Severance is never a requirement of any employer unless you have a signed employment agreement stating otherwise, or, it is a written policy of the company.
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.
Severance packages are typically offered to executives and employees who are laid off due to downsizing or restructuring. They are not usually offered to people who resign or who are fired for poor performance or other causes.
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.
The McLaren Macomb decision put new restrictions limiting how employers can use non-disparagement clauses and confidentiality clauses in severance agreements, holding that typical non-disparagement clauses and confidentiality clauses interfere with employees' section 7 rights to engage in concerted activity.
For instance, in some states there are only two things that can get an agreement overturned by the court. The first is if a spouse signed under duress. This means that if the spouse was forced to sign through the threat of violence. The second is that the agreement is deemed unconscionable.