What Happens if I Don't Respond by the Severance Offer Deadline?
The Importance of Timely Responding to Severance OffersWhen you receive a severance offer, it usually has a date for you to respond. Often it is 21 days, sometimes longer, sometimes shorter.
What happens if you don't respond by the deadline? Legally, it is immaterial. The employer can retract its offer anytime before the deadline expires anyway, so all the deadline means is that they are telling you they do not promise the offer will be on the table past that date. Practically, it can matter. If your goal is to negotiate a better severance, an employer may take the position if the deadline has passed that it no longer is willing to entertain severance. This is why it is important to seek legal advice as soon as you know you have a severance offer to consider. You may think you have legal claims, but find out that they are either not viable or not worth pursuing. In that case, you do not want to let the offer expire and walk away from some compensation that could help ease your job transition. On the flip side, if you do have strong claims but still want to negotiate an adequate severance, the more time you give your attorney to assess and articulate those claims before the deadline, the better your chances of a positive outcome. Learn more here about evaluating a severance agreement. |
We're Here to Help.OR
|
Questions Your Deadline to Accept a Severance Agreement?
Our Solutions Roadmap is a quick and easy way to share the details of what you are facing and receive preliminary feedback from a member of our team. Use the button below to get started- it is 100% confidential and 100% free.
Meet Our Employment Lawyers
Emily Smith-Lee is the owner and founder of slnlaw. She is a 1996 graduate of Boston College Law School. She was previously a partner at the Boston office of a large international firm, where she worked for thirteen years before starting the firm that became slnlaw in 2009. She has been recognized as Massachusetts Superlawyer each year since 2013, and in 2018 earned recognition as one of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly's Lawyers of the Year. She has written a book on employment law: Rules of the Road, What You Need to Know About Employment Laws in Massachusetts, and helped thousands of clients on both the employee and employer side with severance and non compete review and negotiation, wage and hour, discrimination and retaliation disputes, and navigating the nuances of the Massachusetts Independent Contractor Law.
Rebecca Rogers: Rebecca is a 2006 graduate of Boston College Law School, and has worked with slnlaw since 2013. She previously worked as an intellectual property litigation attorney for Fish & Richardson in Boston, Massachusetts, and clerked for the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. Rebecca has helped clients with independent contractor misclassification and wage and hour disputes, employment discrimination, harassment and retaliation claims, and review and negotiation of employment and independent contractor agreements.
Jenna Ordway: Jenna is a 2013 graduate of Quinnipiac Law School, and also earned an LLM in Taxation from Boston University in 2015. She has been affiliated with slnlaw since 2011, first as a law clerk and then as an attorney. Jenna has been recognized since 2019 as a "Rising Star" by Massachusetts Superlawyers. Jenna has helped clients with review and negotiation of employment and independent contractor agreements, employee misclassification and wage and hour disputes, and advice to small business owners about employment law and other business matters.
Elijah Bresley: Eli is a 2014 graduate of Seton Hall Law school, and has worked with slnlaw since 2020. He previously worked for a boutique employment law firm outside of Boston, and then for the Labor and Employment department of a large Boston firm. He also spent a year clerking for the judges of the Superior Court in Hartford, Connecticut. Eli has helped clients on the employee and employer side with all varieties of employment law issues, including independent contractor misclassification and wage and hour disputes, employment discrimination, harassment and retaliation claims, review and negotiation of employment and independent contractor agreements, and litigation in state and federal courts on employment related issues.
Sharleen Tinnin: Sharleen is a 2010 graduate of Northeastern University School of Law, and has been with slnlaw since 2023. Prior to joining slnlaw, she worked with King, Tilden, McEttrick & Brink, P.C. on complex civil litigation matters. She previously worked for the United States Department of Justice, and received an "Excellence in Justice" award in 2017. Sharleen has helped clients with independent contractor misclassification and wage and hour disputes, employment discrimination, harassment and retaliation claims, review and negotiation of employment and independent contractor agreements, and litigation in state and federal courts on employment related issues.
How We Can Help
We can help you get clarity on your rights and obligations under the laws, and navigate the severance process effectively. You can use the button below to schedule a call back from a member of our team, or give us a call at 781-784-2322.
Emily Smith-Lee Rated by Super Lawyers loading ... |
Jenna Ordway
Rated by Super Lawyers loading ... |