Understanding Severance Pay Agreements
Trying to understand a severance pay agreement without a New York employment attorney is very difficult. The employment lawyers of Fitapelli & Schaffer have extensive experience interpreting severance pay packages. Your employer is not obligated to offer you professional assistance to interpret your severance pay agreement, but you should be given the option of hiring a lawyer to review the agreement.Time Constraints
Briefly read through your severance agreement to determine the deadline by which you must accept or decline your offer. The agreement should provide a reasonable amount of time for you to make a proper decision. If your agreement is unclear, contact the New York City severance lawyers at Fitapelli & Schaffer for clarification. The time constraints for accepting or denying a severance package are dependent upon an employee’s age.If you are forty years of age or older, and your severance package provides for the release of an Age Discrimination in Employment Act violation, you must be provided a minimum of twenty-one days to review the agreement. Providing for a shorter deadline is unlawful and you should contact your employer to request more time. Keep documentation of all interactions you have with your employer for future reference.
If you are forty years of age or older, you should be given at least twenty-one days to consider signing the agreement. Unfortunately, if you are under forty years old, the employer may give you only a very short time, such as seven days, to consider signing the agreement.