Decide severance before the week you need it.
The Severance Policy Starter is ten questions to answer while things are calm. Thirty minutes with whoever owns people decisions and whoever owns the budget.
Get the worksheetWhat's inside
- Who decides, and who qualifies. The two answers that are hardest to settle once a specific person is involved.
- The formula. One rule for everyone, with your own numbers.
- The money. Whether there is a line in the budget, or it gets found at the time.
- The conversation. What the people leaving hear, and what the people staying hear the same day.
- The review. An owner and a date, so the policy stays current.
Why now
Without a policy, severance gets decided case by case, under pressure, in the same week as everything else. Nobody planned for it, so nobody can do it well, even when they want to. A policy starts with answering these questions before they are urgent.
Who it's for
- Founders, COOs and chiefs of staff who would make the call themselves.
- Finance leaders who want severance to be a number in the plan.
- People leaders who want one rule to apply to everyone.
Severance Policy Starter
Ten questions to answer while things are calm, so severance is not decided the week it is needed. This is where a policy starts.
How to use it. Set aside 30 minutes with whoever owns people decisions and whoever owns the budget. Answer what you can. A blank is useful too: it shows you what would be improvised. Then take your answers to employment counsel before adopting anything.
Want to pressure-test your answers?
The Severance Fire Drill is a 20-minute planning conversation with CushionPay's founder. We walk through a hypothetical reduction at your company and you leave with a one-page readiness note. It is a planning conversation, not legal advice, and there is no pitch unless you ask for one.
Book a Fire DrillAbout CushionPay
CushionPay is the modern severance benefit for growing companies. It puts a structure in place before a layoff, so severance isn't a scramble during one.
This worksheet is a planning aid. It is not legal, tax, investment or financial advice, and it does not describe what any employer is required to provide. Adopting a written severance policy can have legal consequences; have employment counsel review yours before you adopt or announce it. CushionPay product availability may vary by state and is subject to compliance review.