility leaves
• An employee is terminated rather than resigning voluntarily
• Keys were shared informally and you can no longer account for every copy
• You’re moving from a paper key log to a documented, single-vendor system

A new key alone doesn’t retire the old ones — every previously cut key still opens the door. Rekeying changes the pins so old keys stop working entirely, without replacing the hardware itself.

What we actually do on a commercial rekey visit

We pull the existing cylinders, re-pin them to a new key combination, and cut the new keys on site — usually without replacing the lock hardware, which keeps the cost down and the visit quick. For businesses with several entry points (front door, rear/loading entrance, office suites, storage), we rekey all of them to a single new key or a keyed-alike set so you’re not juggling separate keys per door.

If you want tiered access — managers get a master, staff get a key that doesn’t open the office or safe — we can set that up as part of the same visit rather than a separate project.

Documentation for your records

We provide an invoice noting the work performed and the date, useful for your own records or if your insurance or landlord ever asks what security steps were taken after a staff change.

Coverage

We handle commercial rekeys across Philadelphia, South Jersey, and Wilmington, dispatched from our Philadelphia and Camden offices, 8 AM–8 PM. If you’re not sure whether your situation calls for a full rekey or just a new key cut, call your local office and describe the setup — we’ll tell you honestly which one you need.