Guide

The First 48 Hours After a Layoff

Hour one: the meeting

Be pleasant, be brief, and sign nothing. You will likely be handed a packet and a summary that makes the deadline sound shorter than the law's. Say: "I will read this carefully and respond within the period provided." Ask three questions and write down the answers with the time: Who is my contact for questions? What is my last day of employment (not just last day worked)? When does my health coverage end? If anything about the reason given differs from what you know, note your version privately afterward — facts recorded the same day carry weight later.

Day one: the paper trail

Before access disappears (it often ends the same day): forward yourself nothing confidential, but do gather what is already yours — your offer letter, recent pay stubs showing your rate, bonus plan summaries, equity grant notices, your last performance review, and any emails praising or promising that you already lawfully possess. Check your state's final-pay rule on your state page so you know when the last check is legally due. Run the deadline checker and write your three dates — consideration deadline, and (for later) the revocation math — somewhere you will see them daily.

Day two: protect the money and the benefits

File for unemployment as soon as your state allows (usually after your last day); severance rarely blocks benefits, but waiting periods are real and never backdated kindly. Calendar your COBRA election deadline (generally 60 days from the notice) — coverage is retroactive if elected, so there is no need to panic-buy, only to not miss the date. If you have stock options, find the exercise deadline in the plan document itself; 90 days is common and it does not forgive. Then start the read: the kit's order — dates, clauses, audit, asks — fits inside any 21-day window comfortably.

Before you sign, run the whole paper

Included in the $49 SeveranceDecoded Kit

  • The clause-by-clause decoder — every clause in plain words: what it means, what to look for, the exact questions to raise
  • The paperwork audit (the legal checklist) — every item the law names for workers 40+, checked against your documents
  • The group layoff list audit (Exhibit A) — titles and ages of who was picked and who was not, checked line by line. No other tool does this
  • The negotiation playbook — what companies actually move on (money, dates, stock deadlines, the non-compete, your reference) and the words that move them
  • Ready-to-send scripts: asking for more time, asking for changes, and the change-your-mind letter (revocation)
  • The red-flag page — the short list of facts that mean a lawyer's paid hour is worth it, and how to find one who does this daily
Get the SeveranceDecoded Kit — $49

One payment. Yours to keep. Works for any severance agreement, any state.

More: all guides · the deadline checker · your state page