We get a lot of calls from people who want to have a severance agreement in Illinois reviewed. I get that. It’s a lot of legal mumbo jumbo and can be confusing if you aren’t familiar with what they say. That said, don’t be surprised if a lawyer wants $1,000 or more to review it and offer advice unless you bring forward a case where your employer is acting illegally (more on that below). If you are only getting 5 weeks of severance pay you probably don’t want to pay that. But you do need to be aware of certain things.

So with that in mind, I thought I’d offer some thoughts that everyone who has been fired and offered a severance should know.

  1. Your employer will likely not negotiate the dollar amount they are offering you unless you have some leverage. What’s leverage? That would be evidence that you are being let go illegally like getting fired after complaining about sexual harassment or reporting of illegal activity. If that is the case, you want to get an attorney and should call us for free at 312-346-5320 to discuss your situation in confidence.
  2. If you do sign the severance, know that you are giving up your right to sue the company for any reason. So if you think they owe you commissions or vacation pay or you want to sue for wrongful termination, signing will likely end those rights. Don’t sign if you don’t want to do that.
  3. Workers’ compensation isn’t a lawsuit and a severance agreement can’t take away your Illinois work comp rights.
  4. There is no obligation for an employer to give anyone a severance unless it’s been contractually agreed to. They do it for good will and so they can close the door on any possible issues with you. That’s important for them if they are considering a sale.
  5. While they won’t likely negotiate a dollar amount, you can ask for things like making sure they won’t contest your unemployment or that at worst they will give you a neutral reference. You can certainly ask that they agree to give a good one. Companies are much more likely to negotiate on non-financial issues.
  6. When you work for a big company and there are a lot of layoffs, they are less inclined to do much of anything as they don’t want to open the door to having to do it for everyone.
  7. That said, while theoretically they can pull a severance, it doesn’t hurt to ask for something. Usually the worst case scenario is they say no.
  8. It’s not unusual for severance payments to be spread out over a period of weeks or months instead of a lump sum. You can ask for a lump sum, but they don’t have to give it to you.
  9. Beware clauses that say the severance will end if you secure new employment. They can ask for that and you can object to it.
  10. Beware them putting a non-compete or non-solicitation agreement in your severance package. If you want to work in the same field, agreeing that could limit your job prospects.
  11. There is no typical severance agreement dollar amount. What they offer you can be completely different at another company. Some do one week for every year worked. Some pick a random number. There’s often no rhyme or reason.
  12. Beware items that may be unique to you. For example, if you got a signing bonus that said you’d have to pay it back if you didn’t work for two years, if they are letting you go, you need to make sure that you won’t owe them that money.

I hope this helps. As always, if you have any questions you are welcome to call us.