1. Do Not Sign Anything!

Don’t just sign your severance package offer: if you’ve signed it then you’re stuck with it. Find out whether it’s a good offer or a bad offer before you agree to it, not after. After, there’s almost never anything that can be done.

2. Get Expert Advice Quickly 

This sounds obvious, we know, but it needs to be said. Getting practical advice from an employment law expert will help you make quick decisions. Employers don’t generally leave offers on the table for endless periods of time. By consulting an expert with experience in thousands of severance packages you can get accurate and practical advice quickly, enabling you to act quickly. Any credible and honest expert can also help you understand what you’ve been offered and whether it’s worth accepting or not.

3. Keep an Open Mind

It’s easy to lose perspective when you’re in the thick of stressful situations, and being terminated and/or negotiating severance packages definitely qualify as stressful situations. However it’s important not to get carried away. It’s far too easy to form impressions that are hard to let go of but don’t serve you well in any real or practical sense. For example, some packages may superficially seem like a great offer when they actually aren’t. You may legally be entitled to far more, the restrictions they want to apply may hamper you too much, and on and on and on. Other packages may seem very unfair due to all the effort that you’ve put in, but it may still in fact be a generous offer based on your legal entitlements. These things vary. That’s why it’s always important to consult an expert who can let you know where you stand. Just remember to keep an open mind and not to jump to a preemptive judgment.

4. Don’t Accept a Bad Offer

This seems like straightforward common sense, we know, but once again it’s really easy to lose perspective. Losing your job is a traumatic experience. A bad offer will not make that go away. All it will do is close doors and leave you stuck with a hasty decision. A bad offer is a bad offer. There’s no other way to look at it. Don’t accept it and make a decision you may regret in the long term. Contact an expert and take things forward from there. If you have concerns or just want it to be over with as quickly as possible, then tell your lawyer that. Just don’t shoot yourself in the foot in an effort to get it over with. Remember, once you accept you can’t recant, so don’t accept.

5. Don’t Shun a Good Offer

Sometimes termination offers are extremely good. It’s important to remember that just because you got everything you deserved without a fight, that doesn’t mean you should automatically reject it. It also doesn’t always mean there’s more to be had if you do choose to fight.

The takeaway is this: It’s right and fair to stand up for your rights when an offer is unfair, but likewise you shouldn’t create a fight if you’ve been given a good offer.