About — Severance Ledger

Severance Ledger is an editorial publication covering severance, layoffs, and US employment law for white-collar US employees.

Our editorial team

We publish under three topical editorial desks — Companies & Industries, Tax & Withholding, and Employment Law — rather than individual personal bylines. Each article is written and reviewed by our editorial team with the lens appropriate to its topic, checked before publication for accuracy and current law, and cites primary sources (IRS publications, OPM guidance, state labor codes, court records) throughout.

Severance Ledger editorial desk

Companies & Industries Desk

The Companies & Industries Desk covers how individual employers structure severance — the formulas, caps, and patterns at large public companies across Big Tech, finance, and healthcare (Amazon, Meta, Google, Microsoft, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, CVS, and peers).

Focus areas: Big Tech severance packages · Finance & healthcare severance · Layoff cycle analysis · Negotiation dynamics for senior roles

Severance Ledger editorial desk

Tax & Withholding Desk

The Tax & Withholding Desk covers the tax mechanics of severance — how federal supplemental withholding (the 22% / 37% structure in IRS Publication 15-A), state supplemental rules, FICA, and state disability insurance (CA SDI, NJ TDI, NY DBL) interact on a payout.

Focus areas: Federal & state severance tax mechanics · Supplemental withholding rules · FICA, SDI, TDI, DBL on severance · Reconciliation at filing time

Severance Ledger editorial desk

Employment Law Desk

The Employment Law Desk covers the legal frameworks around severance — federal statutes including the WARN Act, ADEA, OWBPA, FMLA, PDA, ADA, and ERISA, plus the state-level overlays that shape how severance interacts with anti-discrimination, family-leave, and disability protections.

Focus areas: WARN, ADEA, OWBPA, FMLA, PDA, ADA, ERISA · Severance + pregnancy / FMLA · Severance + PIP / fired for cause · Federal & public-sector severance

What we don't do

Severance Ledger does not provide legal, tax, or financial advice. Articles are informational and analytical. Readers facing termination, discrimination, retaliation, or complex tax situations should consult a licensed professional in their state.

We do not accept third-party paid placement, sponsored posts, or affiliate links within editorial coverage. Severance Ledger and SeveranceCalc.com are operated by the same publisher: when an article points readers to SeveranceCalc's assessment tool, we are recommending our own product, and we say so rather than presenting it as an independent endorsement. Our analyses are grounded in the cited public sources, whether or not a post links to our tool.

Contact

Story tips, corrections, and source pitches: editor@severanceledger.com.

If you have a severance offer you'd like to share anonymously as aggregate data for our coverage, we welcome those submissions at the same address.