A quick note before you read. Everything in this post comes from my personal experience working in HR and from publicly available research and data. It is not legal advice, financial advice, or a substitute for talking with a professional about your specific situation. Laws and company policies vary by state and by employer, so if you have questions about your own agreement, an employment attorney or your state labor department is the right place to start.
If you were laid off with no severance, I want you to hear this first. It was not a judgment on your work. Most of the time, that decision was made in a meeting you were never invited to, using a spreadsheet you never got to see.
That spreadsheet usually is not tracking how hard you worked. When companies decide which roles to cut, the determining factors often include the cost of a position, which departments are being restructured or merged, where leadership wants to spend money next, and which work can be combined, moved, or handed off to new technology. In HR, these conversations are about eliminating positions, not people. The person in the seat often has very little to do with why the seat disappears.
Laid off workers see it too. In Zety’s 2026 survey of 1,000 recently laid off workers, the most common reasons people were given were downsizing or restructuring at 37 percent, cost cutting at 33 percent, and the company’s own financial struggles at 17 percent. Only 12 percent were told their personal performance was the reason, and nearly three out of four believed their layoff came down entirely to changes at the company. zety
Severance follows its own set of rules. The Department of Labor notes that when severance is offered, it is usually based on how long you worked there. Your industry matters as well. A 2026 Resume Genius survey found that 62 percent of laid off retail and hospitality workers got no severance or transition support, compared with 16 percent in tech and 15 percent in finance. Whether you walked away with something often depends on where you worked and how long you were there, not on how good you were. dolhcamag
You are also far from alone. That same Zety survey found that 66 percent of women walked away with no severance package at all, compared with 60 percent of men. Women were also more likely to say their layoff was not handled fairly. zety
Here is something I learned in over 17 years on the HR side of these conversations. A lot of people leave money and protection on the table simply because nobody told them they were allowed to ask. Severance is not something the law hands you. The U.S. Department of Labor says plainly that federal wage law does not require it, and that it is a matter of agreement between you and your employer. That sounds like bad news. It is actually your opening, since anything that is an agreement can be talked about. dol
So let’s talk about it. Below are six things you can still ask for or protect, even if the first answer you got was nothing. If your agreement is long, confusing, or asks you to give up a lot, a short consult with an employment attorney is money well spent. Some offer a free first call, so it never hurts to ask.
“66% of laid off women received no severance package, compared with 60% of men.”
Before you sign anything…
Slow Down Before You Sign the Severance Agreement
When you are in shock, the paperwork can feel like the fastest way out of the room. Please do not sign it that day. If a company is offering you any money in exchange for a signature, that document almost always includes a release. A release means you agree not to bring legal claims against them later. That signature is worth something to them, so give yourself time to understand what you are trading it for.
If you are 40 or older, the law builds that time in for you. Under the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act, an agreement that waives age discrimination claims has to give you at least 21 days to think it over, or 45 days if you were part of a group layoff. You also get seven days to change your mind after you sign. findlaw
If you are under 40, you can still ask for time. “I’d like a few days to review this” is one of the most normal sentences HR hears. From where I sat, the women who took their time never looked difficult. They looked like someone who reads what she signs.
Ask Whether the Severance Offer Is Final
Here is the part nobody tells you. A lot of severance offers are a starting point, not a final answer. A company that offered you nothing may still find two weeks of pay when you ask calmly. A company that offered two weeks may have room for four. Nobody hands that over without a request, so you have to make one.
The gap shows up in the dollars too. Outplacement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas found that women received 4.6 percent less in severance than men across all industries in 2024. Part of closing that gap is simply asking. challengergray
You do not need a speech. Try something like this. “Thank you for walking me through this. Before I sign, I’d like to ask whether there is any flexibility in the package, given my four years here and the projects I led this year.” Then stop talking and let them answer. If the answer is no, you have lost nothing. You are right where you were five minutes earlier, with one more thing crossed off your list.
If they truly cannot move on the dollar amount, ask about timing instead. Sometimes a company can keep you on payroll a little longer, push your official end date back, or pay your severance in one lump sum instead of spreading it out. Each of those can put more money in your hands or buy a few more weeks of benefits, even when the number itself stays the same.
Get Clear on Your Health Coverage After a Layoff
If you had health insurance through work, find out exactly when it ends. Some plans stop the day you leave. Others run through the end of the month. That one detail can decide whether your next doctor visit is covered.
You will likely be offered COBRA, which lets you keep the same coverage for a while. According to the Department of Labor, you generally get at least 60 days to sign up, and coverage after a job loss usually lasts up to 18 months. The hard part is the price. Under COBRA you can be charged the full premium plus a small fee, up to 102 percent of the cost. The share your employer used to pay quietly becomes your bill. unt.edu +2
That makes health coverage one of the best things to bring up. Ask whether the company will pay your COBRA premiums for a few months, or keep you on the plan through the end of the month. It costs them far less than it saves you. It is also worth checking HealthCare.gov, since losing the coverage you had through your job usually lets you sign up for a Marketplace plan outside the normal enrollment season.
Collect Everything You Have Already Earned
Before you ask for anything extra, make sure you get everything you are already owed. This is the list I would want a friend to check.
Ask about your unused vacation or PTO. Whether a company has to pay it out depends on your state and the company policy, so ask directly and get the answer in writing. Ask about any bonus or commission you earned before your last day, especially if your layoff landed close to a payout date. Ask what happens to your 401(k) match and whether any of it vests on your way out. Ask when your final paycheck arrives and how it will be paid.
None of this is asking for a favor. It is asking for your money. HR expects these questions, and when nobody brings them up, things slip through the cracks more often than anyone likes to admit.
Ask for the Things That Help You Get Hired Again
Some of the most useful things in a severance conversation cost the company almost nothing. That makes them easier to get.
Ask how your departure will be described, and request that it be called a layoff or a position elimination. That wording matters when a future employer calls to verify your work history. Ask whether your manager will be a reference, or write a short letter or LinkedIn recommendation while your work is still fresh in their mind. Ask if the company offers outplacement services, which is career coaching and job search support some employers pay for during layoffs. If you signed a noncompete, ask whether they will release you from it, since the role you held no longer exists.
Before your access gets turned off, and sometimes that happens fast, save what you are allowed to keep. Never take anything confidential. Your own performance reviews, kind notes from coworkers, and the contact information of people you want to stay in touch with are usually fine if your company policy allows it, and they are much harder to track down later.
While you are at it, apply for unemployment as soon as you can, even if you did get severance. Every state has its own rules about how severance affects benefits, and your state office is the one that gets to decide. Let them make that call instead of talking yourself out of applying.
Build Your Own Layoff Cushion Before You Need It
This last one has nothing to do with the company. It is about making sure that if another layoff ever comes, it does not catch you with nothing.
Money is the obvious piece. In the Federal Reserve’s most recent report on household finances, 63 percent of adults said they could cover a surprise $400 expense with cash or its equivalent. That means more than a third would have to find another way. A layoff is a much bigger surprise than $400. Start wherever you can. A small automatic transfer every payday adds up quietly, and even one month of expenses set aside changes how you make decisions. fedcommunities
If saving feels impossible right now, start by naming the number. Add up what one month of rent, food, transportation, your phone, and the bills you cannot skip actually costs you. Knowing that number takes the fog out of it, and the fog is usually what makes money feel so scary.
That cushion matters for more than paying bills. Glassdoor found that 57 percent of laid off job seekers felt pressure to accept lower pay to get back to work, and that number climbed to 63 percent for women. Savings give you room to say no to a lowball offer. Without them, panic ends up doing the negotiating for you. charterworks
The other half of the cushion is your career paperwork. Keep a running list of your wins while you still have access to the numbers. Save copies of your performance reviews somewhere personal. Update your resume a few times a year instead of only when you are scared. The woman who can start applying the day after a layoff is in a very different spot than the one rebuilding everything from memory.
“63% of laid off women felt pressure to accept lower pay to get back to work.”
If you are reading this after the layoff already happened, please be gentle with yourself. You did not cause this. The fact that you are reading about what to ask for tells me you are already moving. Pick one thing from this list and take care of it today. Then pick the next one tomorrow. A layoff can take your job, but it does not get to take your judgment, your skills, or the years of work that made you good at what you do. Those are still yours, and they are coming with you.
If your resume is next on your list, The Next Chapter has a free guide for exactly that. The Resume Comeback Guide was written from the HR side of the hiring table, and it walks you through building a resume that gets past the screening software and in front of a real person. There is a checklist inside to make it easier. Grab it when you are ready, or save it for later. Either way, there is no pressure, and it is yours to keep.
The Next Chapter. A career development program of The 1st 28 Foundation. Built for women who are ready to move but need a clear path forward. Over 17 years of HR experience behind every resource we create.
