Experienced Representation To Make Sure Your Severance Agreement Holds Up
Are you leaving a job and have been offered a severance package? It is important that you work with a lawyer to review the agreement and ensure that your rights are being protected.
I am attorney Robert Nelson. At Nelson Law Group in San Francisco, I work with employees throughout the Bay Area areas to review and negotiate severance agreements, making sure that the final product is in the client’s best interests.
With over 20 years of experience, I have the background, knowledge and skills to make sure your former employer is not taking advantage of you. I have previous experience at a big law firm that, today, I provide to my clients – all in a welcoming law office environment.
Understanding Severance Agreements
Severance agreements are contractual arrangements, almost always committed to writing, in which employers offer employees money or other consideration they are not otherwise entitled to in exchange for the employees’ agreement not to sue for any claims they may have. Severance agreements are most common when employees are involved in a mass layoff; when employees have worked for a long time; and/or when employers fear that the employees may have viable claims and therefore want to “buy peace.”
Although there are no laws that require severance agreements, employers often find them to be good investments (a small severance payment can often avoid many thousands of dollars in litigation expenses). Severance agreements (also known as liability releases) generally must be professionally drafted, given that certain provisions must be added depending on the specific circumstances (for example, certain key terms must be inserted into any release involving an employee who is 40 or older).
Helping You Make The Right Decisions
An employer needs to lay off several employees, several of whom have been with the company for many years, and at least one of whom seems litigious. The employer offers severance agreements to all the employees affected by the layoff; if they sign, then the employer is almost guaranteed to be safe from wrongful termination lawsuits or other employment-related claims.
Employees contemplating a job change may actually want to be offered a severance. However, proactively suggesting severance is delicate, as employers often view such suggestions as extortion. But if they are diplomatic, employees can sometimes put themselves in better bargaining positions by being the first to suggest severance. Employees need to fully understand their bargaining power in order to maximize the severance benefits they negotiate.
Schedule A Free Consultation Now To Talk Further
I offer a free evaluation by telephone to determine whether and to what extent you should offer and/or suggest a severance. (I also help negotiate severance terms.) Call my office at Nelson Law Group in San Francisco at 415-689-6590 or toll-free at 866-290-0424.
You may also contact me online to talk about your case.