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Severance pay calculator

Estimate a severance package from your salary, years of service, and your employer's weeks-per-year rate, with an after-tax take-home estimate.

Primary sources
DOL and IRS guidance · employer policy, not statute
Privacy
Inputs stay in your browser

Your gross base salary before taxes and deductions.

Length of service
Severance rate

Use the rate in your employer's written policy or offer. If it is unknown, compare several scenarios; there is no universal rate.

Enter a cap only when your employer's policy or offer includes one. Leave blank to model an uncapped scenario.

Your estimated severance and take-home appear here once you enter your salary and length of service.

Are you a federal employee?

Federal severance follows a fixed formula that is different from the private-sector method above. Use the federal calculator for an accurate estimate.

Federal severance pay calculator
How it works

How severance pay is calculated

For a private-sector offer based on weeks of pay per year of service, use these four steps with your employer's terms.

  1. 1

    Find your weekly pay

    Divide your annual base salary by 52 to get the weekly pay used in this weeks-per-year scenario.

  2. 2

    Count your years of service

    Add up your full years with the employer, plus any partial year. Longer tenure means a larger package under a per-year formula.

  3. 3

    Apply the weeks-per-year rate

    Multiply weekly pay by years of service, then by the weeks-per-year rate in your employer's policy or offer. You can compare 1- and 2-week scenarios if the terms are still being negotiated.

  4. 4

    Check for a cap

    Apply a cap only when your employer's policy or offer includes one. For example, a 26-week cap limits a larger calculation to 26 weeks of pay. Leave the field blank to model an uncapped scenario.

Severance FAQ

Common questions

QHow is severance pay calculated?

For a weeks-of-pay-per-year policy, divide annual salary by 52, then multiply by years of service and the weeks your employer credits per year. For example, 1 or 2 weeks per year produces different scenarios; neither is a universal entitlement. Apply a cap, such as 26 weeks, only if your written policy or offer specifies one. Use the terms of your policy, contract, or negotiated offer.

QIs severance pay required by law?

Not in the United States. No federal law requires private employers to pay severance. The WARN Act requires 60 days' advance notice of a mass layoff or plant closing at larger employers, but that is notice, not pay. Severance is typically a matter of company policy, an employment contract, or a negotiated separation agreement.

QHow much severance is typical?

There is no universal severance rate. An employer may use weeks of pay per year of service, a flat number of weeks, a negotiated amount, or no severance at all. Use the rate and cap in your employer's written policy or offer. If you do not have those terms yet, compare several scenarios instead of treating one preset as typical.

QIs severance pay taxed?

Yes. The IRS treats severance as supplemental wages, but 22% is an optional flat withholding method for certain separately identified payments—not a universal tax rate. An employer may instead use the aggregate withholding method, and special rules apply above $1 million of annual supplemental wages. The calculator shows one 22%-plus-FICA scenario; wage-base rules, Additional Medicare Tax, and state or local withholding can change the check. Withholding is not your final tax liability.

QCan I negotiate my severance package?

Often, yes. Because severance is usually not a legal entitlement, the initial offer is frequently a starting point. Employees negotiate the number of weeks, continued health coverage, the payout of unused leave, and the terms of any release they are asked to sign. Consider legal advice before signing a separation agreement.

QIs federal severance calculated the same way?

No. Federal employees have a fixed statutory formula (one week of pay per year for the first 10 years, two weeks per year after that, plus an age adjustment over 40, capped at 52 weeks). If you are a federal employee, use our federal severance pay calculator instead of this general tool.

Sources