Is my severance offer fair?

The common informal standard in the US is one to two weeks of pay per year of service, often with a floor of two to four weeks for shorter tenures. Senior individual contributors and managers frequently see two to four weeks per year, and executives negotiate in months, not weeks.

That benchmark is a starting point, not a rule. Unless you have a written severance policy, an employment contract, a union agreement, or a mass-layoff situation triggering notice requirements, the employer is generally offering money in exchange for your signature — which is exactly why the number is negotiable.

Before deciding whether the offer is fair, check whether it addresses:

• Health coverage — will they pay COBRA premiums, and for how many months?
• Accrued but unused PTO, and whether it's paid separately from severance.
• A bonus or commission you already earned but haven't been paid.
• Equity — vesting acceleration, and how long you have to exercise options.
• A neutral reference or agreed departure language for future employers.
• Whether the company will contest an unemployment claim.

A modest cash number with three months of paid health coverage and a clean reference can be worth more than a bigger check with none of that.

Severance is payment for a release of claims. If the agreement also includes an 18-month non-compete, a broad non-solicit, strict confidentiality, a permanent no-rehire bar, and mandatory arbitration, you're being asked to give up considerably more than a release — and the price should reflect that.

The restriction that most often deserves pushback is the non-compete, because it directly limits your ability to earn. Two weeks of pay for a year and a half of restricted work is not a trade most people would knowingly make.

• Facts suggesting a claim — a recent complaint, medical leave, a protected-class pattern.
• Long tenure with strong performance reviews and no documented issues.
• A release that reaches unusually far, including claims you can't legally waive.
• Restrictions that go beyond what the company gave others in the same layoff.
• Simply asking, in writing, before the deadline — with a specific request, not a complaint.

Two options, both free. Call and ask an employment attorney directly — they see dozens of these packages a month and can tell you in minutes whether yours sits below what your tenure and situation would normally get. Most initial consultations for severance review cost nothing, and these cases are commonly taken on contingency.

If you'd rather look at it yourself first, run the document through the free review on this site. It pulls out the amount, the deadline and revocation window, and every restriction, then lists the questions worth putting to an attorney on that call.