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Facing a job separation is stressful, and the last thing you want is to sign away your rights or leave money on the table. If you’ve been presented with an employment contract or severance agreement, trust the lawyers at Zeff Law Firm to ensure the terms are fair and that you maximize your financial returns.
The initial severance offer is rarely your employer’s best and final offer. Employers rely on you being stressed and rushed. Our lawyers provide a meticulous and timely review of your entire severance agreement. We identify every clause that impacts your finances and your future career, ensuring you understand your legal standing before we move to negotiation. Our goal is simple: to secure the most beneficial separation terms possible.
A severance agreement is a legally binding contract that impacts your finances, career, and rights. Our lawyers perform a deep dive into the agreement, with a focus on ensuring the terms are most favorable to you. Below are some of the key components our lawyers critically analyze and negotiate.
We analyze the proposed cash amount against industry standards, your tenure, and your potential legal claims to argue for an increased settlement. We also advise on whether a lump sum or salary continuation payment structure is best for your personal financial situation.
We clarify the costs and duration of your health coverage options. We negotiate for the employer to subsidize or extend your benefits to protect your family’s healthcare during the transition.
For executives and employees with significant compensation, we scrutinize the treatment of all vested and unvested equity. We ensure clear terms for your stock options, RSUs, commissions, and outstanding bonuses are included and favorable to you.
We work to secure a mutually agreeable reference that future employers can rely on. We also ensure favorable non-disparagement terms are included to prevent your former employer from negatively affecting your professional reputation.
We review the scope, geography, and duration of these terms, seeking to narrow or eliminate them entirely so you can pursue new employment without undue restrictions.
Don’t let the pressure to sign quickly cost you thousands in lost compensation or damage your future career prospects. Your severance agreement is a final transaction that requires careful, expert scrutiny. By retaining Zeff Law Firm, you gain a powerful advocate dedicated to fighting for a maximum-value exit package that protects your rights and secures your financial future.
While an individual is allowed to represent their legal interests in severance negotiations, it is generally inadvisable to do so. Severance agreements can be difficult to understand unless you have a legal background, and many employees are unaware of their legal rights and what they may be entitled to when their employment is ending, or giving up by signing a severance agreement. It is not uncommon for workers to be let go for illegitimate reasons, and then offered severance in order to ensure that the worker cannot sue for wrongful termination. A lawyer can assist in maximizing leverage in severance negotiations and ensuring the non-financial terms of your severance agreement are fair and adequately protect your rights.
Severance agreements typically include a waiver of all of the employee’s claims against the employer. This typically includes waiving rights to pursue legal claims against the employer for wrongful termination, harassment experienced at the workplace, or many other claims. Those claims can be valuable, often worth far more than an employer’s original severance offer. The best way to determine the strength of any wrongful termination claims and the impact it could have on negotiating severance is to consult an attorney. Zeff Law Firm’s attorneys are well-versed in identifying and valuating claims against a former employer and leveraging them into higher severance amounts.
Severance is paid in a lump sum or over time (such as continuing salary). Employees should consider many factors when determining whether to seek a lump sum or payment over time. With a lump sum payment, the entire severance payment is paid in a large one-time payment. This type of payment usually allows the worker to qualify for unemployment benefits sooner and decreases the odds of an employer becoming unable to pay, but may result in a lower payment, especially for smaller employers that may not have significant cash available to pay. However, severance pay is still income (typically wages), and is taxable. A lump sum payment may have more money withheld for taxes.
Employers often offer severance to employees who are laid off, especially if the lay off is part of a larger reduction in force. Employees in this position can negotiate severance, and often have great leverage to negotiate increased severance amounts and limit restrictive covenants and other unfavorable terms.
Employers often pressure employees to sign severance agreements quickly. Employees who are 40 years old or older are entitled to at least 21 days, and sometimes as many as 45 days, to consider severance agreements that include a waiver of claims under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. Employers may also face hurdles enforcing a severance agreement if employees are not given sufficient time to consider the agreement and consult with an attorney before signing.
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The information on this website is for general information purposes only. Nothing on this site should be taken as legal advice for any individual case or situation. This information is not intended to create, and receipt or viewing does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship.
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