Severance Form

Use a Severance template to make your document workflow more streamlined.

What a Severance Form records

A Severance Form is a written agreement documenting the terms under which an employer provides compensation or other benefits when employment ends. It may address payment amounts, payment timing, benefit continuation, confidentiality, property return, release language, and signatures, depending on the agreement used. In the United States, enforceability depends on the document’s wording, consideration, signer consent, applicable state law, and any requirements governing age-related claims or other protected rights. signNow can route the prepared agreement for electronic signature and preserve the completed record with an audit trail.

Human resources

Human resources teams prepare severance agreements, release documents, benefit acknowledgments, and related employee records with consistent signature routing and audit evidence.

Employment counsel

Employers and legal teams use Severance Form workflows to document negotiated terms, employee consent, payment conditions, and records needed for later review.

Teams that manage severance workflows

Human resources administrators create a controlled Severance Form template, assign employee and employer roles, and use shared fields so every agreement follows the organization’s approved sequence and recordkeeping policy.
Employment counsel or delegated HR senders can route an individual Severance Form without granting broad administrative access, while administrators retain control over templates, permissions, and completed-document visibility.

How Severance Form signing works

The workflow moves from the prepared employment agreement to verified signatures, a completed record, and supporting audit evidence.

Upload agreement: Upload the employer’s prepared Severance Form and review its existing agreement language.
Review fields: Use signNow field detection, then confirm signature, date, initials, and acknowledgment fields.
Send for signature: Add the employee and employer representatives, then send the agreement in signing order.
Archive record: Store the completed agreement with its certificate of completion and audit trail.

Steps to complete Severance Form

Prepare the agreement first, then use signNow to place fields, route signatures, and preserve the completed employment record.

Upload document:
Upload the prepared Severance Form to signNow.
Place fields:
Check detected fields and add missing signature fields.
Assign signers:
Enter signer details and set the signing order.
Send agreement:
Send the agreement for electronic signature.
Save records:
Download the completed form and audit evidence.

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Field placement

Upload an employer-prepared agreement and place or confirm signature, initials, date, and acknowledgment fields before sending it to the employee.

Signing order

Route the Severance Form to employees and employer representatives in a defined sequence, reducing uncertainty about whose signature is still required.

Audit trail

Capture timestamps, participant actions, and completion evidence alongside the executed agreement for later employment-record review.

Reusable templates

Use reusable Severance Form templates to keep approved payment, release, and acknowledgment language consistent across departing employees.

Mobile signing

Support signing through desktop browsers and signNow mobile apps when participants are working away from an office.

Record retrieval

Keep the final Severance Form and completion evidence together so authorized teams can retrieve the executed agreement efficiently.

When electronic signing has legal standing

A Severance Form may be admissible when the parties demonstrate intent, consent, attribution, and the ability to retain and reproduce the record under ESIGN, 15 U.S.C. ch. 96, and applicable UETA or New York ESRA rules. Electronic records do not replace excluded documents such as wills, certain court orders, or family-law decrees.

Why teams look for DocuSign alternatives

Authentication and certificates for Severance Form

Signer access:

Email or link verification

Two-factor authentication:

SMS one-time passcodes

Identity verification:

Knowledge-based verification

Digital certificates:

PKI-supported certificates

Certificate format:

X.509 certificate standard

Audit evidence:

Documented signing events

Signer authentication:

The signer opens the assigned Severance Form through its secure signing invitation.

Timestamp capture:

signNow records the signing event’s date and time in the audit history.

Document integrity:

The completed document is associated with integrity evidence for later review.

Action logging:

Each signing action is added to the chronological event history.

Completion sealing:

The final agreement and completion certificate preserve the executed transaction record.

Audit export:

Authorized users can retrieve or export the audit trail with the document.

Challenges when completing Severance Form

Release language may not address the employee’s state, protected claims, consideration, or required review and revocation periods.
A signature workflow can omit employer representatives, initials, dates, or acknowledgments required by the prepared agreement.
Severance terms may be stored without the completion certificate or audit trail needed to explain how signatures were obtained.
Template edits can change payment, benefits, confidentiality, or release language without documented legal or HR approval.

Risks of an incomplete Severance Form

Consent gap

Missing employee consent

Release dispute

Unclear release language

Execution defect

Unassigned signature fields

Proof gap

Lost completion evidence

Control failure

Unapproved template changes

Best practices for retaining Severance Form records

Retention should follow the agreement’s legal, employment, tax, and organizational context rather than a single universal period.

Define the retention rule before signing

Set an organization-specific retention period after confirming the employee-record, tax, benefits, litigation, and state-law requirements that apply to the agreement. Do not treat signNow’s storage as the organization’s complete legal retention policy; preserve an exportable copy and document the governing schedule.

Export the agreement and audit evidence

Export the completed Severance Form with its certificate of completion and audit trail, then place the files in an access-controlled employment-record repository. Record the agreement identifier, employee, execution date, and disposition date in the organization’s records index.

Limit access to sensitive records

Restrict access to HR, authorized managers, payroll, and counsel according to job responsibilities. Severance agreements can contain compensation, benefit, medical, or confidential business information, so avoid broad shared folders and review permissions when personnel change.

Preserve every executed version

Preserve the exact executed document rather than replacing it with a later template revision. If the parties amend terms, retain the original agreement, the amendment, signatures, and audit evidence as separate linked records.

Retention periods for Severance Form records

A Severance Form has no single federal retention period; the applicable period depends on the records and legal obligations attached to the agreement.

Three years from tax filing

IRC §6501(a) governs federal tax assessment timing; confirm whether the agreement supports a tax record.

Six years for substantial understatement

IRC §6501(a) allows six years when income is understated by 25% or more; apply only if relevant.

Three years for payroll records

29 CFR §516.5 requires three years for covered payroll records; consult counsel for agreement classification.

State-required period may exceed federal

State employment-record rules may require longer retention than federal rules; verify the employee’s state.

Indefinite litigation hold

No universal severance period applies; preserve according to claims, tax, payroll, and litigation-hold requirements.

Platform requirements for Severance Form

Complete Severance Form in current Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Edge on Windows or macOS. signNow also provides mobile apps for iOS and Android, allowing authorized participants to review and sign the employment agreement from supported mobile devices.

Browsers Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge
Desktop systems Windows and macOS computers
Mobile apps iOS and Android mobile apps

Organizations should confirm that managed devices permit document access, signer notifications, and secure authentication. Teams connecting Severance Form workflows to internal systems should also review signNow API, integration, and identity-management requirements before deployment, then define who may create templates, send agreements, access completed records, and export audit evidence.

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Severance Form troubleshooting questions

These answers address signature routing, legal execution, plan limits, access problems, agreement review, and retention for Severance Form workflows.

signNow’s Business plan includes templates, audit trails, mobile apps, and legally binding eSignatures. Upload the prepared Severance Form, confirm detected fields, and assign each employee or employer representative before sending.

A Severance Form can generally use electronic signatures under ESIGN, 15 U.S.C. ch. 96, and applicable state law when intent, consent, attribution, and record retention are established. Review state-specific employment requirements before relying on electronic execution.

The Business plan is listed at $8 per user per month with annual billing, while Business Premium is $15 and adds bulk send. The plans include 100 signature invites per user each year, with overage fees applying.

If the employee cannot access the invitation, verify the email address, resend the signing request, and check device or browser access. signNow mobile apps support signing on iOS and Android, while authentication settings can add SMS verification.

The audit trail records signing activity and completion evidence, but it does not validate whether release language complies with state employment law. HR or employment counsel must review age-related claims, consideration, disclosures, and revocation requirements.

Export the completed Severance Form, certificate of completion, and audit trail, then apply the organization’s retention schedule. Federal periods differ by record type, and state employment-record rules may require longer retention than the federal baseline.

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