Laid off, or think it's coming? Start with the next right step.

Being laid off means your employer ended your job for business reasons — a restructure, a budget cut, a closure — rather than for anything you did. The job went away; you did not lose it. That framing is what makes most laid-off workers eligible for unemployment benefits and is also the honest, complete answer to give in an interview.

A firing is about you — performance, conduct, attendance. A layoff is about the business. The practical differences show up in unemployment eligibility, in whether severance is offered, and in what a former employer will confirm to a reference checker.

Not necessarily. "Terminated" is the umbrella term HR uses for any end of employment, so it covers layoffs and firings both. If your paperwork only says terminated, ask in writing for the separation reason — that code is what your state unemployment agency reads.

Save copies of your offer letter, pay stubs, and separation documents while you still have access, do not sign anything on the spot, and confirm your last day of health coverage in writing. Then work a short, prioritized checklist rather than trying to solve everything at once.

Your runway is roughly your accessible savings divided by your monthly burn, adjusted for severance and any unemployment benefit. Most people overestimate it because they forget that health premiums usually rise the month after the job ends.

Usually no. Many agreements give you a review period, and signing waives rights — often including the right to sue and sometimes the right to speak about what happened. Read the release, the non-disparagement clause, and the payment timing before you sign.

There is no federal minimum. Common practice is one to two weeks of base pay per year of service, with more for senior roles, but it varies widely by employer, level, and whether a WARN notice period is being paid out instead.

It depends on your state — severance can reduce your benefit, delay the start of it, or not affect it at all, and how it is paid (lump sum versus salary continuation) often changes the answer. File anyway rather than assuming you are ineligible.

COBRA generally costs up to 102% of the group premium — the entire cost of the plan, meaning your old payroll share and your employer's share together, plus a 2% administrative fee. That is why the bill is usually several times the deduction you were used to. Compare it against a Marketplace plan before electing — losing job coverage opens a special enrollment window.

You can usually leave it where it is, roll it into an IRA or a new employer's plan, or cash out. Cashing out is the expensive option once tax and any early-withdrawal penalty are counted. An outstanding 401(k) loan is a separate question with two different clocks: your plan document decides when the loan must be repaid after separation, and if the plan offsets the unpaid balance instead, federal law generally gives you until the due date of that year's tax return, including extensions, to roll the offset amount over.

Unvested equity is usually forfeited on your last day, and vested options often carry a short post-termination exercise window — 90 days is common. Find both dates in your grant documents before the window closes.

There may be a discretionary grace period of up to 60 days, but the length depends on your facts and your I-94 end date, whichever comes first. Map the timeline immediately and take the questions to an immigration attorney rather than to a forum.

Most states publish WARN filings from covered employers, usually as a searchable list or a downloadable spreadsheet updated weekly or monthly. Our tracker pulls recent filings together, and each state page explains that state's own thresholds.

For most people it is a few disorienting weeks followed by a search that runs longer than expected. The things that reliably help are a routine, a weekly application target you can hit, and telling more people than feels comfortable — most roles still come through someone who already knows you.

Keep it short, neutral, and forward-looking: the role was cut in a restructure, here is what you did there, here is what you want next. A layoff is a business decision and interviewers know it — the only thing that reads badly is defensiveness.