7-day revocation periods for severance agreements

The 7-day revocation period is the window after an employee signs a severance agreement during which they can cancel it.

Federal law makes it non-waivable for workers 40 and older, and the agreement does not take effect until the seven days pass.

Getting the timing wrong can void the waiver you paid for.

A 7-day revocation period is a mandatory stretch of time that gives an employee seven days to withdraw their signature after signing a severance agreement.

The agreement becomes binding on the eighth day.

Federal law requires it for workers 40 and older whenever the agreement waives age discrimination claims.

The purpose is protection against pressure.

The law treats a signature as valid only when it is knowing and voluntary, and a rushed signature undermines that standard.

Three features of the period are fixed:

• It runs for seven calendar days
• It starts after the employee signs, not before
• The agreement stays unenforceable until it expires

For you as the employer, the period is not a formality.

A common mistake is telling a departing employee the deal is final the moment they sign.

It is not.

Until the seven days close, the release is provisional, and any message that treats it as locked can later support a claim that the signature was coerced.

The seven-day clock starts the day after the employee signs and dates the agreement, not on the signing day itself.

The agreement becomes effective on the eighth day, provided the employee has not revoked.

If the seventh day falls on a weekend or holiday, it still counts as a normal calendar day.

A worked example makes it clear:

An employee signs on a Monday. Day one is Tuesday, and the seven days run Tuesday through the following Monday. The release becomes enforceable on Tuesday, the eighth day, if no revocation has arrived.

The counting matters most for payroll.

If you schedule the severance payment before the eighth day, you are paying on an agreement that is not yet binding, and the employee can still revoke while keeping the money.

Set the payment date to the day the release becomes effective, not the signing date.

No. Neither party can shorten or waive the seven-day revocation period for any reason, even if the employee asks to speed things up.

This rule comes from the ADEA waiver regulation (29 CFR 1625.22) and applies to any agreement waiving age claims for workers 40 and older.

Employees sometimes want the money faster and offer to skip the window.

You cannot accept.

A signed waiver of the revocation period carries no legal force.

If the employee revokes within the seven days, the release fails regardless of what they agreed earlier, and you lose protection from the claims you meant to settle.

The EEOC states plainly that the revocation right stands even when an agreement otherwise meets every requirement.

Build the seven days into your timeline and treat them as fixed.

The consideration period rises to 45 days when the layoff is a group termination rather than a single exit.

For one employee 40 or older, federal law requires at least 21 days to review a severance offer before signing.

For a group layoff, often part of a reduction in force, that minimum becomes 45 days.

The 45-day rule applies to what the regulation calls an exit incentive or other employment termination program.

That means a group of employees selected as a decisional unit where at least one is 40 or older.

Group terminations carry an extra duty.

You must give affected employees a written disclosure listing the job titles and ages of everyone selected for the program and everyone in the same unit who was not.

One detail catches employers out.

Any material change to your final offer restarts the 21 or 45 day clock, unless both sides agree in advance that changes do not restart it.

Revise a key term after presenting the agreement and the review period begins again from the new offer date.

Not automatically.

Federal law ties the mandatory 7-day revocation period to waivers of age discrimination claims, which protect workers 40 and older.

For employees under 40, no federal right to revoke exists unless the contract grants one or a state law requires it.

Many organizations still offer the same window to everyone.

A single, consistent policy is easier to run, and it removes any argument that a younger employee was rushed.

Even without the age-based requirement, an employee can challenge a signature signed under pressure as involuntary.

The link to age rules comes from the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act, which sets the review and revocation minimums for employees over 40.

If your reduction includes a mix of ages, one standard keeps the process clean and defensible.

To revoke, the employee must deliver a written notice to the employer before the seven days close.

A verbal statement does not count.

The agreement sets out where and how to send the notice, usually by email, hand delivery, or certified mail.

Your agreement should name the exact person who receives a revocation and the delivery methods you accept.

Vague instructions create disputes about whether notice arrived in time.

When an employee revokes in time, the agreement is void.

You owe no severance, the release does not apply, and both sides return to where they started, with the employee free to pursue the claims the agreement would have settled.

A clear revocation clause protects you as much as the employee.

It gives you a dated, documented record of whether the window closed cleanly, which is what you will need if the release is ever tested.

Yes. The federal 7-day revocation period is a floor, and several states add their own rules on top of it.

California does not require a revocation period at all for standard severance agreements.

Minnesota takes the opposite approach and lets an employee rescind a signed agreement within 15 days when it releases state discrimination claims.

New York has moved to expand employee rights through the No Severance Ultimatums Act, a bill that passed the State Senate and would extend a 21 business-day review and a non-waivable seven-day revocation period to all severance agreements, not only those involving age claims.

Confirm its current status before you rely on it, as the bill was not yet signed into law at the time of writing.

The practical takeaway for multi-state employers is direct.

Federal minimums do not cover every obligation, so check the rules in each state where affected employees work.

A compliant agreement in one state can fall short in another.

• State rules can add to the federal floor, so check the requirements in every state where affected employees work.
• The 7-day revocation period lets an employee cancel a signed severance agreement, and it becomes binding on the eighth day.
• For workers 40 and older, federal law requires the period and neither party can waive or shorten it.
• The seven days start the day after signing, so set the severance payment to the eighth day, not the signing date.
• The consideration period is separate: 21 days for an individual and 45 days for a group layoff, with material changes restarting the clock.

A few quick answers to the questions HR teams raise most about the revocation period.

A severance agreement becomes final on the eighth day after signing, once the seven-day revocation period has passed without the employee canceling.

Before that day, the release is provisional and the employee can still revoke.

Align any severance payment with this date rather than the signing date.

No. When an employee delivers written notice within the seven-day window, the agreement is void and no severance is owed.

The revocation right cannot be waived or overridden, even if the employee earlier agreed to skip it.

No. The consideration period is the time to review an offer before signing, which is 21 days for an individual or 45 days for a group layoff of workers 40 and older.

The revocation period is the seven days after signing when the employee can still cancel.

A severance agreement only protects you if the timing holds.

Before your next reduction, map the review and revocation windows against your payroll and communication schedule so nothing goes out before the release is final.

You can also pair the process with outplacement support for departing employees, so the legal mechanics and the human transition move together.