If they are a quota bearing rep then what benefit will you get out of them for a few more days? They likely won’t be incentivized to sell, and often you’ll have to continue to pay a base salary — so you might just want to let them go immediately.

If it’s an administrative roll, I’m sure there are daily activities that may be worthwhile documenting so future hires can ramp quickly. In this instance, you may consider that a few days is better than nothing and ask them to complete certain steps before they leave.

I know it’s difficult, but you may want to look at your company culture and ask yourself if employees trust management enough to open up before they start looking for other opportunities. Might help you retain key employees and not get hurt by attrition. All in all, you were well within your right, but that doesn’t mean it was right. It’s a tricky situation.