Severance is not a legal entitlement in the United States unless a contract, a written policy, an ERISA plan or a state mini-WARN law creates one. The common convention is one to two weeks of pay per year of service, capped. Because it is discretionary, the terms are usually more negotiable than the amount — and the non-cash items are where most people leave value behind.
There is no legal entitlement
No federal law requires severance. Neither does any state law, with the notable exception of New Jersey, which mandates it based on years of service in covered mass layoffs.
What you are usually being offered is a contract: money in exchange for something the employer wants. Understanding what that something is changes the entire conversation.
What the employer is actually buying
A release of claims. That is the point of the payment, and it is the reason there is anything to negotiate at all.
If you had no possible claim, the release would be worth nothing and so would your leverage. The size of an offer frequently reflects how much the employer wants certainty rather than how long you worked there, and that distinction explains most of the variation people find inexplicable.
What is typical
Commonly one to two weeks per year of service, often with a floor of a few weeks and sometimes a cap. Senior roles frequently do better, and formal policies vary widely by employer and industry.
Treat any published benchmark as a rough orientation rather than an entitlement. What your employer paid the last three people in your situation is far more predictive, and colleagues who have been through it are usually willing to say.
The parts people forget are negotiable
The separation date. Moving it later can carry you past a vesting date, a bonus payment or a benefits threshold, and it sometimes costs the employer very little.
Continued health coverage, or the employer paying part of the premium for a period. This is frequently worth more than an extra week of pay and is often easier for them to agree.
Equity treatment — accelerated vesting, or a longer exercise window than the standard 90 days after termination.
The reference and the announcement. Agreed wording about your departure costs nothing and matters for months.
Non-compete and non-solicit terms, which are increasingly negotiable and occasionally unenforceable depending on your state.
Why the first offer is rarely final
Severance is usually delivered as though it were a policy. It is a proposal, and the person delivering it frequently has authority to adjust the non-cash terms even where the cash figure is fixed by a formula.
Asking is normal, expected in many organizations, and carries almost no risk — the offer is not typically withdrawn because you asked a question about it. Not asking is the more common mistake.
Where your leverage actually comes from
Anything that makes the release genuinely valuable to them: a plausible claim, membership of a protected group in a selection that looks patterned, knowledge of something sensitive, or simply being someone whose cooperation during a transition they need.
None of that requires threatening anything. It is enough that both sides understand what is being bought, and the conversation is more productive when it is calm and specific.
Take the time you are given
If you are 40 or over, federal law gives you at least 21 days to consider an agreement waiving age claims — 45 days in a group termination — plus 7 days to revoke after signing, and the revocation period cannot be waived.
Do not sign in the room. Nobody reasonable expects it, the deadline is longer than the meeting implies, and almost every regret in this area comes from signing quickly.
This is general information rather than legal advice. An employment lawyer will review a severance agreement quickly and often at no cost for the initial assessment.
How to ask, in practice
In writing, after the meeting, once. Thank them, say you are reviewing the agreement, and ask whether there is flexibility on two or three specific items — naming the items rather than asking for more generally.
Specific requests get answered; vague ones get declined. “Could the separation date move to the 15th so the equity vests” is a question somebody can say yes to. “Is this the best you can do” is a question that invites the word yes.
The one thing worth paying a lawyer for
A review before signing, especially where the agreement contains a non-compete, a broad non-disparagement clause, or terms about cooperation in future proceedings.
Most employment lawyers assess a severance agreement quickly and many do the initial look at no cost. Against an agreement that binds you for a year or more, that is the cheapest step in the whole process.
Common questions
Is severance required by law?
Not federally. Only a contract, a written policy, an ERISA plan or a state mini-WARN law creates an obligation.
What is the usual amount?
One to two weeks of pay per year of service, often with a floor and a cap. It is convention rather than entitlement.
What am I being paid for?
The release of claims. That is the reason a discretionary payment exists, and it is what gives you something to negotiate with.
What is most negotiable?
The non-cash items — continued health coverage, the termination date, how the separation is described, outplacement and unused leave.
Why won't they change the formula?
In a group layoff, consistency protects the employer legally. Individual variation is easier outside the formula.
Am I entitled to severance?
Not under federal law, and not under state law except New Jersey, which mandates it by years of service in covered mass layoffs. It is a contract, not an entitlement.
What is the employer paying for?
A release of claims. That is why there is anything to negotiate, and why offer sizes reflect the employer's desire for certainty as much as your tenure.
What besides money is negotiable?
The separation date, continued health coverage, equity treatment and the exercise window, agreed reference wording, and non-compete terms.