Employers who offer a severance agreement to induce you to waive your rights must follow special rules if you at least 40. Federal law requires these severance agreements to be clearly written and explicit. You must be given adequate time to review the agreement and cannot be pressured into signing it.
Employees age 40 or older must be given 21 days to consider the employer's offer, unless it is part of a group termination. In a group termination, employees must be given 45 days.
California employers are required to give employees over 40 a minimum of 21 days to review a severance agreement. During this time, employees can seek advice from an attorney or financial advisor. Additionally, employees have 7 days after signing the agreement to revoke it.
What should a severance agreement template include? Details of the parties involved. Names and roles of the employer and employee. Compensation and benefits. Confidentiality. Non-disparagement. Return of property. Legal obligations and rights. Dispute resolution. Legal jurisdiction.
If you were to breach the severance agreement (for example by suing your former employer despite the severance agreement waiving all claims you had against it), the former employer would be within its rights to stop making severance payments.
If you've been laid off in Texas, you will normally have a seven-day revocation period, which means you have seven days from the day you signed the agreement to change your mind. Once that period passes, you are usually stuck in the agreement.
Regarding the revocation period, for employees under 40, California law does not mandate a revocation period for severance agreements. This contrasts with the requirements for older employees, where a revocation period must be offered.
If you're under 40, you get five days to review a severance agreement. If you're over 40, you get 21 days. #EmploymentLawyer #California.