What do I give up in exchange for accepting severance?
An employer will want you to waive certain rights in exchange for money.
Put bluntly, “the company covers itself in every way a former employee can hurt [it],” Granovsky said.
Generally speaking you will waive your right to bring a claim against the company, such as discrimination, hostile work environment, pay violations or any other alleged wrongdoing.
You also typically will need to agree to several clauses that prohibit you from harming the company, he said. They include:
A confidentiality clause: This clause prohibits you from sharing details of the company’s business or even the terms of your severance agreement.
A non-disparagement clause: This prohibits you from badmouthing the place.
A cooperation clause: You agree to assist the company if it gets sued in the future over a matter that you know something about as a result of your tenure there.
A non-cooperation clause: This prohibits you from helping anyone else trying to sue the company.
A non-solicitation clause: This typically means you can’t poach your soon-to-be former employer’s clients or employees should you start working elsewhere or launch your own business.
Waiving these types of rights does not, however, excuse the employer from having to pay you what is already owed, such as a pension or earned vacation or sick leave. “The consideration offered for the waiver of the right to sue … must be something of value in addition to any of the employee’s existing entitlements,” the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) notes.