Severance Pay Calculator

The standard severance formula

Severance = Weekly salary × Years of service × Weeks-per-year policy

Six years at $85,000 with a 2-weeks-per-year policy: 12 weeks ≈ $19,600 gross. After withholding (severance is taxed as ordinary wages, often withheld around the 22% supplemental rate plus FICA and state), figure roughly 70% lands in your account — about 3.4 months of $4,000/month expenses.

What is negotiable (more than people think)

• The weeks: initial offers frequently move 25–50% with a polite counter, especially with long tenure or when the layoff timing hurts (just before vesting or bonus dates).
• Healthcare: employer-paid COBRA months are often worth $1,500–2,500/month for families — sometimes easier to win than cash.
• Equity and bonus: vesting acceleration or pro-rated bonus can dwarf the cash weeks.
• The release: severance buys your signature on a claims waiver — which is the leverage. Workers over 40 get 21+ days to consider by law (ADEA); use it, and have big packages reviewed by an employment lawyer.

No US law requires severance

Except when promised by contract or handbook, or in mass layoffs where the WARN Act requires 60 days notice (or pay in lieu) at larger employers. Everything else is custom and negotiation.