What claims can’t I give up in a severance agreement?
A general release usually gives up every claim you have against the company as of the day you sign. It cannot take away your right to file a charge with or cooperate with a government agency, your unemployment benefits, your workers’ compensation rights, your vested pension benefits, or certain federal wage rights. It generally does reach New York wage claims and New York WARN Act claims.
What the release takes
Almost always: every claim you have as of the day you sign, including discrimination, harassment and retaliation claims, contract claims, unpaid commissions and bonuses, and defamation. A release gives up your right to recover; it does not give up your right to file a charge. And it does not usually end your own continuing obligations: confidentiality, invention assignment and restrictive covenants you already signed generally survive.
What it cannot take
- Your right to file a charge, or to talk to an agency
- No waiver may stop you from filing with the EEOC or taking part in its investigation, and no agreement may penalize you for doing so (29 U.S.C. § 626(f)(4); 29 C.F.R. § 1625.22(i)(2)–(3)). New York adds the same protection for state and local agencies, and for speaking to law enforcement, the Attorney General or your own lawyer (Gen. Oblig. Law § 5-336(1)(c), (2)). You can still give up the money.
- Unemployment benefits
- “No agreement by an employee to waive his rights under this article shall be valid” (Labor Law § 595(1)).
- Workers’ compensation
- “No agreement or release ... by an employee to waive his right to compensation under this chapter shall be valid” (Workers’ Comp. Law § 32). Settling a filed claim requires Workers’ Compensation Board approval.
- Vested pension benefits
- Accrued pension benefits are non-forfeitable and cannot be assigned or alienated (29 U.S.C. §§ 1053(a), 1056(d)(1)). This protects the benefit, not an ERISA lawsuit, and it does not cover severance plans or other welfare plans.
- Some federal wage rights
- You cannot waive liquidated damages under the Fair Labor Standards Act, and you cannot privately settle whether the Act covers you at all (Brooklyn Savings Bank; Cheeks, 796 F.3d at 203).
What it can take that people assume it cannot
- New York wage claims. No New York rule requires a court to approve a private wage settlement, so a release generally reaches them.
- A New York WARN Act claim. A general release will extinguish it, and no court or agency has to approve that. See severance after a group layoff.
What is unsettled?
Whether a private release signed before any lawsuit can settle a genuine dispute over hours worked or rate of pay under the FLSA. Cheeks decided only that a stipulated dismissal of a filed FLSA case needs approval, and expressly left this question open. See the open questions.
Before you sign: what are your claims worth?
A release trades your claims for the severance. If you think you may have a claim, the New York employment case evaluator reviews your answers and documents the way I review a new matter and gives you a realistic pre-suit estimate, so you can compare what you would be giving up with what the agreement pays. It charges only the actual cost of running the analysis, never more than $5. Afterwards you can choose whether to send it to me for review.
New York severance agreements: the full guide
Confidentiality and non-disparagement
This page is general information about New York and federal law, last reviewed September 2026. It is not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Dollar figures, deadlines and pending legislation change. If you are holding an agreement with a deadline on it, speak with a lawyer now.