Should you take severance right away?
The short answer is: almost never sign it on day one. The longer answer involves reading what you're giving up, and what you might be able to ask for instead.
A woman I worked with a few years ago was handed a severance offer in the same meeting where she was told she was being let go. Four months of pay, signed and done, here's the PDF. The HR person said, kindly, "Most people sign this today." She signed it that afternoon in her car.
Three weeks later she realized the agreement had a non-disparagement clause that barred her from telling recruiters why she'd left. It also cut her eligibility for a bonus that would have vested six weeks after her termination date — a bonus worth more than two months of the severance.
She didn't do anything wrong. She was scared, and the person across from her was kind, and signing felt like closing a door that was unbearable to leave open. But she gave up real money and real flexibility by signing on the day.
Why companies want you to sign fast
Not because they're evil. Because open severance offers are an open liability, and because the longer you have to think, the more likely you are to push back on something. That's useful to understand — it doesn't mean the offer is bad, it means the urgency is theirs, not yours.
In most jurisdictions, you have a legal right to time. In the US, workers over 40 get 21 days by default, 45 days for group layoffs. In Germany, the Netherlands, the UK — severance negotiations regularly run two to six weeks. "You need to sign today" is, almost always, not true.
What to read before you sign anything
Three things, in this order.
The release. What claims are you giving up by signing? Most severance agreements include a broad release of future legal claims. That's usually fine, but you want to actually read what you're releasing.
The non-compete and non-solicitation. How long? What scope? Is it enforceable in your jurisdiction? (In California, often no. In most of Europe, only if the company is paying you for the duration.) If the agreement bars you from working in the same industry for twelve months without additional pay, that is enormous and worth pushing back on.
The non-disparagement clause. Is it mutual — i.e., can the company also not disparage you? An asymmetric non-disparagement clause is common and, frankly, a reasonable thing to ask to make mutual.
And the stuff that isn't in the document: unvested equity, pro-rated bonuses, unused PTO, continuation of health insurance (in the US), references, and outplacement services. These are all negotiable.
What you can reasonably ask for
This is the part most people skip because it feels rude. It isn't rude. It's normal. The HR person on the other side has negotiated severances with dozens of people — you are not the first one to push back, and most of them will grant small concessions without a fight.
Things that often cost the company little and are worth real money to you:
- An extra two to four weeks of pay. Ask. You often get it.
- Accelerated vesting on equity close to cliff. Sometimes granted, especially if you'd been there a while.
- A neutral-to-positive reference letter, in writing, agreed upon now. Huge for your job search. Almost always granted.
- Extended access to healthcare or a contribution toward COBRA (US).
- Removal of the non-compete, or conversion to a non-solicit only.
- A pro-rated annual bonus, if you were close to bonus timing.
One polite email can get you several of these. You don't need a lawyer for most of it — though if there's real equity or a restrictive non-compete involved, a 30-minute consultation with an employment lawyer is often worth the cost.
The case for signing quickly anyway
Sometimes the right answer is to sign within a few days. Three situations:
- The offer is genuinely generous and you've read it carefully.
- You have another job lined up and the severance is additive — in that case, sign and move on.
- Your financial situation means you need the money now and delay costs you more than negotiation could plausibly recover.
Even in these cases: read the whole document once, sleep on it, and sign on day three rather than day one. The cost of three days of thought is zero. The cost of signing away a non-compete you didn't notice is a year of your career.
The concrete example
Same woman. If she'd taken a week, read the document, and replied with something like: "Thanks for the offer. I'd like to accept, with three adjustments — remove the non-disparagement clause or make it mutual, pro-rate the vested bonus, and extend the healthcare continuation by two months" — she would have, in her estimate later, walked away with about 40% more total value. Not because the company was trying to cheat her, but because she didn't ask.
Takeaway
Read the document. Take the time they're required to give you. Ask for two or three specific things in writing. "Most people sign today" is not a deadline — it's a script. You are allowed to not be most people.