A severance agreement is a deal, not just a notice: the company pays the departing employee severance — and sometimes continues benefits — specifically in exchange for the employee releasing legal claims against the company, with a built-in period to revoke after signing. That trade is what separates it from a plain termination letter (notice only, nothing exchanged) and a mutual release agreement (both sides release each other, no severance pay). Download the ready-to-fill template below, or read the full clause checklist first.
A complete, ready-to-fill PDF — 12 clauses, blanks for every detail, and a signature block for both parties. Free, no email, no account. Read it and adapt it before you use it; the cover page explains what it can and cannot do for you.
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This document is a general-purpose template provided for information only. It is not legal advice, it does not create a lawyer–client relationship, and nobody has reviewed it against your situation.
Laws differ by country, state and province, and they change. A clause that is standard in one place can be unenforceable — or illegal — in another. Terms that are ordinary between two businesses can be void in a consumer or employment context.
Read every clause before you use it, fill in every blank, and delete anything that does not apply. For anything high-value, unusual, or that you could not afford to lose a dispute over, have a qualified lawyer in your jurisdiction review it before it is signed.
Employer & employee names, and the separation date
Full legal name of the company and the departing employee, and the date employment ends — the date the rest of the agreement's deadlines count from.
Severance payment (the consideration)
The amount, and when it's paid — usually a lump sum or salary-continuation schedule. This is what the company is offering, and it has to be more than the employee is already owed, or it isn't valid consideration for a release.
Benefits continuation, if any
Health coverage, equity vesting, or other perks the company agrees to continue for a stated period — common, but not required unless the company chooses to offer it.
Final pay & accrued amounts, kept separate
Wages already earned and accrued vacation are owed regardless of whether the employee signs — spelling that out avoids implying the severance payment is smaller than it is.
Release of claims — the operative clause
The employee's promise not to sue over the employment or its ending, in exchange for the severance pay. This is the clause the whole document exists to deliver.
Carve-outs from the release
Rights that can't legally be signed away — unemployment and workers' comp claims, vested retirement benefits, and the right to file a charge with a government agency. A release with no carve-outs is a red flag, not a stronger release.
Time to consider before signing
A review period before signature — commonly 21 days for an individual departure, or 45 days when it's part of a group layoff, per the U.S. Older Workers Benefit Protection Act for employees 40 or older.
Revocation period after signing
A window — commonly seven (7) days — after the employee signs, during which they can still revoke. The agreement isn't effective and the company doesn't owe payment until this period passes with no revocation.
Confidentiality & non-disparagement
Whether the terms of the deal stay private, and whether either side agrees not to bad-mouth the other afterward.
Return of company property
What comes back — laptop, badge, files — and by when.
No admission of wrongdoing
States plainly that paying severance isn't an admission the company did anything wrong. Standard in any settlement-style document.
Governing law & signatures
Which jurisdiction's law applies, and both parties' signatures and dates — the agreement isn't binding, and the release doesn't take effect, until it's properly signed (and, here, until the revocation period has run).
Fill in the template above in any PDF editor, then send it to the departing employee for signature. They sign online and never need an account, and the finished file comes back sealed with an audit certificate showing who signed, when, and from where — useful evidence if the release is ever questioned later.
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