I Have Been Asked to Sign a Severance Agreement, What Should I Review in that Document? You should review everything if you receive a severance agreement, and you should not assume that it is just “boilerplate” language that is the same in every severance agreement. It is important to understand
I Have Been Asked to Sign a Severance Agreement, Can I Negotiate? Yes—while there will likely be limits on the scope of what you can accomplish, some of the terms that employees can often negotiate are the amount of money paid, the scope of a non-competition and/or a non-solicitation agreement
How Do I Negotiate My Severance Agreement? You have just been terminated from your job. Your employer gives you a bunch of paperwork to review and sign. Though not required if you are terminated from a job, your employer also offers you severance pay and an accompanying agreement to sign.
Because Your Employer Used a Lawyer Your employer probably had a lawyer prepare the severance agreement offered to you, so you are likely at a disadvantage if you simply sign without really examining the document. Your severance was written by and for your employer – not you! When you hire
A growing trend in severance agreements – which we hate – is an “alternative employment” or “mitigation” clause. These clauses reduce the severance an employee receives if the employee gets another job while their severance is being paid out. ALTERNATIVE EMPLOYMENT/MITIGATION IN SEVERANCE AGREEMENTS – ARE THESE ENFORCEABLE? Probably. So
No Future Employment Clauses in Severance Agreements Explained The “no future employment” clause is a pretty standard clause that people get needlessly bent out of shape about. Here’s the deal – employers are not required to rehire former employees. Employers certainly may rehire former employees, but they do not have
Superseding Clause / Entire Agreement This often-overlooked clause can actually be quite important. The “superseding” or “entire agreement” clause means that the agreement, as written, is the final word on the subject matter of the agreement (which usually, though not always, means the entire employment relationship). This can be especially
A waiver clause is standard in severance agreements. This clause means that if the employer is not strict about enforcing the contract in one particular regard, this failure to enforce the agreement does not constitute a waiver of any part of the agreement. For example, if an agreement has a
On its face, the “Return of Company Property” clause is pretty simply – give the company its stuff back. For physical items (laptop, phone, documents, equipment, etc.), this should be simple. The only advice we provide to our clients with respect to returning physical items is to have the employer
Explain My Severance – Part 11: What Happens if I Miss the 21-Day Deadline in My Severance Agreement? If you have recently received a severance agreement, chances are it has a 21-day deadline by which to sign, or the agreement is no longer valid. So what happens if you miss
