Severance Guide · Updated May 2026

How to negotiate your severance.

Your leverage. What to ask for. How to ask in writing. The exact timing windows. Everything you need before you send the counter.

What leverage you actually have

Severance negotiation is not begging. The company is not doing you a favor. They are offering you a deal because they want a signed release more than you want to argue. That is the whole transaction.

Your leverage comes from a handful of specific places. Identify yours before you write the counter-offer.

Length of service. Anyone over five years of tenure is in legitimate negotiation territory. Over ten years, you should expect senior-level treatment regardless of title.
Age forty or older. The Older Workers Benefit Protection Act protects you with mandatory review windows and legal scrutiny of the release language. That is federal law, not a courtesy.
Knowledge of protected activity. If you recently reported harassment, discrimination, wage theft, or a safety violation, you have anti-retaliation leverage the company knows about. They know. You should know too.
WARN Act violations. If your employer laid off fifty or more employees without sixty days of written notice, the WARN Act owes you back pay on top of any severance. Check before you negotiate.
Pending bonuses or unvested equity. If you were close to a bonus payout or a vesting cliff, you have a clean ask.
Institutional knowledge and transition risk. If you hold customer relationships, tribal knowledge, or anything that makes your exit messy, the company has a financial incentive to keep you cooperative. That is leverage whether anyone says it out loud or not.
Employer brand sensitivity. Public companies, venture-backed startups, and employer-review-conscious brands are more responsive to clean exits than struggling employers with nothing left to lose.

What to ask for

Always ask for multiple items, not just more weeks. Non-cash items come from different internal budgets and face less resistance than a pay bump. Prioritize like this.

More weeks of base pay. Ask for twenty-five to fifty percent above the initial offer, framed against market rate. Start with two times the ask and settle at one and a half.
Extended COBRA coverage. Three to six months of employer-paid COBRA premiums. This is the single most undervalued ask because HR often has budget for it that is separate from cash severance.
Pro-rated performance bonus. If your layoff happened during a bonus cycle, ask for the proportion earned through your last day. The company already accrued it on their books. Take it.
Accelerated equity vesting. Any RSUs or options scheduled to vest within ninety days of separation. Companies that want a clean exit will agree.
Written positive or neutral reference letter. Signed by your manager. Worth asking for in writing, not just verbally.
Release from non-compete and non-solicit clauses. If you have one in your original agreement, the severance is the moment to get rid of it. In writing.
Outplacement services upgrade. If you were offered basic career coaching, ask for the premium tier. Includes interview prep and salary negotiation coaching.
Retention of company equipment. Laptop, monitor, anything you used remotely. Often transferable at no cost if you ask.

How to ask (script)

Always counter in writing. Email. Professional, specific, unemotional. Do not explain yourself. Do not apologize for asking. Do not hint at litigation unless you have already spoken to a lawyer. Here is a template that works.

Subject: Severance Agreement Review, [Your Name]

Hi [HR Contact],

Thank you for providing the severance agreement on [date]. I have reviewed the terms and would like to discuss a few adjustments before signing.

Specifically, I am requesting:

An increase in base pay continuation from [X] weeks to [Y] weeks, bringing the package in line with market rate for my [N] years of service.
Employer-paid COBRA premiums for [3 to 6] months instead of the currently proposed [timeframe].
A pro-rated share of my [current year] performance bonus based on my [Month] [day] separation date.
A written neutral reference letter I can share with future employers.

I appreciate the company's flexibility and would like to resolve this within the [21 or 45]-day review window. Please let me know the best time to discuss.

Best,
[Your Name]

Notice what is missing. No threats. No accusations. No emotional language. No explanation of why you need the money. Severance negotiation is transactional. Keep it that way.

The timing windows

Federal law gives you specific review and revocation windows. Especially if you are forty or older. Those windows exist so you can negotiate. Use them. All of them.

Twenty-one-day review, age forty or older, individual layoff. Required by the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act. You have twenty-one calendar days to consider the agreement. Not business days. Calendar days.
Forty-five-day review, age forty or older, group layoff. If your layoff is part of a group of two or more being laid off at the same time, the review window extends to forty-five days.
Seven-day revocation, all ages. After you sign, you have seven calendar days to revoke the agreement in writing. The agreement does not take legal effect until the revocation window closes.
Under forty. No federal minimum. Employers typically provide seven to fourteen days. Ask for more time in writing if you need it. Most will grant twenty-one days on request. They have no reason to say no.

Mistakes to avoid

Never sign the same day. Even if you plan to accept, take at least forty-eight hours. Same-day signing forfeits leverage and makes you look desperate.
Never negotiate verbally without a written summary. Email a summary within twenty-four hours. Verbal promises are not enforceable. Email is.
Never threaten litigation unless you have already retained counsel. The second you mention a lawsuit, the conversation goes through legal, and the warmth disappears.
Never disparage the manager or company. Even if justified. Venting weakens your position.
Never forget about healthcare. COBRA is four to six times more expensive than most people expect. Always negotiate it as a separate line item.
Never accept the first offer. HR expects a counter. Offering zero pushback communicates that you do not value yourself. The company will happily match your self-assessment.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I actually negotiate severance or do employers just say no?

You can. But only before you sign. Employers typically build ten to twenty-five percent flexibility into severance budgets. The most successful negotiations ask for specific non-cash items alongside more weeks. Extended COBRA, accelerated vesting, a reference letter. These come from different internal budgets and face less resistance than a straight pay bump.

How long do I have to negotiate?

If you are forty or older, the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act gives you twenty-one days to review the agreement. Forty-five if the layoff affects a group. After you sign, you have seven days to revoke in writing. Use all of them. If you are under forty, there is no federal minimum, but most employers will grant at least two weeks on request. Ask in writing.

What should I never do when negotiating severance?

Never sign the same day you receive the offer, even if you want to. Never negotiate verbally without following up in writing. Never threaten litigation unless you have already retained counsel. Never disparage the company or your manager in the negotiation email. Never ignore the OWBPA time windows if you are forty or older. Never forget about COBRA as a separate line item.

Do I need a lawyer to negotiate severance?

For a standard layoff with a market-rate package, usually not. For an executive agreement, a package over twenty-six weeks, or any case that touches discrimination, retaliation, or whistleblower claims, a thirty-to-sixty-minute consultation at two hundred fifty to five hundred dollars is worth every dollar. Many employment lawyers offer free initial calls. Take one.