They handed you a severance agreement and a deadline. This page is for the days in between. Pletcher Law, APC, in Westlake Village, reviews and negotiates severance agreements for employees throughout Ventura County, Los Angeles County, Santa Barbara County and the rest of California. I do not represent employers, and I never have.
Does this sound like your situation?
- You were told to sign by Friday, or the offer goes away.
- The offer came right after you complained about something, took leave, announced a pregnancy, or asked for an accommodation.
- The agreement waives claims you don't understand, including ones “known or unknown.”
- The number feels low for how long you were there, or for what you were promised.
- There's non-disparagement, confidentiality, or non-compete language, and you're not sure what you'd be agreeing not to say or do.
- You're 40 or older and the paperwork mentions “age” and “21 days.”
- You already signed, and you're wondering whether that's the end of it.
If one of these is you, the next step is a free 15-minute call. I'll tell you whether the agreement is worth a full review and what a review would cost.
Book a free 15-minute case review or call/text (805) 630-3245
Free. Confidential. Your employer does not find out you called.
You usually don't have to decide today
The deadline on the cover letter is a negotiating tactic more often than it's a legal fact. California requires an employer offering a separation agreement to tell you that you have the right to consult a lawyer, and to give you at least five business days to do it (Gov. Code § 12964.5). You can sign sooner if you choose — but that choice has to be yours, not the product of a threat to pull the offer.
If you're 40 or older, federal law adds more. A release of age-discrimination claims isn't valid unless you were given 21 days to consider it — 45 days if you were let go as part of a group — and 7 days after signing to change your mind. In a group layoff, the employer also has to hand you a list of the job titles and ages of everyone selected and everyone kept. Read that list; it's often the most interesting page in the packet.
If no one told you any of this, ask for the time in writing: “I'd like the five business days California law provides to review this with an attorney.” Keep the email.
What you're signing away
A severance agreement is a purchase. The employer is buying your claims — all of them — and the paragraph that does it is called a general release. It usually covers wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, retaliation, breach of contract, unpaid wages and expenses, and, through a waiver of Civil Code § 1542, claims you don't know you have yet. You're also typically agreeing to confidentiality, non-disparagement, cooperation, and a return of property.
That's fine if the claims are worth less than the check. The review is how you find out.
The timing tell
Severance offered the week after you reported harassment, filed a safety complaint, came back from medical or pregnancy leave, or asked for an accommodation is often the employer's price for a claim it knows it has. When the timing lines up that way, the claim underneath may be worth more than the offer on the table — and the agreement is written to make sure you never find out. That is the first thing I look at. See: Wrongful Termination · Sexual Harassment · Pregnancy Discrimination.
What they can't make you waive
Some of what's in a California severance agreement is unenforceable no matter what you sign. Knowing which parts changes the negotiation.
Your silence about unlawful conduct. Under the Silenced No More Act, a separation agreement can't stop you from disclosing information about unlawful acts in the workplace — harassment, discrimination, retaliation, anything you reasonably believe is unlawful — and any non-disparagement clause has to say so (Gov. Code § 12964.5).
Wages you've already earned. Final pay, including unused vacation, is owed on your last day if you were fired, and no release can be conditioned on it. Earned commissions, unreimbursed expenses, and accrued PTO are not “severance.” They're yours either way, and the offer shouldn't be counting them.
Your right to go to a government agency. You can still file with the Civil Rights Department, the EEOC, or the Labor Commissioner, and you can still testify. The agreement can limit what you recover, not whether you can speak.
A non-compete. Void in California, however it's worded and wherever you signed it (Bus. & Prof. Code §§ 16600, 16600.1, 16600.5). If one is in the agreement, that tells you something about who drafted it.
A no-rehire clause, if you complained first. When you raised a complaint — including through the company's own process — before the offer came, a clause barring you from ever working there again is generally not allowed (Code Civ. Proc. § 1002.5).
Your workers' compensation claim. A work injury can't be released in a severance agreement without the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board signing off.
What's negotiable
More than you were told. The amount, first — but also how your departure is described (resignation versus termination), a neutral reference and who gives it, whether the employer agrees not to contest unemployment, COBRA premiums for a set number of months, the payment date, making non-disparagement mutual so the company's managers are bound too, narrowing confidentiality to the amount only, striking the cooperation clause or putting a limit on it, keeping your laptop or your phone number, and — the one that matters most if there's a claim underneath — carving that claim out of the release or pricing it in.
If you were part of a layoff of fifty or more people at a workplace of seventy-five or more, California's WARN Act may also entitle you to sixty days' notice or pay in its place. That's leverage, and it's often missing from the offer.
What a review looks like
I read the whole agreement, not the summary. Then I tell you three things: what you're giving up, what to ask for, and whether there's a claim underneath that changes the math. If there isn't, I'll say so, and you'll sign with your eyes open. If there is, you'll know what it's worth before you decide.
The review is a flat fee, quoted on the call, billed after the work is done. If you want me to negotiate, that part is on a percentage of what I add to the offer. Nothing is collected up front. If your deadline is short, say so when you book.
What to do before the call
- Don't sign. You can take it home. If you're being told otherwise, that's the first thing to tell me.
- Send me the agreement and the cover letter, plus your offer letter or contract if you have one, and any bonus or commission plan.
- Write down the timeline — what you reported or requested, and when, relative to the offer.
- Pull your pay stubs and your last review. Final-pay math and performance history both matter.
- Don't discuss the offer with coworkers or on social media until it's reviewed. Confidentiality clauses can reach back.
Questions people ask before they call
Do I have to sign? No. A severance agreement is an offer. Declining it leaves you with your claims and nothing else; accepting it leaves you with the check and nothing else. The review is how you choose.
Can they take it back? Before you sign, an offer can be withdrawn — but an employer can't use the threat of withdrawing it to make you sign inside the five business days California gives you. After you sign, it's a contract, and the 7-day revocation period for workers 40 and over belongs to you, not them.
What if I already signed? If you're 40 or older and it's been fewer than 7 days, you can revoke in writing. Otherwise you're generally bound — unless the agreement was signed under a threat, without the time or notice the law requires, with your earned wages held hostage, or with a waiver that doesn't meet the federal requirements for age claims. Call anyway. Some of these hold up less than they look.
Can I still get unemployment? Usually. Severance pay generally doesn't disqualify you in California, though “pay in lieu of notice” can delay benefits. The agreement can also say the employer won't contest your claim — ask for that.
Will they know I talked to a lawyer? Not from me. If we negotiate, they'll know when I contact them, and not before.
How fast can you review it? Most reviews are done within two business days of receiving the agreement. If your deadline is shorter, book the call and say so.
Do you represent employers? No. Pletcher Law, APC represents employees only.
Where do you take cases? Based in Westlake Village. Ventura County, Santa Barbara County, Kern County, and Los Angeles County primarily; anywhere in California, since the agreement comes to me by email.
Ready when you are
Book a free 15-minute case review or call/text (805) 630-3245
Pletcher Law, APC · Andrew S. Pletcher, State Bar No. 299437 · Westlake Village, California. Attorney advertising. The information on this page 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.