State file — Massachusetts
Severance itself is almost never required by law — but the paper around your exit is. In Massachusetts, three state rules shape your negotiation: when your last paycheck must arrive, whether a non-compete can follow you to your next job, and what notice a layoff required. If you are 40 or older, the federal clocks (21 or 45 days, plus 7 days to change your mind after signing) apply on top of everything here.
Federal rule only — no Massachusetts statute found giving a general state consideration/revocation period for severance or settlement agreements beyond the federal OWBPA. (Separate timing rules in 24L — delivery by the offer/10 business days before start for non-competes — are not a severance clock.)
Run the deadline checker — it counts the federal clock and Massachusetts's clock together and gives you the dates.
Massachusetts Noncompetition Agreement Act (for agreements on/after Oct. 1, 2018): enforceable only if in writing, signed by both parties, states the right to consult counsel, is no broader than necessary to protect trade secrets/confidential information/goodwill, is reasonable in geography and scope, and the restricted period does not exceed 12 months (up to 2 years only if the employee breached a fiduciary duty or unlawfully took employer property). Must be supported by a garden leave clause paying at least 50% of the employee's highest annualized base salary in the prior 2 years, pro rata over the restricted period, OR other mutually-agreed consideration specified in the agreement. Unenforceable against FLSA non-exempt employees, undergraduate/graduate student interns, employees under 18, and employees terminated without cause or laid off.
Why it matters at the exit table: a non-compete you sign on the way out can matter more than the severance check. If the clause would block your next job, narrowing it is one of the most common — and most granted — negotiation asks.
An employee discharged from employment must be paid in full ON THE DAY OF DISCHARGE. (An employee who leaves voluntarily is paid in full on the following regular payday, or the following Saturday if there is no regular payday.) Late payment to a discharged employee triggers mandatory treble damages under the Wage Act as construed in Reuter v. City of Methuen (2022).
Unused vacation: 'Wages' under 148 include holiday and vacation payments due under an oral or written agreement, so earned/accrued vacation due under the agreement must be included in the day-of-discharge payment.
Final pay is owed whether or not you sign anything. If the date passes without your money, your state labor agency takes these complaints — and many states add penalties for every day of delay.
Massachusetts has no state layoff-notice law of its own, so the federal WARN Act is the rule: employers with 100+ workers generally owe 60 days' notice of a plant closing or mass layoff (50+ jobs at one site).
Notice failures have their own remedies (back pay for each day of missed notice, in the federal law's case) — separate from the severance agreement, and worth a question if your layoff was large and sudden.
Included in the $49 SeveranceDecoded Kit
One payment. Yours to keep. Works for any severance agreement, any state.
Back to severance laws by state · the deadline checker