Short answer: Usually, yes. A severance agreement is an offer, and most employers expect a response rather than a signature. The first number is a starting point chosen by the employer, the deadline on the cover letter is softer than it looks, and the paragraph that matters most — the release — is worth more to the company than the check is worth to you. Whether you should negotiate depends on what you'd be giving up, and that's the part most people never find out before they sign. Here is how the negotiation actually works in California, from the side of the table I sit on.

First, what the employer is buying

Severance isn't a gift and it isn't a reward for service. It is a purchase. The employer is paying for a general release — your agreement never to sue over anything that happened during your employment, including claims you don't know about yet (that's the Civil Code § 1542 waiver you'll see in every California agreement). It is also usually buying confidentiality, non-disparagement, your cooperation in future matters, and a clean exit with no story attached.

That framing changes the negotiation. The question is not “what do I deserve for eight years?” It's “what is this release worth to them?” — and the answer depends on whether there's anything underneath it.

You almost certainly have more time than they said

The cover letter says sign by Friday. California law says otherwise. An employer offering a separation agreement has to tell you that you have the right to consult a lawyer and give you at least five business days to do it (Gov. Code § 12964.5). You can sign sooner, but only if that's your choice, not the result of a threat to pull the offer. If you're 40 or older and the release covers age-discrimination claims, federal law adds 21 days to consider it — 45 in a group layoff — and 7 days after signing to revoke (29 U.S.C. § 626(f)).

What's actually negotiable

More than the number, and sometimes the number is the least of it.

The amount. There is no legal formula — California doesn't require severance at all unless a contract or policy promises it. Employers use rules of thumb (weeks of pay per year of service is the common one), and they build in room. Lately, it's simply asking an AI program what they should offer. A counter that explains why — tenure, the role, what you're releasing, the timing of the offer — is taken more seriously than a bare bigger number.

How the departure is described. Resignation versus termination, and what the company will say if anyone calls. A neutral-reference clause — dates and title only, from one named person — is standard and worth asking for.

Benefits and timing. COBRA premiums paid for a set number of months. The payment date. Whether unused vacation is paid separately (in California it has to be — it's wages, not severance, and no release can be conditioned on it, Lab. Code §§ 201–203, 206.5). Earned commissions and expense reimbursement are in the same category: owed regardless, and the offer shouldn't be counting them.

Unemployment. The employer can agree not to contest your claim. 

The one-sided terms. Non-disparagement that binds you but not the company's managers — make it mutual. Confidentiality that covers everything — narrow it to the amount. A cooperation clause with no limit on hours or compensation — put one on it. A no-rehire clause when you'd complained before the offer — that one may not be enforceable at all (Code Civ. Proc. § 1002.5).

The release itself. This is where a lawyer earns the fee. If there's a real claim underneath — the offer came a week after you reported something, or right after leave, or the “layoff” reached exactly one person — the release can be priced accordingly, or that claim can be carved out of it. That's the conversation the employer least wants to have, and the one that moves the number most.

What they can't make you waive

Some terms are unenforceable in California no matter what you sign, and knowing which ones changes your leverage. A separation agreement can't stop you from talking about harassment, discrimination, or other unlawful conduct at work, and any non-disparagement clause has to say so (Gov. Code § 12964.5 — the Silenced No More Act). It can't make you give up earned wages. It can't stop you from filing with the Civil Rights Department, the EEOC, or the Labor Commissioner, or from testifying. A non-compete is void (Bus. & Prof. Code §§ 16600, 16600.1), and a work injury can't be released without the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board signing off (Lab. Code § 5001). An agreement that tries to do these things tells you something about who drafted it — and gives you a list of things to strike.

How to ask without blowing up the offer

Employers do sometimes withdraw offers, and the way to avoid it is tone, not timidity.

•         Ask in writing, and ask for specific things. “I'd like to discuss a few terms before I sign” opens a door. “This is insulting” closes one.

•         Lead with the easy items. Reference, COBRA, mutual non-disparagement, the unemployment line. They cost the employer little, and agreeing to them makes the number conversation easier.

•         Don't threaten a lawsuit you don't intend to file. If there's a claim underneath, it's raised as a fact about the release's value, not as an ultimatum. That's usually a conversation for a lawyer to have, because it's the point at which the employer's lawyer gets involved.

•         Don't sign the first version “to show good faith.” Once it's signed, it's a contract.

•         Don't discuss the offer with coworkers or on social media. Confidentiality clauses can reach back, and the employer's leverage goes up if the offer is already public.

When to have it read by a lawyer

If the offer is small and nothing happened — no complaint, no leave, no pattern — a careful read of the terms above may be all you need, and I'll say so on the call. If the timing is suspicious, the number is low for the tenure, or the agreement has terms you don't understand, the review pays for itself. What a review looks like, and what it costs, is on the Severance Review page: a flat fee, quoted on the call and paid before the review call. Negotiation, if you want it, is a flat fee or a percentage of what I add to the offer, whichever is greater, with nothing paid up front and no fee on wages you're already owed.

If the firing itself was the problem, start with Wrongful Termination. And the mistakes people make before they call are in an older post, What Not to Do Before Signing a Severance Agreement in California.

What to do this week

1.        Don't sign. Take it home.

2.        Ask for the time in writing. One sentence. Keep the email.

3.        Pull your documents: offer letter or contract, any bonus or commission plan, your last pay stub, your last review, and the agreement with its cover letter.

4.        Write the timeline — what you reported or requested, and when, relative to the offer. If there's nothing on it, that's useful too.

5.        Book the call. Fifteen minutes, free. Bring the agreement.

Book a free 15-minute case review → https://calendly.com/employeesfriend 

Call or text (805) 630-3245

Pletcher Law, APC represents employees only, in Ventura County, Santa Barbara County, Los Angeles County, and throughout California. Severance agreements come to me by email, so distance doesn't matter.

Andrew S. Pletcher, State Bar No. 299437 · Pletcher Law, APC · Westlake Village, California. Attorney advertising. This post is general information about California law, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.