State file — Wyoming
Severance itself is almost never required by law — but the paper around your exit is. In Wyoming, 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 state severance/settlement consideration or revocation statute found beyond the federal OWBPA/ADEA (21 days individual / 45 days group, 7 days to revoke, age 40+).
Run the deadline checker — it counts the federal clock and Wyoming's clock together and gives you the dates.
For contracts entered into ON OR AFTER July 1, 2025: 'any covenant not to compete that restricts the right of any person to receive compensation for performance of skilled or unskilled labor shall be void.' Contracts entered before July 1, 2025 are expressly NOT altered/impaired. Carve-outs (the voiding rule does not apply to): (i) a covenant in a contract for the purchase/sale of a business or its assets; (ii) a covenant to the extent it protects trade secrets as defined in W.S. §6-3-501(a)(xi); (iii) provisions recovering relocation/education/training expenses on a sliding scale (100% if service <2 years, 66% if 2 to <3 years, 33% if 3 to <4 years); (iv) executive and management personnel, and officers/employees who constitute professional staff to executive/management personnel. Physician covenants restricting the right to practise medicine on termination are separately void (other lawful provisions survive), with a rare-disorder patient-notification protection.
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.
Employee who quits or is discharged: pay whatever wages are due no later than the employer's usual practice on regularly scheduled payroll dates — i.e. the next regular payday. CONFLICT RESOLVED: sources still quoting 'within 5 working days' are quoting the pre-2015 text; 2015 HB 127 (Enrolled Act 86) struck the 5-working-day rule and substituted the regularly-scheduled-payroll-date rule.
Unused vacation: Vacation: no default state payout mandate found in the current statute text located. Secondary guidance: accrued vacation is generally payable at separation unless the employer has a written forfeiture policy that the employee acknowledged in writing — flag as secondary.
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.
Wyoming 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.
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