Nothing here is legal advice, and for a large package or anything that feels off it is worth a one-time consult with an employment attorney. But you can do a lot of the groundwork yourself by understanding what the document is actually trading.
What you are actually signing
In most severance agreements, the company offers money and continued benefits in exchange for a few things from you, usually a release of legal claims, sometimes a non-disparagement clause, and occasionally restrictions on where you can work next. The money is the consideration for what you give up. That framing matters: if they want your signature, you have leverage to shape the terms.
Read these clauses closely before anything else
- The release: what claims you are waiving, and whether it is mutual.
- Non-compete and non-solicit: how broad, how long, and whether they could limit your next job.
- Non-disparagement: is it one-sided, or does the company agree to the same?
- Benefits end date and how severance interacts with unemployment in your state.
- Confidentiality: whether you can even discuss the terms, and any carve-outs you need.
If you are 40 or older, you generally get at least 21 days to consider the agreement and 7 days to revoke after signing. Confirm your deadline in writing and do not let urgency pressure you into same-day signature.
Where the room usually is
Severance is rarely just one number. When more weeks of pay are not on the table, other terms often are, and several of them convert directly into runway or a smoother search:
- More weeks of pay, the obvious one, especially if your tenure exceeds the formula offered.
- Extended health coverage, or the company covering COBRA premiums for a set number of months.
- Accelerated or extended equity vesting, which can be worth more than extra salary weeks.
- A defined, agreed reference or a neutral confirmation of your dates and title.
- Keeping your laptop, phone, or a professional certification the company was funding.
- Loosening a non-compete so it does not block the roles you would realistically pursue.
How to make the ask
Tone wins here. You are not in a fight, you are proposing terms that let everyone move on cleanly. Lead with appreciation, anchor to something concrete, and ask in writing so there is a record. A simple structure works:
- Acknowledge the offer and thank them for it.
- Name a specific, reasoned request, for example two additional weeks given your time on the team.
- Tie it to a fact: tenure, an unvested grant, a project you are leaving in good shape.
- Make it easy to say yes, propose the exact revised terms rather than a vague 'more'.
Before you sign
Run a final pass: confirm every promise is in the written document (verbal assurances do not survive), check the benefits and final-pay dates against your runway, and make sure nothing restricts your next move more than you realized. Once the terms are right, signing is the easy part, and you will start the search knowing exactly how much time you bought yourself.
You can store your agreement in Offboard's Documents and run a private AI analysis that explains the key terms in plain language, the release, the non-compete, the deadlines, so nothing important hides in the legalese. It stays in your private career memory, never shared with anyone.