Severance Agreement & General Release

Answer up to 145 questions to generate your document

Choose your version

Both produce a complete, ready-to-sign document.

Section 1 of 130 of 49 answered

Parties›Separation Details›Severance Payment…

Parties14 questions

1. What is the full legal name of the employer (company)?

2. Does the employer use any DBA, trade name, or brand name that should be referenced in the agreement?optional

3. What type of entity is the employer?

▼

4. What is the employer's principal business address?

5. In which state is the employer's principal place of business?

▼

6. What is the employee's full legal name?

7. What is the employee's current home address?

8. What was the employee's original hire date or service commencement date?optional

📅

9. What was the employee's most recent job title?

10. What department or business unit did the employee work in?

11. Was the employee an officer, executive, director, manager, fiduciary, or other senior decision-maker?

12. In which state did the employee primarily work?

▼

13. What city, county, and specific worksite or home-office address did the employee primarily work from?optional

14. Did the employee work remotely or regularly work in more than one jurisdiction?

Separation Details7 questions

15. What is the employee's last day of employment (separation date)?

📅

16. On what date will this agreement be presented to the employee?

📅

17. How should the agreement describe the business reason for the separation, if at all?

▼

18. For internal drafting logic, how did employment end?

▼

19. Will there be an agreed internal or external announcement about the employee's departure?optional

▼

20. Is this separation part of a larger reduction-in-force affecting two or more employees?

21. Will the employee work through the separation date, be placed on paid garden leave, or stop working immediately?

▼

Severance Payment11 questions

22. Is severance being paid under a policy, employment agreement, offer letter, plan, or as a discretionary one-off arrangement?

▼

23. What consideration is the employee receiving that they are not already entitled to receive?

AI will draft based on your other answers

24. What is the gross cash severance amount, or how is it calculated?

25. If the severance amount is formula-based, describe the formula (weeks/months of pay, base rate, bonus component, and any cap).optional

AI will draft based on your other answers

26. How will the severance be paid?

▼

27. When does severance payment begin?

▼

28. How will payments be made and reported for tax purposes?optional

▼

29. Is the employee a specified employee of a public company, or is any severance deferred beyond ordinary short-term timing?optional

30. Include standard tax withholding and no-tax-advice language?

▼

31. Could any payment be parachute-payment or excise-tax sensitive (for example, tied to a change in control)?optional

32. Is severance conditioned on anything beyond signing this agreement?

Final Pay & Wages4 questions

33. Was the employee classified as exempt, non-exempt, commissioned, or in another pay category?optional

▼

34. Have all earned wages, commissions, bonuses, reimbursements, and accrued PTO/vacation been paid or separately identified?

▼

35. Are commissions, bonuses, or incentive compensation earned, disputed, or payable after separation?optional

▼

36. Are any unreimbursed business expenses owed to the employee?optional

Benefits & Equity6 questions

37. Is the employee eligible for COBRA or state continuation coverage, and what is the qualifying-event date?optional

▼

38. Will the employer subsidize the employee's COBRA health insurance premiums?

▼

39. Does the employee hold stock options, RSUs, profits interests, or other equity awards?

40. How are bonus, commission, change-in-control, deferred-comp, or executive incentive rights treated?optional

AI will draft based on your other answers

41. Describe any outplacement, career coaching, EAP, or transition services being offered, including provider, duration, and dollar cap.optional

AI will draft based on your other answers

42. Are any other benefits, perks, services, or plan rights being continued, ended, accelerated, or modified?optional

AI will draft based on your other answers

General Release13 questions

43. Should the agreement include a no-admission-of-liability clause?

44. Who is releasing claims?

▼

45. Which released parties are covered?optional

46. List any parent companies, subsidiaries, affiliates, owners, benefit plans, or individuals that must be expressly named as released parties.optional

AI will draft based on your other answers

47. Which statutory, common-law, wage, contract, tort, benefit, and employment claims should be listed in the release?optional

48. Which claims should be carved out of the release (not released)?

49. Include a master protected-activity carve-out covering agency charges, investigations, whistleblowing, labor-law rights, subpoenas, and legally required truthful statements?

▼

50. Should the agreement expressly preserve whistleblower communication and award rights with securities regulators?optional

51. Should confidentiality, nondisparagement, and cooperation clauses preserve the right to discuss pay and working conditions with coworkers?optional

52. Does the employee have any pending or potential workers' compensation claim?optional

▼

53. Will the agreement state that the employee may apply for unemployment benefits and that the employer will respond truthfully?optional

54. Are there known or threatened legal claims, EEOC charges, agency charges, or complaints by the employee?

55. Does this severance resolve, or relate to, any claim or allegation of discrimination, harassment, or retaliation?

ADEA / OWBPA Compliance3 questions

56. Is the employee age 40 or older?

57. Include the written advice-to-consult-counsel language?

▼

58. Does any state-law rescission, revocation, or review period apply beyond the standard 7 days?optional

▼

Post-Employment Obligations6 questions

59. What non-disparagement obligation will this agreement include?

▼

60. What no-rehire arrangement, if any, will the agreement include?

▼

61. What reference commitment will the employer make?

▼

62. Should the agreement include a post-employment cooperation clause (requiring the employee to assist with litigation, audits, or investigations after their departure)?

63. Should the terms of this severance agreement be kept confidential?

64. Should trade secret and confidential business information obligations survive separately from settlement confidentiality?optional

Restrictive Covenants & IP4 questions

65. Is the employee already subject to a noncompete, nonsolicit, confidentiality, invention assignment, or other restrictive covenant?optional

66. Will the severance agreement include any new noncompete or post-employment work restriction?optional

67. Will the employee be restricted from soliciting customers, employees, vendors, or business partners?optional

68. Will the employee assign inventions, IP, or work product in connection with the separation?optional

Company Property & Systems4 questions

69. Which company property, documents, credentials, and data must the employee return or certify as destroyed?

70. When will the employee's access to company systems, email, and software be terminated?

▼

71. Did the employee use personal devices, personal email, cloud storage, removable media, or messaging apps for company work?optional

72. Must the employee certify deletion or return of company data from personal devices, cloud accounts, and storage media?optional

Clawback & Remedies3 questions

73. Should the agreement include a clawback provision - requiring the employee to repay severance if they breach any material obligation?

74. Should the agreement allow a court order (injunction) to stop breaches of confidentiality, trade secret, property return, or restrictive covenant terms?optional

75. Will any fixed damages, forfeiture, or repayment amount apply for breach?optional

Dispute Resolution5 questions

76. How should disputes be resolved?

▼

77. Will the agreement include class, collective, or representative-action waiver language?optional

78. What forum, state, and county should apply to disputes?

79. Which law will govern the agreement?optional

▼

80. Should the prevailing party in a dispute be entitled to recover attorneys' fees?

▼

Execution & Notices11 questions

81. How must notices under the agreement be delivered?

82. What are the full notice addresses and emails for both the employer and the employee?optional

AI will draft based on your other answers

83. What is the deadline for the employee to accept the severance offer?optional

📅

84. Will the parties sign electronically?optional

85. May the agreement be signed in counterparts and delivered by PDF, email, or e-signature platform?optional

86. What is the full name of the person signing on behalf of the Company?

87. What is the title of the person signing on behalf of the Company?

▼

88. On what date did the employee sign the agreement?optional

📅

89. On what date did the employer sign the agreement?optional

📅

90. What is the agreement's effective date after any revocation period expires?optional

📅

91. Are there any additional terms or negotiated provisions that should be included in this agreement?optional

AI will draft based on your other answers

✓ Grounded - not a guessArti is filling the attorney's framework with your answers - it never writes the law.

Required - please read and check this box to generate:ArtiEsq provides self-help legal information and document automation. ArtiEsq is not a law firm, does not provide legal advice, and use of this product does not create an attorney-client relationship. You are responsible for reviewing the document and determining whether you should consult a licensed attorney for legal advice about your specific situation.

Checking account status...