How to Negotiate a Severance Package

-- Gather information.

Find out whether your company has given severance packages to others. If so, talk to your former colleagues to learn the details.

-- Understand your leverage. What does the company want from you? Maybe you have a contact list it could use. Or maybe your boss needs you to train a replacement or complete a project.

Also, if you've been with the company for several years and performed your duties well, point it out. But "you have to have facts to back it up," said Emory Mulling, chairman of Mulling Corp., a placement and career-transition coaching company in Atlanta.

-- Act strategically.

Prepare a prioritized list of what you plan to request. Also, consider to whom you should make your argument. Maybe that's your boss. Or maybe it's a human resources official.

-- Don't start off litigiously.

Showing up at the negotiating table with a lawyer will set a hostile tone, experts said. Your company will then bring in its lawyer. "It gets very serious, very quickly," Mulling said. "You mention an attorney only as the last resort if you feel you have extenuating circumstances."

-- Look for gotchas.

Some employers will ask you to sign a non-compete clause, which would forbid you to work for a competitor. In some states, courts tend to rule against such clauses. Your employer could also ask you to sign a non-solicitation clause, which would bar you from wooing away anyone from your former company if you start a business. A non-disclosure clause would keep you from sharing confidential company information. Make sure you understand your rights. You might want to have an employment lawyer review any of these clauses in your severance agreement.

-- Don't sign anything right away.

Take the paperwork home. Have a friend or spouse look it over. If you don't understand it, have a lawyer study it. "You don't want to knee-jerk sign it because you are an emotional wreck," Gordon said.