The Layoff Survival Guide: 8 Questions to Ask Your Employer

Being laid off is disorienting — and the hours right after the news are exactly when you're least equipped to think about paperwork. This guide gives you the questions to ask while HR is still in the room and still obligated to answer.

Here's the checklist. Ask your manager or HR:

• When will I receive my final paycheck, and will unused vacation time be paid out?
• Am I getting severance — and what exactly does the package include?
• How long do I have to review the severance agreement before signing?
• When does my health insurance end, and what are my options after that?
• What happens to my equity, and how long do I have to exercise my stock options?
• What happens to my 401(k)?
• Do you offer outplacement support, references, or referrals?
• Can I get copies of my performance reviews before I lose system access?

Below is what each answer means for you. One note: the legal specifics here (severance rules, COBRA, unemployment insurance) are US-specific. If you work elsewhere, the questions still apply — but check your local employment law for the details.

1. When will I get my final paycheck — and will unused vacation be paid out?

Money clarity comes first. Federal law doesn't require employers to hand you a final paycheck immediately; timing is set by state law, and some states require payment within days of a layoff. Ask HR for the exact date and what it will include.

Whether unused vacation gets paid out also depends on your state and your company's policy — some states treat accrued PTO as earned wages that must be paid, others leave it to the employer. Get HR's answer in writing.

Then file for unemployment insurance as soon as you can. It's run by your state, and the Department of Labor's unemployment page will route you to the right program. It generally takes two to three weeks after filing to receive a first payment, so don't wait.

2. Am I getting severance — and what does the package include?

There is no federal law requiring severance pay. The Department of Labor is explicit that severance is a matter of agreement between employer and employee — which cuts both ways: nothing is guaranteed, and everything is negotiable.

Packages typically take the form of a lump sum or continued salary for a set period, sometimes with extended health benefits or career-transition services attached. Ask for the full breakdown, not just the headline number.

Two legal backstops worth knowing. The federal WARN Act requires employers with 100 or more employees to give 60 days' written notice before a mass layoff or plant closing — many companies satisfy this with pay in lieu of notice. And some states go further: New Jersey, for example, requires 90 days' notice plus mandatory severance of one week's pay per year of service for covered mass layoffs.

Don't assume the first offer is final — especially on things like extra weeks, benefits continuation, or career coaching. If the company wants to keep the door open to rehiring you, it's in their interest to part on good terms. The same principles apply here as when you negotiate a job offer: ask calmly, in writing, with a specific request.

3. How long do I have to review the severance agreement?

Don't sign anything on the spot. Severance agreements almost always ask you to waive legal claims, and you're allowed time to think.

If you're 40 or older, federal law (the ADEA, per EEOC guidance) requires at least 21 days to consider a waiver — 45 days in a group layoff — plus 7 days to revoke after signing. If you're under 40 there's no federal minimum, but asking for a week or two to review is normal, and having an employment lawyer read it is money well spent if the package is significant.

4. When does my health coverage end — and what are my options?

First, get the exact end date: some plans run through the end of the month, others stop on your last day.

After that, you generally have two paths in the US:

• COBRA: if your employer has 20 or more employees, COBRA lets you keep your current plan, usually for up to 18 months — but you pay the full premium (up to 102% of the plan's cost), which is often a shock after years of employer subsidies.
• The ACA Marketplace: losing job-based coverage triggers a Special Enrollment Period — you have 60 days from losing coverage to enroll, and income-based subsidies can make this cheaper than COBRA.

Also ask whether the company will cover any months of COBRA as part of severance. If it's not offered, it's a common thing to negotiate for.

5. What happens to my equity — and how long can I exercise my options?

If you have stock options or RSUs, get three things in writing before you leave: what's vested as of your termination date, what's forfeited, and every deadline that applies to you.

Unvested equity is typically forfeited when you're terminated — though some companies accelerate vesting in layoffs, so it's worth asking. For vested stock options, most plans give you a post-termination exercise window of around 90 days; miss it and the options expire worthless. If you hold incentive stock options (ISOs), US tax rules add a wrinkle: exercise more than three months after leaving and they lose ISO tax treatment, even if your company granted a longer window.

Exercising costs real money and can trigger taxes, so treat it as a deliberate financial decision — ideally with an advisor — not a deadline scramble.

6. What will happen to my 401(k)?

Your own contributions — plus any vested employer match — are yours. Ask HR how much of the match is vested, then choose among the standard options: leave the money in the plan (if the balance is large enough), roll it over to a new employer's plan or an IRA, or cash out — the worst option for most people, since it triggers income tax and usually a 10% early-withdrawal penalty if you're under 59½.

If you have an outstanding 401(k) loan, ask how it will be handled; unpaid balances can be treated as a taxable distribution. And if you're still employed and bracing for cuts, front-loading contributions is one way to protect long-term savings — for 2026, the IRS limit is $24,500, plus an $8,000 catch-up if you're 50 or older.

7. Will the company support my job search?

Ask three things: whether outplacement or career-transition services are included in your package, whether your manager will act as a reference, and what HR will confirm to future employers (dates, title, rehire eligibility).

Referrals happen more than you'd think — layoffs are usually about budgets, not performance, and a manager who couldn't save your role can often open doors elsewhere. Make it easy for them: tell them what you're looking for next.

8. Can I get copies of my performance reviews?

Before you lose system access, ask HR for copies of your past performance reviews. Concrete accomplishments and written praise from your manager are raw material for your resume and LinkedIn — much easier to pull now than to reconstruct from memory in three weeks. They'll also anchor your job search strategy when you're ready to start it.

You don't have to figure this out alone

Losing your job — even when the reason has nothing to do with you — can bring feelings of loss, powerlessness, and grief. That's normal, and it passes faster when you talk to people who've been through it.

One of the most useful things you can do in the first weeks is a free session with a career development mentor who has survived a layoff themselves — ADPList's community of 40,000+ mentors across 140+ countries has delivered over 1,000,000 sessions, many of them exactly this conversation. If you've never worked with a mentor before, this guide to finding one is a good starting point. And if the layoff has you questioning the path itself, that's worth exploring too — a career change is easier to navigate with someone who's made one. And when comparing where to find that support, our roundup of the best mentorship platforms lays out the free and paid options.

By asking your employer these questions while you still have their attention, you regain a sense of agency — and you walk out with everything you're entitled to, instead of discovering what you missed after the door closes.