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Severance Agreement Review by a California Employment Lawyer
A written review in a few business days, with a free rush option when your deadline is tight. An attorney reads the whole agreement, tells you in plain language what you are giving up, and checks whether you have a claim worth more than the offer.
Send us the packet before you sign. Secure and confidential.
†Past results do not guarantee outcomes. See our Privacy & Terms page for more.
Do Not Sign yet. Here Is What Your Deadline Really Means
The deadline printed on page one is rarely as tight as it feels.
If you are 40 or older, the federal ADEA and OWBPA give you 21 days to consider an individual severance offer, 45 days in a group termination, plus 7 days to revoke after you sign.
A group offer also has to include a disclosure of the job titles and ages of everyone selected and not selected in the decisional unit. That attachment is age discrimination evidence, and we read it that way.
Under Government Code section 12964.5, a separation agreement that releases claims must tell you that you have the right to consult an attorney and must give you at least five business days to consider it.
If you are under 40 and not releasing age claims, the contract deadline controls. Nothing stops you from asking for more time.
What a Severance Review Includes
| Tier | What you get |
|---|---|
| 1. Severance review | An attorney reads the full agreement and your intake questionnaire. You get a plain-language written summary of what you are giving up and what you get, a red-flag list, and a 30-minute call. |
| 2. Review plus negotiation strategy | Everything in Tier 1, plus proposed redlines, a counteroffer number with the reasoning behind it, and a script for negotiating it yourself. |
| 3. Attorney-led negotiation | Everything in Tier 2, and we negotiate directly with your employer or its counsel, up to two rounds. |
Every tier includes the free claim check. The fee is fixed, and we quote it once we have read your agreement, because what a review takes depends on what is in it. No hourly billing. If we take your case on contingency after the review, meaning no fee unless we win, the review fee is credited against any recovery, subject to the written fee agreement.
No Fees Unless We Win
Always on the Employees’ Side
Free Confidential Consultation
Always AvailableThe Free Claim Check Inside Every Review
Before you release your claims, we check whether you have any worth keeping. We screen for:
- Discrimination in the layoff selection on age, pregnancy, disability, or leave status.
- Retaliation timing against any complaint or protected activity.
- Unpaid wages.
- Unused vacation payout under Labor Code section 227.3.
- Waiting time penalties under Labor Code section 203, up to 30 days of your daily wage.
- WARN notice shortfalls. See Cal-WARN and layoffs.
Honest framing: most severance packages are signable after small fixes. When they are not, you will know before you sign away a six-figure claim.
What California Law Says Your Severance Cannot Do
It Cannot Buy Your Silence About Unlawful Acts
SB 331, the Silenced No More Act, requires nondisparagement and confidentiality clauses to carry a carve-out preserving your right to discuss unlawful workplace conduct. Missing carve-out language is a red flag we fix.
It Cannot Bar Protected Testimony
Labor Code section 1670.11 voids any provision that would stop you from testifying about criminal conduct or sexual harassment in an official proceeding.
It Cannot Condition Ordinary Pay on Releasing FEHA Claims
Government Code section 12964.5 bars an employer from requiring a release of claims under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), the state’s main workplace discrimination law, in exchange for a raise, a bonus, or continued employment. Negotiated separation agreements sit under different rules, which is exactly what the review sorts out.
It Cannot Waive What the Law Makes Unwaivable
That includes earned wages already owed, since Labor Code section 206.5 makes such releases void, plus unemployment benefits, workers’ compensation claims without agency approval, and your right to file with or cooperate with the Civil Rights Department, the EEOC, or the Labor Commissioner, the state and federal agencies that handle discrimination and wage complaints.
It Cannot Enforce a Non-Compete
Non-competes are void under Business and Professions Code section 16600, and SB 699 with AB 1076 added penalties and employer notice duties.
Waiting Time Penalty Calculator
A severance offer does not cancel wages you were already owed. If the final check was late or short, that penalty runs separately from anything the agreement says.
Red Flags We See Every Week
- A Civil Code section 1542 waiver of unknown claims, with no meaningful payment for it.
- Clawback clauses tying severance to vague “cooperation” or future conduct.
- Overbroad confidentiality reaching your own salary history or working conditions.
- A release drafted to cover claims that surface after signing.
- “Consideration” that is mostly money already owed. Final wages and accrued vacation are not severance.
- Arbitration clauses for future disputes smuggled into the release.
How Much Severance Is Normal, and Can I Get More?
Illustrative market anchors, and labeled illustrative for a reason: one to two weeks of pay per year of service is a common opening in corporate layoffs, and executives and long-tenure employees often see more.
Your leverage comes from OWBPA disclosure problems, protected-activity timing, WARN shortfalls, unpaid-wage exposure, and the employer’s own need for a clean release before a financing or an acquisition.
How It Works
1
Upload
Send your agreement and complete a 10-minute questionnaire covering employer, dates, headcount, and what you were told. Secure upload, up to 50MB, PDF or photos.
2
Review
We run a conflict check, then the attorney review begins. You get a written summary in a few business days, with a free rush option when your deadline is tight.
3
Your Call
Sign, negotiate with our script, or send us in. If we find a contingency claim, we tell you before you sign anything.
Deadlines
The severance clock and the lawsuit clock run separately. Signing away your claims early is the one deadline mistake you cannot fix, revocation windows aside.
Key dates: the 21 and 45-day OWBPA windows, the 7-day revocation, the five-business-day minimum under Government Code 12964.5, and the underlying claim deadlines. FEHA runs 3 years to file with the Civil Rights Department, and tort claims 2 years.
What to Do Right Now
- Do not sign or verbally accept anything today.
- Calendar your consideration deadline, and the 7-day revocation window if you already signed.
- Gather the whole packet: offer letter, release, OWBPA disclosure list, benefits summary, and equity paperwork.
- List what you are owed regardless of any release: final wages, accrued vacation, and expense reimbursements under Labor Code section 2802.
- Then send the packet for review.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I Sign My Severance Agreement Right Away?
No. Those consideration windows exist for a reason, and the offer is rarely as final as it is presented.
Can Severance Be Negotiated?
Yes. Employers expect counters more than employees assume, and Tiers 2 and 3 are built for exactly this.
Will Asking for a Review Make My Employer Pull the Offer?
Rare in practice. Retaliating against you for consulting counsel creates its own problems for the employer.
Does Severance Affect My Unemployment Benefits?
Severance does not disqualify you from EDD benefits. Only the timing of wage reporting may shift.
I already signed. Is it too late?
If you are 40 or over with an age release, you have a 7-day OWBPA revocation window, and defective releases can be challengeable. Send it in anyway.
Is Severance Taxed?
Yes, as wages with withholding. Specific structuring questions go to a tax professional.
What If You Find a Legal Claim in My Agreement Review?
We explain it and you choose. The review costs you nothing either way, and if we take the case it is on contingency.
Employment Law Resources
- Government Code 12964.5, separation agreement rules and the right to consult counsel: leginfo
- Business and Professions Code 16600, non-competes void, plus SB 699 and AB 1076: leginfo
- Labor Code 203 waiting time penalties and 227.3 vacation payout: leginfo
- U.S. EEOC, understanding severance agreement waivers under the OWBPA: eeoc.gov
- California EDD, severance pay and unemployment benefits: edd.ca.gov
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