By Liz Swedock
Most at-will employees who have been recently terminated are given a œSeparation or œSeverance offer from their (now) former employer, in the form of a contract (or packet). This post is intended to give you a few pointers of what to look out for in such agreements.
Remember “ this is not legal advice for the individual! This is just a general guide for common issues we encounter. If you have any specific questions about your own separation contract, please call us!
1. THINK OF YOUR SEPARATION/SEVERANCE OFFER AS A NEGOTIATION.
Most employees are not entitled to severance. There is no such thing as legally required œtwo weeks pay or anything like that. However, most of the time employers offer terminated employees severance anyway.
Why do they do this? Because they want you to sign a legal release, which is a contractual agreement that you are waiving any rights or grounds you might have to bring a lawsuit against your employer. Your separation/severance packet is this legal release.
So, what does this mean? It means they are offering you something because they want you to sign that release. This is a tit-for-tat. Don’t be afraid to ask for more before you sign.
2. REVIEW WHAT YOU ARE BEING OFFERED “ USUALLY MONEY.
As noted, often at-will employees are not legally entitled to a specific amount of severance from their employer. The first element you should think about, before you sign, is whether they are offering you enough in exchange for what they want from you “ that legal release.
There might also be other components in your separation/ severance offer, such as continuation of health care or other benefits, or stock vesting. Start by reviewing your agreement carefully to see what they are offering you.
3. CONFIRM THAT YOU ARE BEING OFFERED EVERYTHING YOU ARE ENTITLED TO.
Review your employee handbook and any other documents you signed at any point during your employment, whether when you first started or while you worked there.
You are always entitled to be paid out for any accrued sick time, vacation time, or any other form of PTO your company offers. You are also entitled to any earned wages, typically referred to as your œlast paycheck. You must be paid for all this time by your next usual pay period.
Review your documents to confirm whether there are any contractual or established policies regarding termination, separation, or severance. For example, your employer might be required to provide you with a notice period before they can terminate you. This might be days, weeks, or months. A notice period could be detailed in your individual employment documents, or in your company’s general documents, such as the employee handbook.
4. ASK FOR A COPY OF YOUR PERSONNEL FILE “ YOU ARE LEGALLY ENTITLED TO IT.
All you need to do is send an email. It could be to HR or your own supervisor. Your personnel file will contain all of the documents you signed with your employer, so this can be particularly useful when you have been employed for a while and can’t remember if you kept copies of everything.
5. CONFIRM WHETHER YOU HAVE AN ERISA GROUP BENEFITS PLAN WHICH COULD INCLUDE SEVERANCE BENEFITS.
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) is a federal law that sets minimum standards for most voluntarily established retirement and health plans in private industry. Sometimes employers also utilize ERISA plans for severance benefits.
If you are unsure, ask your employer and there is also a free website where you can search for your company name “ https://freeerisa.benefitspro.com . You have to make an account, but it is actually free.
6. CONSIDER WHETHER YOU MIGHT HAVE ANY LEGAL CLAIMS AGAINST YOUR EMPLOYER.
If you have a valid legal claim against your employer, this is a huge source of leverage as you negotiate your separation/ severance offer.
Remember, (most of the time) this is a pretty simple exchange. They are offering you something (usually money) in exchange for your agreement to drop any potential legal claims you might have, even if you don’t have any. This boils down to mean that they are potentially offering you free money in exchange for nothing if you have no legal claims. Employers do this simply for peace of mind (and sometimes for reputational reasons in the industry).
If you do have a legal claim, that can be a game-changer in a separation negotiation. At that point, you have to consider the elements on a scale “ the value of your legal claim on one side, against the value of the legal release your employer wants, on the other side. Bottom line, it means your company might be willing to offer you much more separation/ severance pay in exchange for you signing the legal release.
If you think you might have a claim, we encourage you to call us to discuss.
7. REQUEST TO BE RELEASED FROM ANY NON-COMPETE, NON-SOLICIT, OR OTHER RESTRICTIVE COVENANTS (IF ANY APPLY TO YOU).
If you are subject to any type of non-compete, non-solicit, or other restrictive covenants, now is the time to request to be released. Remember “ these are simply contractual agreements, and your employer can agree to release you at any time. Even if your employer is not legally required to release you, they are often willing to discuss the option, and/or might agree to reduce the restrictiveness of such covenants. This is part of the negotiation.
Even if such covenants are not spelled out in your separation/ severance offer “ they might still apply to you if your separation/ severance offer œincorporates by reference a prior contract. Sometimes, if an employee signed a non-compete while they were employed, the separation/ severance offer might say something like œEmployee agrees that Employee’s Employment Agreement is expressly incorporated by reference into this Agreement as if set forth fully herein. This means that every single restriction in your employment agreement still applies to you, even after you sign the new separation/ severance offer. Be aware.
8. REVIEW NON-DISPARAGEMENT PROVISIONS AND ASK THAT THEY LIKEWISE PROTECT YOU.
Many separation/ severance offers contain non-disparagement clauses, which will say something along the lines of œemployee agrees not to make any statements which disparage the company or are in any way harmful to the reputation of the company. These provisions are very broad and much more broad than the legal definitions of defamation or slander. A single angry comment on Facebook, for example, could be a violation of this provision. If you sign an agreement that contains this, be aware that you should avoid any negative commentary about your former employer, including online.
Likewise, you can ask for the same protection for yourself “ that the employer commits not to make any disparaging, damaging, or negative statements about you in the future. Again, don’t be afraid to negotiate.
9. CONTROL YOUR FUTURE REFERENCE.
Similar to non-disparagement, you also have the option to ask for language which will control what your now former employer can say about you when you need future potential employers to call them for a reference. The exact language is up to you, but we often request a provision that will only allow the employer to confirm your dates of employment, and position or title held. You can agree or not agree to allow the former employer to give out your salary information.
10. ARBITRATION CLAUSES.
Many separation/severance offers include a clause which states that any dispute under the agreement must be brought in arbitration. Like the rest of the provisions, it is ultimately up to you what you are willing to sign, but we typically encourage clients to fight against these provisions. It can be counter-intuitive, but if a dispute arises, our experience has demonstrated that employees can often have much more leverage without arbitration restrictions.
For more information about this article, please contact our employment attorneys in Connecticut and New York, Carey & Associates, P.C. call 203-255-4150.
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