A safety net your team builds.A shield your company backs.
CushionPay is a portable layoff benefit employees build with their own post-tax payroll deductions — and it turns severance from an open-ended negotiation into a structure that's already in place before the conversation starts.
See how it works ↓Employees fund their own accounts, post-tax · Employer can also contribute to employee funds
CushionPayEmployerIllustrative employer dashboard — sample data, not a real company.
Four steps. No new headcount, no new budget line.
Turn it on as a benefit
Add CushionPay at open enrollment or roll it out any time. No premiums, and contributing to employee funds is optional.
They build their own cushion
Employees opt in and set a post-tax payroll deduction, and you can add to their funds if you choose. The money is theirs — held in FDIC-insured accounts through banking partners, and portable between employers.
The layoff is confirmed, not negotiated
On an involuntary termination, CushionPay verifies it through documentation and employer confirmation. No back-and-forth over what's owed.
Funds release the day it clears
Once verified, the employee's balance is released the same day, and their career transition support is activated.
workers aged 25–64 say they'd likely enroll in a workplace emergency savings program if their employer offered one.
The cost you're already carrying.
Every workforce reduction without a plan turns into its own negotiation — reviewed by legal, decided under time pressure, and explained a little differently to every departing employee.
Without a structure
- A legal review cycle for each departure
- Outcomes that vary by who's negotiating
- No forecastable number until after the decision
With CushionPay
- Terms agreed before a reduction happens
- The same process applied every time
- A number Finance can plan around ahead of time
Predictable, not negotiated
Funding, verification, and payout timing are agreed before a reduction happens, so Finance has a number to plan around instead of an estimate to defend afterward.
Consistent across every case
One structure, applied the same way, to everyone enrolled — HR isn't reconstructing fairness case by case in the middle of a reduction.
A benefit people actually notice
It shows up on the careers page, not just in the handbook — a visible signal in a market where job security is already the first thing candidates ask about.
The benefit only works if employees want it.
CushionPay isn't a payroll line item employees forget about. It's an account they own, with support attached to the worst day of their working year.
Same-day payout
Funds are released the day an involuntary termination is verified. No negotiation, no waiting, no paperwork burden.
Employee-owned and portable
The account belongs to the employee, not the employer. It follows them to their next job.
Post-tax contributions
Employees choose a per-cycle amount they're comfortable with. Contributions are post-tax, so there's no surprise tax burden later.
Career transition concierge
Resume support, coaching, mental health resources and job search tools activate alongside the payout.
Cushion Community
A verified peer network for people navigating a career transition, not a public forum.
Already offered CushionPay at work?
Employee sign in →Built to clear procurement, not just HR.
The details your IT and Legal teams will ask for, up front.
Held in FDIC-insured accounts through banking partners, in the employee's name — never on CushionPay's balance sheet, and never on yours.
Access is scoped per employer with row-level security. Employees hold their own login and their own account credentials.
Contributions move by ACH debit through Stripe, with per-debit limits and a full transaction ledger behind every balance.
Dedicated onboarding support, bulk roster import, and invite emails get a pilot group live in weeks rather than a full quarter.
Give your workforce a safety net. Give your company a plan.
See how CushionPay models against your current headcount and severance exposure — no cost, no commitment.