Resource Aid Center

6 min read · Last updated July 29, 2026

In this article

• The date on page one is not a suggestion
• Every clock that started today
• The severance check and the seven-day track
• The mistakes that cost people the most
• What to do at 30, 60, and 90 days
• FAQ

Marcus was handed a nine-page severance agreement at 10 a.m. on a Tuesday, along with eight weeks of pay and a date to sign by. He signed it that morning in the parking lot, because the date felt like an order. It was not one. He had at least 21 days, and he gave away 20 of them before lunch.

The date on page one is not a suggestion

Most severance agreements ask you to give up your right to sue. When the agreement waives age-discrimination claims, meaning claims under the federal law that protects workers 40 and older, the waiver is only valid if the employer follows a specific set of rules. Two of them are calendar rules.

The regulation states that a waiver is not knowing and voluntary unless the individual “is given a period of at least 21 days within which to consider the agreement,” or “at least 45 days” if the waiver is offered in connection with a group exit incentive or termination program, which is what most multi-person layoffs are (29 CFR 1625.22).

The second rule is the one almost nobody is told about. The same regulation requires that “for a period of at least 7 days following the execution of such agreement, the individual may revoke the agreement, and the agreement shall not become effective or enforceable until the revocation period has expired.” You signed on Tuesday. Through the following Tuesday, you can take it back in writing.

Here is the part to be honest about: both windows come from the age-discrimination law. If you are under 40, no federal minimum review period applies. Your state or your contract may give you one. Federal law does not. The severance waiver is only one piece of the paperwork, too — what your employer owes you in the first week, from final pay to what else is safe to sign, goes beyond this one clause.

Every clock that started today

The severance deadline is the loudest clock in the packet, and it is not the most expensive one to miss.

What runs out	How long you have	Where the rule comes from
Review a severance agreement waiving age claims, individual termination (age 40+)	At least 21 days	29 CFR 1625.22
Review it when the offer goes to a group (age 40+)	At least 45 days	29 CFR 1625.22
Revoke after signing (age 40+)	At least 7 days	29 CFR 1625.22
Elect COBRA to keep your employer health plan	At least 60 days from the later of coverage loss or your COBRA notice	26 CFR 54.4980B-6
Enroll in a Marketplace plan after losing job coverage	60 days	HealthCare.gov special enrollment
Get SNAP food benefits on the emergency track	By the 7th calendar day after you file	7 CFR 273.2(i)
Get a standard SNAP decision	Within 30 days of filing	7 CFR 273.2

COBRA is the law that lets you keep your employer’s health plan after you leave, at your own cost, which is usually the full premium rather than the payroll deduction you were used to. Your election period “must not end before the date that is 60 days after the later of” the date you would lose coverage or the date you receive your COBRA notice (26 CFR 54.4980B-6). You do not have to decide this week. You do have to know the date.

The severance check and the seven-day track

SNAP, the federal food benefit program most people still call food stamps, has an emergency lane called expedited service. If you qualify, the state must post your benefits “not later than the seventh calendar day following the date an application was filed” (7 CFR 273.2(i)).

Qualifying turns on two numbers: monthly gross income under $150, and liquid resources no higher than $100. The regulation spells out what counts as a liquid resource, and the list includes checking and savings accounts.

Run Marcus’s numbers. His severance is $9,600, paid as a lump sum on August 7.

• He files August 5. Checking balance that day: $84. No wages yet this month. Both tests are met, so the state must make benefits available by August 12, the seventh calendar day.
• He files August 10. The $9,600 is now in checking. That is a liquid resource of $9,600 against a $100 cap. Expedited service is gone, and the state has up to 30 days.

Same household, five days apart. Do not wait for the severance to clear before you apply for anything.

The mistakes that cost people the most

Signing in the room. You will feel pressure to be gracious and get it over with. The review period exists precisely because that pressure is real. Take the packet home.

Assuming severance and unemployment cannot overlap. Whether they can is set by your state, not your employer. File your claim the week you separate anyway. If a state offsets severance, it will tell you. If you never file, no one tells you anything.

Letting the COBRA notice sit unopened. The 60-day clock runs from the later of coverage loss or that notice, so the envelope is the record of when your window started. Open it, write the date on the front, and keep it.

Waiting to be sure before applying for food or utility help. Eligibility is decided by the agency on current income, not by your estimate. An application you were unsure about costs you an hour. A month you did not apply is gone.

If your separation was framed as a firing rather than a layoff, read what to protect in the first 72 hours before you file. For the full order of operations, start with the first 72 hours after a layoff.

What to do at 30, 60, and 90 days

By day 30: Unemployment claim filed and weekly certifications started. Coverage decided, either COBRA elected or a Marketplace plan chosen in your 60-day special enrollment period. Severance signed after a real review, or negotiated.

By day 60: Both coverage windows have closed, so confirm in writing that you have coverage in force, not coverage you meant to buy. Recheck food and utility assistance now that the severance is spending down, because the resource test that blocked you in week one may not block you in week nine.

By day 90: Reconcile every benefit against what you actually received. If a state counted your severance differently than you reported it, this is when the notice arrives and when it is cheapest to fix.

Frequently asked questions

Can my employer shorten the 21-day review period if I say I am ready to sign? You can sign early by choice, and many people do. What the employer cannot do is refuse to give you the time. If the waiver covers age-discrimination claims and the employer never offered the full period, the waiver itself may not be valid.

Does the 7-day revocation period apply to the whole agreement or just the age claims? The regulation ties the revocation right to the waiver of age-discrimination claims, and it states the agreement is not effective or enforceable until that period expires. In practice, employers usually hold the entire agreement, including the severance payment, until the seven days pass.

I already signed yesterday. Is it too late? If you are 40 or older and the agreement waives age-discrimination claims, you likely have at least seven days from signing to revoke it in writing. Send the revocation in a way that creates a record, and send it to the person named in the agreement.

Will taking severance disqualify me from unemployment? It depends on your state. Some states treat severance as wages that delay your benefit start date, others do not count it at all. File your claim in the week you separate and let the agency apply its own rule rather than deciding for it.

Can I apply for SNAP while I am still receiving severance? Yes. Anyone can apply at any time. Whether you qualify, and whether you get the seven-day emergency track, depends on your income and your account balances on the day you file.