Severance agreements are legal contracts between an employer and
a former (or soon-to-be former) employee that provide compensation
and/or benefits to the employee in exchange for certain promises
and obligations, usually including a release of the employee's
potential claims against the employer.
Despite the fact that severance agreements are commonly used in
organizations of all types, employers frequently make mistakes in
preparing severance agreements, and their errors can cause an
employee's release of claims to be unenforceable, leaving the
employee with severance benefits in hand and the employer without
protection against a potential suit.
From a big picture standpoint, the most common mistake employers
make is treating severance agreements like generic,
"one-size-fits-all" documents, ignoring differences in
state laws, changes in the law that occur frequently, and the
unique circumstances of each employee.While some language is
suitable for use in most
