Severance Agreements

It is very common today for an employer to offer an employee who is being terminated a severance payment in return for the employee signing a separation or severance agreement. Unless an employee has a contract or there is a well established company policy, there is no right to a severance payment. Separation/severance agreements should be carefully reviewed because they almost always contain a release of all claims that an employee may have against an employer and will often include a non-competition agreement and other restrictions on the future activity of the employee.