Employment and people
Separation agreement
The paper that closes an employment relationship by agreement rather than leaving it to run out. It fixes the last day, sets out what is paid and when, deals with property, references and benefits, and records what each side is giving up in exchange. Many legal systems attach specific conditions to a release of employment claims — independent advice, a period to consider, a right to change your mind — and those conditions come from local law, not from the document.
- In the catalogue
- Employment and people
- Where it can live
- Any of the 184 governing laws
Who uses one
- Employers and departing employees agreeing terms rather than arguing about them.
- Companies going through a restructure who want each exit recorded the same way.
- A person offered an exit package who wants to read what signing it costs.
What you are deciding
- The last day, and whether notice is worked or paid
- What is paid, in what parts, and when
- Accrued holiday, expenses and anything outstanding
- What happens to equity, benefits and insurance
- Company property, files and accounts
- What each side is releasing
- Whether either side may talk about it, and what the reference says
- Which confidentiality and restrictions carry on
Blanks you leave stay blank and wait in the room. Nothing is filled in from a guess.
The sections a draft usually has
- 1The parties
- 2Termination date
- 3Payments
- 4Benefits and equity
- 5Return of property
- 6Release of claims
- 7Confidentiality and non-disparagement
- 8Reference
- 9Continuing obligations
- 10Governing law
A general outline, not a required one. What turns up in a draft follows what you described. A contract is written in the order a contract is read.
What people call it
The names this kind of paper goes by. They are here because people search for them. They also filter the catalogue. They are not a wordlist the door matches. At the composer you describe the deal in your own words instead.
- separation agreement
- settlement agreement
- severance agreement
- termination agreement employee
- exit agreement
- compromise agreement
Questions people ask
- Does an employee need independent advice before signing?
- In several legal systems, yes — a release of employment claims is only effective if the person took advice, and sometimes the employer contributes to the cost. Ask a lawyer if you are being asked to sign one.
- Is a separation agreement the same as a settlement agreement?
- The names overlap and differ by country. Both describe a paper ending a dispute or a relationship on agreed terms with a release of claims; the label depends on local practice.
- Can it stop someone talking about what happened?
- Confidentiality and non-disparagement terms are common, but several systems now limit how far they can reach, particularly where the matter involves reporting wrongdoing.
General answers about the document. Not advice about your situation. Not written about any one country.
Where it lives
A contract names the legal system it is governed by. That is a separate decision from which paper it is. You pick it at the door, from any of the 184 units in Governing law, including England and Wales, Delaware, California and New York.
You do not start from this page. Describe the deal in one sentence at the door. Read the draft back in plain language, in the order a contract is read.
Start it at the door →Related kinds