Losing a job or being pushed into a quick exit can make a severance agreement feel like a lifeline. It can also feel like paperwork you’re expected to sign fast and sort out later. That tension is exactly why a careful review matters.
A severance agreement is often more than a paycheck extension. In many cases, it includes a release of claims, confidentiality language, non-disparagement terms, cooperation clauses, benefit language, and deadlines that can affect what rights remain after the employment relationship ends. Federal agencies including the EEOC, NLRB, Department of Labor, and SEC have all addressed limits on what employers can lawfully include in these agreements.
In this post you’ll learn how to review a severance agreement step by step, what clauses often deserve extra attention, how claim waivers work, and where legal review can add real value before you sign. If you want a broader overview first, it may help to start with this guide to how severance terms, releases, deadlines, and leverage often fit together.
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A severance agreement is usually a contract offered in exchange for something you may not already be entitled to receive, such as salary continuation, a lump-sum payment, COBRA assistance, outplacement support, bonus treatment, or equity-related terms. In return, the employer often asks for a broad release of legal claims and other promises.
That exchange can be significant because many agreements reach beyond wage issues and cover discrimination, retaliation, harassment, leave-related disputes, contract claims, tort claims, and unknown claims arising before signing. The EEOC explains that employees may waive many employment-related claims if the waiver is knowing and voluntary, but there are important limits. For example, an agreement generally cannot waive claims based on future unlawful conduct, and it cannot bar someone from filing a charge with the EEOC or participating in an EEOC investigation.
That’s why the review process is not just about “how much money is on the table.” It is also about what rights are being released, what obligations continue after separation, and whether any provision is drafted too broadly.
Start with the consideration section. This is the part that says what the company is offering in exchange for your signature.
Look for details such as: