State file — Kentucky
Severance itself is almost never required by law — but the paper around your exit is. In Kentucky, three state rules shape your negotiation: when your last paycheck must arrive, whether a non-compete can follow you to your next job, and what notice a layoff required. If you are 40 or older, the federal clocks (21 or 45 days, plus 7 days to change your mind after signing) apply on top of everything here.
Federal rule only — no Kentucky statute found giving a general state consideration/revocation period for severance or settlement agreements beyond the federal OWBPA.
Run the deadline checker — it counts the federal clock and Kentucky's clock together and gives you the dates.
No general non-compete statute — enforceability is entirely common law. Enforceable if supported by valid consideration, reasonable in time/territory, and no broader than needed to protect a legitimate business interest. Under Charles T. Creech, Inc. v. Brown (Ky. 2014), continued at-will employment alone is not sufficient consideration for a non-compete imposed on an existing employee; something more (raise, promotion, training, etc.) is required. Narrow statutory exception noted in secondary sources: KRS 216.724 voids non-competes for certain temporary direct-care staff of health care services agencies.
Why it matters at the exit table: a non-compete you sign on the way out can matter more than the severance check. If the clause would block your next job, narrowing it is one of the most common — and most granted — negotiation asks.
An employee who leaves or is discharged must be paid in full all wages or salary earned not later than the next normal pay period following dismissal/leaving, or 14 days following dismissal/leaving, whichever occurs LAST (later).
Unused vacation: Kentucky treats vacation pay promised by contract, policy, or practice as wages, so earned unused vacation promised on those terms is due on the same next-pay-period-or-14-days-whichever-is-later deadline (secondary-source statement of the wage definition; the 337.055 text itself says 'all wages or salary earned').
Final pay is owed whether or not you sign anything. If the date passes without your money, your state labor agency takes these complaints — and many states add penalties for every day of delay.
Kentucky has no state layoff-notice law of its own, so the federal WARN Act is the rule: employers with 100+ workers generally owe 60 days' notice of a plant closing or mass layoff (50+ jobs at one site).
Notice failures have their own remedies (back pay for each day of missed notice, in the federal law's case) — separate from the severance agreement, and worth a question if your layoff was large and sudden.
Included in the $49 SeveranceDecoded Kit
One payment. Yours to keep. Works for any severance agreement, any state.
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