It is important to understand all the basics first. Severance agreements are agreements that are between employers and employees and they are legally enforceable. You can negotiate this agreement with your employer upfront or when you are exiting. Signing the agreement means you will never be able to sue your employer. You should hire a lawyer in this case so that you will know exactly what you are going to receive. Severance negotiations always involve your investment of time and money but not emotions. Hiring an attorney will ensure that you will get a higher settlement.
Ensure that you ask for a reasonable amount of money during a severance agreement. You will spend more time in litigation when you demand an unreasonable amount. Your basic salary and bonus should be the one to determine the amount you should ask for. All severance agreements actually contain confidentiality clauses. These restrict you from disclosing any contents of the agreement. This is a standard provision in all severance agreements. Disclosing this information to anyone might make you lose a lot. The severance agreement will be forfeited by the employer if he finds this out. The release of claims will then remain in force.
If not satisfied with what is offered you will have to find a legal claim. You will then be forced to seek the services of a lawyer. Your employer will be forced to give you a higher severance amount. Negotiating your own severance agreement will make you lose a lot of money. There are non-competition and non-solicitation provisions in the agreement that you should consider. This is because your next job may be seriously interrupted by these provisions. Violating these provisions will definitely lead to this. If you did not sign these provisions in the agreement you should not agree to them.
You should only sign for a severance agreement if you are ready. The employer is required to give you enough time to review your agreement. Signing of severance agreements should allow you to seek for reemployment. In this case you can seek your employer to waive any right to seek employment. This means you can actually seek for employment immediately after you sign the agreement. You can be able to fill out a claim in case you are denied severance.
In this case you will just sign a release agreement and then obtain benefits. In every severance agreement you should always ask for mutual release of claims. This means the agreement will contain a release of all claims by the employer. It won’t matter even if you did not do anything to warrant a legal case by your employer. Everything is easier if both parties agree on mutual release of claims.