State file — Utah
Severance itself is almost never required by law — but the paper around your exit is. In Utah, 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 state severance/settlement consideration or revocation statute found beyond the federal OWBPA/ADEA (21 days individual / 45 days group, 7 days to revoke, age 40+). Note: Utah Code §34-51-202(1) expressly preserves reasonable severance agreements agreed at/after termination, but it sets no consideration or revocation clock.
Run the deadline checker — it counts the federal clock and Utah's clock together and gives you the dates.
Post-Employment Restrictions Act: for a covenant entered on or after May 10, 2016, an employer and employee may not agree to a post-employment restrictive covenant lasting more than 1 year from the day employment ends — a covenant that violates this is VOID (not trimmed to 1 year). Common-law reasonableness also applies. The Act does not prohibit a reasonable severance agreement freely agreed in good faith at/after termination, or a covenant arising from the sale of a business where the person receives sale value. Secondary 2026 report: HB 270, effective May 6, 2026, bans noncompetes for most licensed health care workers — flag for primary verification.
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.
Separated by the employer (fired or laid off): unpaid wages become due immediately and must be paid within 24 hours of separation (satisfied by mail postmarked within 1 day, direct deposit initiated within 24 hours, or hand delivery within 24 hours). Employee who resigns without a definite-period written contract: wages due on the next regular payday.
Unused vacation: No Utah statute requires payout of unused vacation at separation — employer's policy controls; include accrued vacation in the 24-hour/next-payday check only if the policy promises it.
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.
Utah 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.
Back to severance laws by state · the deadline checker