Got a Severance Offer? Read It Before You Sign.
I'm Ines Carrow, a Tampa lawyer who reviews severance agreements for employees. See your deadlines below, then call.
Your Severance Deadline Calendar
Three answers lay out how long you have to decide and how long you can change your mind. It works from today's date until you change it. Nothing here is sent anywhere.
General information about federal age discrimination rules, not legal advice. Your agreement's own terms and the facts of your job can change these dates.
What I Look for in Every Agreement
These are the lines that cost people the most when they sign in a hurry.
The release
What you give up the right to sue over. Some claims, like unpaid wages you already earned, often cannot be waived at all.
Non compete and non solicit
Whether you can work in your field in Tampa Bay next month. Florida courts enforce these more than most states do.
Confidentiality and non disparagement
What you can say about the job, to whom, and whether the company has to stay quiet about you too.
Money and timing
Lump sum or payroll, when it starts, and whether unused vacation, bonus or commissions are counted separately.
Health coverage
Whether the company pays any COBRA premiums, and for how many months.
Reference and rehire
What the company tells the next employer who calls, and whether you are barred from ever coming back.
People Who Call Me
One Lawyer, Only Employees
I spent eleven years on the company side before switching sides in 2017. Now I read severance agreements for nurses, engineers, sales reps and warehouse leads, and I tell you in plain words what I would do.
I meet clients from Tampa, Brandon, Riverview, Temple Terrace, Wesley Chapel, Lutz, Plant City, Apollo Beach, Clearwater and St. Petersburg, in the office, by video or on a walk down the Riverwalk.
501 E Kennedy Blvd, Tampa FL 33602 (sample address)
(813) 555-0148 · ines@example.com
What Clients Say
Sample reviews written for this demo. Your site shows your real Google reviews, word for word.
HR said I had until Friday. Ines showed me I had 45 days and what the ages list at the back meant. I slept that night.
Robert H. Brandon
She caught a non compete that would have kept me out of every hospital in the county. We got it taken out.
Alicia M. Riverview
Flat fee, told up front, and she answered every text within the day. Worth every minute.
Kevin T. Wesley Chapel
Questions Before You Sign
Can I ask for more money or more time?
Yes. Many people do, and asking does not cancel the offer by itself. What you can ask for depends on your job, your years there and anything that happened before you left.
What does a review cost?
A severance review is a flat fee that I quote before I start. If the review turns up a bigger claim, we talk about how that case would be paid before you decide anything.
Will signing affect my unemployment?
It can. Severance pay may delay or lower Florida reemployment benefits for a time. Apply anyway and answer the questions honestly. The state decides, not your employer.
I already signed. Is it too late?
Maybe not. If you are 40 or older, federal law usually gives you 7 days after signing to take it back. Call right away and have the agreement in front of you.
Do you work for the employee or the company?
Only employees. I do not represent companies in employment cases, so there is never a question about whose side I am on.