Employee is laid off with no severance, then asked to complete a work project for free: 'I had asked for 6 weeks of severance, but they refused'

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JR Atkinson • Writer and Editor
Aug 7, 2026 11:45 AM EDT

Would you sacrifice a good reference for a swift exit?

When you're leaving a job, things might get a little bit messy. If it wasn't your choice to leave, then you might be blindsided by the decision, and it might cause you to lose a little bit of respect for the people that you work with. Layoffs happen, and you should take them in stride, but that doesn't mean you have to sacrifice everything just to go with the flow. You still get to exercise your rights as an employee, even if they don't require your services anymore. Just because you're letting somebody go doesn't mean it's an excuse to treat them unfairly. That's the question that this employee was asking themselves after they were laid off from a job. They were not happy with the way their company handled it, and they wondered what recourse they had in the situation. Offering severance is the bare minimum for being laid off from a job. It gives you enough runway to not be fully blindsided, and it gives you enough time to get your ducks in a row to look for other jobs. It might not be everything, but at least it's a gesture that your company still has some investment in your success and happiness. You don't wanna end up with nothing in your pocket, facing a tough job market. You're allowed to ask for what you want, but companies are legally required to give it to you. But the company in the story wants to go one step further and ask their employees now for more employees to do some extra work for them. 

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  • A woman holds cash an a pencil in front of her face, disappointed
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    A woman holds cash an a pencil in front of her face, disappointed

  • I was laid off on Thursday over Teams, and now they want me to write a handoff doc and sign exit paperwork without any severance. Should I even do that?

    I don't see any benefit to signing a separation agreement since I'm already out of the company and my final paycheck has been deposited. Writing the handoff probably wouldn't take much time, but honestly, it feels more like a matter of principle than effort.
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  • I believe that I don't owe them anything, especially unpaid work after they've already let me go. But follow-up question: should I tell them outright that I won't do it unless there's compensation, or should I just leave the request unanswered?
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  • The final pay was deposited into my account, and I had asked for 6 weeks of severance, but they refused. Their reasons were: a) they're not legally required to give it, b) the budget is tight, which was the reason for the layoff in the first place, and c) according to them, company policy is that they don't pay severance unless the law requires it and after 3+ years with the company, though I don't remember seeing that written anywhere before.
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  • Honestly, I feel like I've already mentally checked out at this point. I've already started looking for another job, and I'm reviewing interview questions with ChatGPT, and if I end up getting any offers, I have Interview VIP tool ready because it was always the tool that saved me and gave me a confidence boost every time whenever I enter an interview.
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  • So yeah, the idea of going back there now and working for them without pay feels extremely absurd.
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  • Once you've been notified that you're not going to work your job anymore, then it's probably pretty difficult to find the energy to do more work for them. And on top of that, you aren't even being compensated anymore. This is a pretty rough transition, and it doesn't need to be that way. The employee in the story wondered what they could do in this situation and reached out to the Internet for a little bit of advice.

  • Downtown_Interest667 No pay, no work. Very simple. If they want a handover doc or any signatures on anything, you are compensated for it.
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  • A woman looks at her phone on the table, distressed
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    Subjects are models representing story

    A woman looks at her phone on the table, distressed

  • gormami The response is no, 1. You are not legally required to do so, 2. Your time budget is full looking for new employment, and 3. Your policy is to not perform uncompensated work for for profit companies.
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  • If they would like to sign a legally binding contract to exchange your time for their money, you could fit them into your schedule. If it were me, I would make the point painfully obvious. that they chose this situation, not you.
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  • underwater-sunlight The handover document would be a project and charged as such, payable in advance. Exit paperwork request is one i would ignore
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  • Efficient-Link-9793 Just tell them that your personal policy is to not work for free. Therefore, nothing further will be done since it would violate my policy.
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  • Outdoorlife74 Tell them that since you are no longer an employee, you will need to be 1099 contact employee for this work request. You fee is equal to a 6 week severance.
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  • Smart-Emu5581 Say you are available for hire as a consultant to write those docs they want.
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  • Living_Fig_6386 Read the separation agreement and see if there are any terms you can exploit to your benefit, and if there are terms to your detriment. Sometimes, they make sense, but you are under no obligation to sign one. Ignore the hand-off doc request. You are not longer an employee and have no obligation to act as an unpaid consultant.
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  • If you'd like to squeeze a little more money out of them, offer to write the document as an independent contractor at an hourly rate that is 2x the hourly pay you had as an employee (divide annual salary by 2080). They will either accept and you have a short paying gig, or they refuse and you are off the hook.
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  • Bbqcele Sounds like your company failed to prepare for your layoff. If they wanted SOPs or status reports, they should've asked for that BEFORE they let you go. I echo what others are saying (you're not legally
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  • required to work for a company that no longer employs you) but with additional emphasis on another point some commenters have made (are you ok if you burn this bridge by saying no to their requests). Both are valid points.
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  • I'm an anxious personality so I try to leave on the very best of terms in the hope that one day I could be hired back and/or so my leadership team/peers remember me fondly and might recommend me for a position at company they work at in the future. That's just me. I def fantasize about telling people to eff off instead though.
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boss antiwork workplace-stories toxic-workplace job bosses work coworkers working workplace bad bosses toxic-work-environment
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