Present the employee with the severance agreement, worked on by your HR manager, and walk through each section. Leave time for the employee to ask questions and make clear the time frame during which the employee has time to meet with their lawyer, as well as their last day.
Lack of Voluntary Consent: Under California law, a severance agreement can be considered valid and enforceable only if the parties entered into it voluntarily. If your consent was obtained through coercion, duress, or fraud, the agreement will be deemed invalid.
The agreement must be backed by consideration. The employer must give something of value to the employee in exchange for the agreement. Employees must have 21 days to consider the severance offer, or 45 days if more than one employee is laid off as part of a group lay off.
Neither the California Labor Code nor the federal Fair Labor Standards Act require employers to offer severance agreements to departing employees. Instead, severance agreements are provided by employers to accomplish a specific goal.
Present the employee with the severance agreement, worked on by your HR manager, and walk through each section. Leave time for the employee to ask questions and make clear the time frame during which the employee has time to meet with their lawyer, as well as their last day.
Your severance agreement should be offered to the employee during the notification meeting by your HR manager, who will review the details of the document with the employee. This can be a tricky conversation to have, which is why we suggest you have a layoff letter prepared.
disparagement clause generally prevents employees from disclosing certain confidential business information or saying anything negative about their former employer. Confidentiality clauses generally prohibit employees from sharing details of the severance agreement.