Austin Severance Agreement Attorneys
At the end of the employment relationship, Texas employers often provide departing employees with the opportunity to sign a severance agreement. In the typical arrangement, an employee is offered a small amount of compensation in exchange for signing the agreement. While in most circumstances Texas employers are not required to offer any severance to departing employees, they do so for several reasons.
A primary reason to offer severance to a departing employee is to receive a full release in exchange. Typical severance agreements require a departing employee to give up all legal rights to any cause of action that could have been brought up to the date of the severance agreement. In simple terms, an employee will give up the right to sue for anything that might have happened. Once the agreement is signed, the employee’s rights (if any exist) have been extinguished. An employee may also give away rights as to the future, such as the ability to file for unemployment.
Employers also offer severance agreements for other reasons, including for good will and because the relationship between the employer and employee may continue into the future in another context.
Because severance agreements are contractual agreements that significantly affect the rights of employees, if you have been given a severance agreement by your employer it is a good idea to speak with a Texas employment lawyer. A Texas employment lawyer can help you determine if the severance agreement is fair and if there are any rights you are giving up out of your former employment. Moreover, in certain circumstances, the negotiation of a higher severance amount may be possible.