How much severance pay will I get?
Type your pay, your years of service and how many weeks of pay your employer gives per year. The severance pay calculator shows the weeks of pay and the dollar amount, or uses the federal formula if you work for the U.S. government.
- Severance pay
- $11,538.46
Severance pay: $11,538.46 (10 weeks of pay at $1,153.85 a week).
- Weeks of pay
- 10
- Weekly pay
- $1,153.85
Severance pay: $11,538.46. Severance pay: $11,538.46 (10 weeks of pay at $1,153.85 a week).
The results are estimates for information only. They are not financial, tax, or legal advice. Check the numbers with your lender or a qualified professional before you decide. Terms of use
How to calculate
Estimates severance pay from your pay and years of service under a weeks-per-year company policy, or under the federal employee severance pay formula.
Example with the default inputs (Formula Company policy, Pay $60,000.00, Pay is per Year, Years of service 5, Weeks of pay per year of service 2): Severance pay: $11,538.46 (10 weeks of pay at $1,153.85 a week).
Method: Company policy: weeks = years × weeks per year, raised to the floor and cut to the cap. Federal: basic weeks = 1 per full year up to 10 + 2 per full year beyond 10 + 25% of the next year’s weeks per full 3 months; weeks = basic × (1 + 2.5% × full quarters of age over 40), at most 52 less weeks received before. Severance = weeks × weekly pay.
- No U.S. federal law requires private employers to pay severance; a company policy or agreement sets it.
- Weekly pay is annual pay ÷ 52 when you type pay per year.
- Federal: you have at least 12 months of continuous service and meet OPM’s other conditions (involuntary separation, not eligible for an immediate annuity).
- Taxes are left out; severance pay is taxable wages.
Worked examples
Each example is checked against the calculator on every build.
- Formula Federal employee, Pay $1,500.00, Pay is per Week, Full years of creditable service 20, Extra months of service 4, Age in years 45, Extra months of age 8 gives Basic allowance $45,750.00, Age adjustment $25,162.50, Severance pay $70,912.50, Weeks of pay 47.275.Source: OPM, Fact Sheet: Severance Pay (basic allowance, age adjustment and the 52-week lifetime limit; worked example). https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/pay-administration/fact-sheets/severance-pay/ (20 years 4 months of service, $1,500 a week, age 45 years 8 months: $45,750 + $25,162.50 = $70,912.50)
- Formula Federal employee, Pay $1,000.00, Pay is per Week, Full years of creditable service 30, Age in years 60 gives Weeks of pay 52, Severance pay $52,000.00, Basic allowance $50,000.00.Source: OPM, Fact Sheet: Severance Pay (basic allowance, age adjustment and the 52-week lifetime limit; worked example). https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/pay-administration/fact-sheets/severance-pay/ (52-week lifetime limit)
- Formula Company policy, Pay $60,000.00, Pay is per Year, Years of service 5, Weeks of pay per year of service 2 gives Weeks of pay 10, Weekly pay $1,153.85, Severance pay $11,538.46.
- Formula Company policy, Pay $1,200.00, Pay is per Week, Years of service 1.5, Weeks of pay per year of service 1, Minimum weeks 4, Maximum weeks 26 gives Weeks of pay 4, Severance pay $4,800.00.
How it works
Weekly pay = the pay you type when it is per week, or annual pay ÷ 52 when it is per year.
Company policy.
- Weeks = years of service × weeks of pay per year of service. Partial years count in proportion.
- If you type a minimum, weeks below it are raised to it. If you type a maximum, weeks above it are cut to it. A maximum below the minimum has no answer.
- Severance pay = weeks × weekly pay.
Federal employee (OPM).
- At least 12 months of service are needed; with less there is no answer.
- Basic weeks = 1 week for each full year of service up to 10, plus 2 weeks for each full year beyond 10.
- Partial year: for each full 3 months of service beyond the last full year, add 25% of 1 week (under 10 full years) or of 2 weeks (10 or more full years).
- Age adjustment: count the full 3-month periods of age over 40 (age in months − 480, divided by 3, rounded down; 0 at 40 or younger). Age weeks = basic weeks × 2.5% × that count.
- Weeks = basic weeks + age weeks, but at most 52 minus the weeks of federal severance pay received before.
- Basic allowance = basic weeks × weekly pay; age adjustment = age weeks × weekly pay; severance pay = weeks × weekly pay. The basic allowance and age adjustment are shown before the 52-week limit, so when the limit applies they add up to more than the severance pay.
Every step is an exact fraction of the numbers you type; dollar outputs round once, half up, to the cent, and weeks to 3 decimals.
Assumptions
- No federal law requires private employers to pay severance; the policy you type sets it. State law or a contract may add rules.
- A year has 52 weeks. Federal: you meet OPM's other conditions (an involuntary separation not for inefficiency, and no immediate annuity), and your basic pay is the rate at separation.
- Taxes are left out.
Worked examples by hand
OPM's example. $1,500 a week; 20 years 4 months of service; age 45 years 8 months. Basic weeks 10 + 2 × 10 + 0.25 × 2 = 30.5; basic allowance 30.5 × 1,500 = $45,750. Age over 40: 5 years 8 months = 68 months, 22 full quarters; 22 × 2.5% = 55%; 0.55 × 45,750 = $25,162.50. Severance $70,912.50 (47.275 weeks).
The 52-week limit. $1,000 a week; 30 years of service; age 60. Basic weeks 10 + 2 × 20 = 50 ($50,000). Age: 240 months over 40 = 80 quarters, 80 × 2.5% = 200%, so 100 age weeks and 150 weeks before the limit; cut to 52 weeks, $52,000.
A 2-weeks-per-year policy. $60,000 a year; 5 years. Weekly pay 60,000 ÷ 52 = $1,153.85; 5 × 2 = 10 weeks; severance 10 × 60,000 ÷ 52 = $11,538.46.
A policy floor. $1,200 a week; 1.5 years at 1 week per year = 1.5 weeks, raised to the 4-week minimum: 4 × 1,200 = $4,800.
Other questions people ask
How is severance pay calculated?
Most company policies give a number of weeks of pay for each year of service. At 2 weeks per year, 5 years of service give 10 weeks. On a $60,000 salary a week of pay is 60,000 ÷ 52 = $1,153.85, so severance is about $11,538.46.
Is my employer required to pay severance?
Not under U.S. federal law. The Department of Labor says the Fair Labor Standards Act has no severance pay requirement; severance is a matter of agreement between an employer and an employee. Your contract, a company policy or a union agreement may promise it.
How is federal employee severance pay calculated?
OPM gives 1 week of basic pay for each full year of service up to 10 years and 2 weeks for each full year after 10, plus 25% of a year’s amount for each full 3 months beyond the last full year. An age adjustment adds 2.5% for each full 3 months of age over 40. OPM’s example of 20 years 4 months of service at $1,500 a week, age 45 years 8 months, gives $45,750 + $25,162.50 = $70,912.50.
Is there a limit on federal severance pay?
Yes. A federal employee may receive no more than 52 weeks of severance pay in a lifetime. Type the weeks you received in the past, and the page cuts the total to what is left.
Does a partial year count?
Under a company policy it depends on the wording; this page prorates, so 1.5 years at 2 weeks gives 3 weeks. Under the federal rule, each full 3 months beyond the last full year adds 25% of a year’s weeks, and leftover days do not count.
Is severance pay taxed?
Yes. Severance pay is wages, so income tax, Social Security and Medicare are withheld from it. This page shows the amount before tax.