How the severance math works
This tool prices two different things and adds them, because that is exactly how separation conversations are priced in practice:
Baseline = Weekly Comp × (Tenure × Weeks/Year) × Employment Basis
Claim Uplift = Weekly Comp × 4.33 × min(Claim Months, Weeks‑to‑Job)
Target = Baseline + Claim Uplift (±15% negotiation band)
Baseline is market convention: roughly two to four weeks of total compensation per year of service, adjusted for whether a contract makes the promise enforceable. Claim uplift is the value of the leverage a potential legal claim adds — priced in months of compensation, but deliberately capped at your expected re-employment window, because claim settlements are priced against forward-looking wage loss: what you will actually be out before a comparable job materializes. Burning 52 weeks of settlement value on a 12-week job search is not how claims price, and the model refuses to pretend otherwise.
The honest part nobody's calculator tells you
Most terminations are legal. At-will employment means your employer can fire you for a bad reason, a wrong reason, or no reason at all — as long as it isn't a prohibited reason. Unfairness, favoritism, and personality conflicts are not unlawful. If your situation is a lawful at-will termination with no claim, this model will tell you: baseline weeks, no uplift, and the number comes out near zero — not because the tool failed, but because that is the honest answer. The leverage cases are specific: discrimination on a protected basis, retaliation for protected activity, refusal to do something illegal, or a written contract the employer broke.
What converts a firing into a claim
- Discrimination: termination tied to a protected characteristic — race, sex, age (40+), disability, pregnancy, religion, national origin — under Title VII, the ADEA, the ADA, and state analogs. Deadlines to charge the EEOC run 180–300 days.
- Retaliation: firing shortly after protected activity — reporting harassment, filing a wage complaint, requesting FMLA leave, whistleblowing. Timing is the evidence pattern employers walk into most often.
- Contract breach: a written offer letter or employment contract with a term, a for-cause clause, or a severance promise that was broken.
- Public-policy violations: termination for refusing illegal conduct, or for exercising a statutory right (jury duty, voting, wage claims).
The release you sign is the real transaction
Every severance agreement is the same exchange underneath: money now, in return for a full legal release forever. Companies price offers against what the released claims would cost them — which is why an attorney's evaluation is the single highest-leverage step here, and why it must happen before signature. Two structural rules worth knowing cold: OWBPA timing (if you're 40+, you get 21 days to consider an age-waiver agreement and 7 days to revoke after signing — taking the time costs nothing), and negotiation posture (initial offers move; items on the table include pay continuation, COBRA subsidies, payout of accrued PTO, a positive-reference clause, and neutral language on the reason for separation).
Deadlines that quietly kill claims
| Claim type | Typical deadline | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| EEOC discrimination charge | 180–300 days | Depends on state; missing it usually ends the federal claim. |
| Retaliation (varies) | Often 1–3 years | Statute-specific; whistleblower statutes differ widely. |
| Contract breach | State limitations period | Written contracts commonly 3–6 years depending on state. |
| WARN Act (mass layoff) | 60-day notice rule | Applies to covered employers and qualifying layoff sizes. |
"I'll think about it" is the most expensive sentence in employment law. Deadlines are jurisdictional and unforgiving — verify yours before the calendar makes the decision.
Frequently asked questions
How much severance is normal per year of service?
Market convention runs roughly two to four weeks of pay per year, with executive contracts commonly a full month per year. Note what that baseline is not: an entitlement. Outside contracts, offer letters, union agreements, or WARN-Act situations, no U.S. law requires any severance — the number is whatever you negotiate.
Does a wrongful termination claim change the number?
Dramatically. Baseline severance is priced in weeks; a colorable discrimination or retaliation claim is priced in months to years of compensation. The tool's claim-uplift track models exactly that bridge — and, equally important, prices a lawful at-will firing at zero uplift, because most unfair terminations are entirely legal.
Do I have to sign the release right away?
No — and if you're 40 or older, you have a statutory 21 days to consider any agreement waiving age-discrimination rights, plus 7 days to revoke after signing (OWBPA). Employers asking for same-day signatures are asking you to discard free leverage. Nothing bad happens when you use the time.
Should I talk to a lawyer before signing?
If you suspect discrimination, retaliation, or a broken contract — yes, unambiguously, before signature. Signed releases permanently waive exactly the claims an attorney would evaluate. Most employment lawyers offer free initial consultations and work contingency or flat consultation fees, and separation agreements routinely improve after counsel appears.
Is this calculator legal advice — and is my data stored?
No to both. These are market-convention estimates, not a valuation of your situation, and your rights depend on facts and deadlines this model cannot see. All arithmetic executes locally in this browser tab — inputs are never transmitted, logged, or stored.